IDEA
Empower local communities and voters to raise local revenues to meet local information needs, within a governance structure that maximizes community participation, protects freedom of speech, ensures inclusivity, and prevents direct and indirect influence from any governmental body, department, or official as well as private individuals and businesses.
PRECEDENTS: The idea for creating information districts to promote participatory media and civic engagement to meet local news and information needs was developed by the Community Information Cooperative (CIC), a nonprofit based in New Jersey whose mission is to democratize journalism and media. Information districts are conceived as structurally the same as other special districts that are locally created to fund essential public services, such as ambulance, fire protection, or sanitation.
Colorado statutes establish the legal process for creating, operating, and overseeing special districts. Currently there are 12 categories of special districts into which sponsors can fit their proposed special district. None is designed to provide local news and information.
In 2019, state lawmakers passed legislation adding Early Childcare Development to the list of special districts in Colorado. State law now provides a process and guidelines for local municipalities or regions to join together to form one of these districts and raise local taxes to increase quality child care options. Advocates who requested the enabling legislation argued that the local markets for providing quality child care have failed in many communities throughout Colorado, so the special district framework allows larger regions to band together to offer subsidies and incentives for such services.
The Scientific and Cultural Facilities District (SCFD) that supports arts organizations in the Denver metro area is an example of a Special Statutory District. These types of districts are unique, and the statutes describe exactly
how they are to be created, the boundaries for each, how they are to be overseen, and their functions. In the case of the SCFD, Denver-area voters spanning seven counties voted to levy a 1/10 of 1% sales and use tax to support local arts organizations, from major cultural institutions to small community groups. Funds are administered by an appointed board with representatives from all regions using a formula that takes into account each arts organization’s budget and audience size. Since 1989, the SCFD has distributed approximately $50 million annually to metro-area arts organizations, concluding that “funding on that scale, delivered to a local area, makes a profound impact.”
HOW IT COULD WORK IN COLORADO: Legislators could create a unique special district framework to establish governance and fund use requirements specifically designed to support the production of independent local journalism and civic information.
This new type of special district could both enable and provide a cohesive framework for local municipalities that wish to direct public funds toward sustaining independent local journalism and civic information while protecting the First Amendment.
Local voters and/or governments would then have the option of establishing Local News and Information Special Districts that levy taxes for these services. Funds could be managed by the local district to provide direct services and/or distributed to independent entities via formula allocation and/or competitive grants. Governing boards could be directly elected by the people within the district or appointed by local officials if the district includes multiple jurisdictions, if the authorizing petition allows.
Even without a special district framework, local governments could bolster independent local news through small business grant programs. Local governments could also modernize their public information programs, which are often funded by 5% franchise fees charged to cable providers, by engaging new and existing local media outlets, libraries, and higher education institutions to provide special services to meet community needs. While these options would be at the discretion of local officials and not create protected funding streams for local news, they are still viable pathways for directing public support to this vital business sector.
CONSIDERATIONS: While the special district idea reflects a ground-up approach to meeting community information needs, the CMP working group noted that it’s a solution more likely to gain traction in more affluent communities with the inclination to raise local taxes for special services. For this reason, the working group recommends pairing this ground-up approach with a state-level fund to spur innovation in the sector and incentivize more coverage in lower-income and underrepresented communities most affected by news deserts. Our next proposal captures this idea in addition to specific considerations around governance, eligibility, and funding priorities.
