Brier Dudley, who is Editor of The Seattle Times Save the Free Press Initiative, has authored a piece entitled: New York Saving Newsroom Jobs.  He writes: Tax credits for preserving and adding newsroom jobs are the most direct way for policymakers to help save local journalism. Four years after these credits were proposed in Congress, New York State has approved a State-level version.  Proponents hope this becomes a model for other States and prods Congress finally to provide such credits nationally, before much more of the local press system is lost.  “We are really excited not only that this is the first tax credit like this in the country but that we’ve done it in a way that I believe totally preserves journalistic integrity,” said Zack Richner, whose family publishes two dozen local newspapers and prints others at a Long Island facility.  Richner in February organized a coalition of more than 200 newspapers to advance a tax proposal that had been lingering in the State Capital.  Their lobbying drew support from National Journalism Advocates, including Labor Unions, Microsoft and the Rebuild Local News Coalition.  The credits were included in New York’s $237 billion State Budget.

To Read Dudley’s Piece In Its Entirety, Go To: New York saving newsroom jobs; Press Forward opens spigot | The Seattle Times

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