101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2019 and 2020
SB3457
 
Introduced 2/14/2020, by Sen. Steve Stadelman
 
SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 

 
New Act

     Creates the Local Journalism Task Force Act. The Task Force shall consist of one member of the House of Representatives appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, one member of the Senate appointed by the President of the Senate; one member appointed by the Governor, and one representative of each of the following entities: the Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications at Northwestern University; the Journalism Department of the College of Media at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; the School of Journalism at Southern Illinois University Carbondale; the Illinois Press Association; the Illinois Broadcasters Association; the Illinois Legislative Correspondents Association; and the Illinois Municipal League.  Directs the Task Force to study communities underserved by local journalism and review all aspects of journalism. Requires the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity to provide administrative support. Provides that the Task Force shall report its findings and recommendations of legislation to the Governor and General Assembly. 
  


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A BILL FOR
 

  
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1    AN ACT concerning journalism.
  
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
 
3represented in the General Assembly:
  
 
 
4    Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Local 
5Journalism Task Force Act.
 
6    Section 5. Establishment. The Local Journalism Task Force 
7is established to:
8        (1) conduct a comprehensive, nonbinding study relative 
9    to communities underserved by local journalism in 
10    Illinois; and
11        (2) review all aspects of local journalism including, 
12    but not limited to, the adequacy of press coverage of 
13    communities, the ratio of residents to media outlets, the 
14    history of local news in Illinois, print and digital 
15    business models for media outlets, the impact of social 
16    media on local news, strategies to improve local news 
17    access, and public policy solutions to improve the 
18    sustainability of local press business models and private 
19    and nonprofit solutions.
 
20    Section 10. Membership.  The Task Force shall consist of 
21the following 10 members: one member of the House of 
22Representatives, to be appointed by the Speaker of the House of 
 
 
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1Representatives; one member of the Senate, to be appointed by 
2the President of the Senate; one member to be appointed by the 
3Governor; one representative of the Medill School of 
4Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications at 
5Northwestern University; one representative of the Journalism 
6Department of the College of Media at the University of 
7Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; one representative of the School 
8of Journalism at Southern Illinois University Carbondale; one 
9member of the Illinois Press Association; one member of the 
10Illinois Broadcasters Association; one member of the Illinois 
11Legislative Correspondents Association; and one member of the 
12Illinois Municipal League. Appointments shall be made no later 
13than 30 days following the effective date of this Act.
 
14    Section 15. Meetings. The Task Force shall meet a minimum 
15of 5 times to review, study, and analyze existing literature as 
16well as quantitative and qualitative data on the status of 
17journalism in the State of Illinois.
 
18    Section 20. Support. The Department of Commerce and 
19Economic Opportunity shall provide administrative and other 
20support to the Task Force.
 
21    Section 25. Findings and recommendations. The Task Force 
22shall submit its findings, along with its recommendations for 
23legislation, to the Governor and  the General Assembly no later 
 
 
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1than one year after the effective date of this Act.
 
2    Section 30. Repeal. This Act is repealed 2 years after the 
3effective date of this Act.