Covid Relief Bill Throws Lifeline to Transform Local News

A provision in the $1.9-trillion Covid-19 relief bill passed today by the House of Representatives will provide $86 billion in grants to failing multi-employer pension plans. The provision will pay benefits to union workers in some of the industries hit hardest by the pandemic, including construction, manufacturing, entertainment, and local news. In this opinion piece for Neiman Reports, Schuster Media and Technology Fellow Craig Forman, West Coast general partner of NextNews Ventures and former president and CEO of McClatchy Co., explains how this pension relief package will help community newsrooms across the country and lays out the next steps needed to further strengthen America’s local news industry.

Read the full piece here.