Local media outlets in New York State are getting a financial boost from state government thanks to a package of tax credits included in the Fiscal Year 2025 budget, according to Assemblyman William Colton (D—Gravesend, Bensonhurst, Bath Beach and Dyker Heights).

This package, the Local Journalism Sustainability Act, provides a total of $30 million in tax credits each year for the next three years to qualifying independently-owned local print and broadcast media to help offset the cost of paying journalists’ salaries. Each outlet can access up to $300,000 in tax credits each year. This includes a tax credit of $5,000 per new reporter hired to ease the financial burden of expanding the outlet’s newsroom, as well as a credit amounting to 50 percent of each existing or new journalist’s salary, up to $50,000 per journalist.

“Many hyperlocal newspapers have closed down or seriously curtailed their operations in recent years because of financial constraints,” noted Assemblyman Colton. “This package will provide an important resource to such outlets, which are essential sources of information for residents whose quality-of-life depends in part on knowing what’s happening down the block or around the corner, whether it’s a new housing development, a change in transportation options or a school expansion, and who, thanks to the rapidly changing media ecosystem, are being increasingly deprived of the information they need.”

A total of $4 million has been set aside in the package to cover the credits available for adding journalists to a newsroom’s staff; the remaining $26 million has been set aside to cover the credits available to help offset the cost of retaining existing staff. Half of the credits are being dedicated to outlets with 100 or fewer employees.