Testimony in Support of New Jersey Civic Information Consortium

As many of you know, I have been a reporter in New Jersey for 2 years now. Earlier this month, I have had the pleasure to express my public support of a pair of bills making their way through the New Jersey State Senate and State Assembly by delivering my testimony to state senators. These bills will allow for a law that invests in the creation of the New Jersey Civic Information Consortium which will ultimately improve access to information by the public and help local journalism thrive in the state. Below is my public testimony, in full, as delivered to the state senators who are members of the Budget and Appropriations Committee regarding the bill currently making its way through the State Senate legislative session.

Good afternoon Chairman Sarlo, Vice Chairman Stack, and members of the committee. Thank you for providing me with the opportunity to speak to you today. My name is Ilya Arbit, and I am a senior reporter and multimedia producer for the publication New Brunswick Today. I have worked as a journalist both in New York and New Jersey for over a decade.

I am here to urge your support for the advancement and funding of S-2317 which would establish the New Jersey Civic Information Consortium — a public non-profit with the goal of better serving the public information needs by investing in projects to strengthen local news coverage, community information, civic technology and civic engagement across the State of NJ.

In my years as a journalist, I have seen firsthand — the toll that the business struggles of media publications took on my colleagues. Reporters lost their jobs. Publications closed. The public — they lost the crucial information sources that help keep communities informed to make the important decisions that affect their future. We have reached a point where something needs to be done — action needs to be taken to reinvest in public information.

The Consortium would foster informed and civically engaged communities through improved access to accurate, relevant, timely and trustworthy information. Journalists, like myself, across the state are struggling to stay afloat and continuing doing their jobs while facing immeasurable odds. The ultimate harm, though, will be on our communities, who will be left in the dark and lack access to locally-produced information.

If enacted, this legislation would provide a way to ease that battle. An informed electorate is the primary building block to a healthy democracy. This legislation seeks an investment of $20 million in the FY2019 State Budget in order to establish and implement the New Jersey Civic Information Consortium. That is a small price to pay for the greater good that it would serve for ensuring the future of our society and our way of life.

Freedom of the press was affirmed by the 1st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. It is one of the core American values that the founding fathers felt was important enough to deserve its own protections. Now, the media industry is going through an unprecedented assault not just from ever-changing business models but also from messaging that serves to undermine public trust in media institutions. And local media has far fewer resources than that of national media organizations to fight these forces. The Consortium can be the lifeline that can save local media in New Jersey, bolster civic engagement, and serve as a model for a path forward in communities across the country.

I urge your support for the creation of the New Jersey Civic Information Consortium. There is no better time than now for New Jersey to invest in the informational knowledge of our communities while also establishing a new, future-proof media landscape. Thank you for the opportunity to speak to you today.

For more information about the bills in this legislative session, check out https://www.freepress.net/issues/future-journalism/local-journalism