Public Act 103-1021
 
SB3592 EnrolledLRB103 38956 SPS 69093 b

    AN ACT concerning journalism.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, 
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the 
Strengthening Community Media Act.
 
    Section 5. Findings.
    (a) Illinois benefits from robust local news services that 
provide trusted and essential information to the community 
that limits corruption, encourages citizen participation, 
helps combat misinformation, and mitigates community and 
individual alienation.
    (b) Local news in Illinois and throughout the country is 
struggling with newspaper advertising dropping 82% nationally 
since 2000, contributing to a 57% drop in the number of 
reporters at newspapers and thousands of closures.
    (c) Local news outlets are trusted sources of information 
for communities throughout Illinois and advertising spending 
with these outlets carries a substantial benefit for the 
effective dissemination of important government information to 
the communities it serves.
    (d) Government initiatives to increase spending on local 
news advertising has been manifestly successful in both 
supporting local news outlets and improving the information 
diet of communities in several major cities.
    (e) Illinois can and will implement such an initiative 
while preserving the editorial independence of local news 
outlets selling advertising space under this Act, and 
recognizes that any diversion of advertising spending that has 
the effect or appearance of an attempt to influence the 
editorial content of a local news organization violates the 
federal and State guarantees of freedom of the press and 
freedom of speech.
 
    Section 10. Definitions. As used in this Act:
    "Department" means the Department of Commerce and Economic 
Opportunity.
    "Local news organization" means an entity that:
        (1) engages professionals to create, edit, produce, 
    and distribute original content concerning matters of 
    public interest, through reporting activities, including 
    conducting interviews, observing current events, or 
    analyzing documents or other information;
        (2) has at least one employee employed full-time for 
    30 hours a week or more dedicated to providing coverage of 
    Illinois or local Illinois community news and living 
    within 50 miles of the coverage area, who gathers, 
    prepares, collects, photographs, writes, edits, reports, 
    or publishes original local or State community news for 
    dissemination to the local or State community;
        (3) in the case of print publications, has published 
    at least one print publication per month over the previous 
    12 months, and either holds a valid United States Postal 
    Service periodical permit or has at least 25% of its 
    content dedicated to local news;
        (4) in the case of digital-only entities, has 
    published one piece about the community per week over the 
    previous 12 months and has at least 33% of its digital 
    audience in Illinois, averaged over a 12-month period;
        (5) in the case of hybrid entities that that have both 
    print and digital outlets, meets the requirements in 
    either paragraph (3) or (4) of this definition;
        (6) has disclosed in its print publication or on its 
    website its beneficial ownership or, in the case of a 
    not-for-profit entity, its board of directors; 
        (7) in the case of an entity that maintains tax status 
    under Section 501(c)(3) of the federal Internal Revenue 
    Code, has declared the coverage of local or State news as 
    the stated mission in its filings with the Internal 
    Revenue Service; and
        (8) has not received more than 50% of its gross 
    receipts for the previous year from political action 
    committees or other entities described in Section 527 of 
    the federal Internal Revenue Code, or from an organization 
    that maintains Section 501(c)(4) or 501(c)(6) status under 
    the federal Internal Revenue Code.
 
    Section 15. Notice of sale of a local news organization. A 
local news organization shall not be sold to a company without 
giving written notice 120 days before the sales occurs to the 
following:
        (1) affected employees and representatives of affected 
    employees;
        (2) the Department and the county government in which 
    the local news organization is located; and
        (3) any in-State nonprofit organization in the 
    business of buying local news organizations.
 
    Section 90. The Higher Education Student Assistance Act is 
amended by adding Section 65.125 as follows:
 
    (110 ILCS 947/65.125 new)
    Sec. 65.125. Journalism Student Scholarship Program.
    (a) As used in this Section, "local news organization" has 
the meaning given to that term in the Strengthening Community 
Media Act.
    (b) In order to encourage academically talented Illinois 
students to pursue careers in journalism, especially in 
underserved areas of the State, and to provide those students 
with financial assistance to increase the likelihood that they 
will complete their full academic commitment and elect to 
remain in Illinois to pursue a career in journalism, subject 
to appropriation, not sooner than the 2025-2026 academic year, 
the Commission shall implement and administer the Journalism 
Student Scholarship Program. The Commission shall annually 
award scholarships to persons preparing to work in Illinois, 
with preference given to those preparing to work in 
underserved areas. These scholarships shall be awarded to 
individuals who make application to the Commission and agree 
to sign an agreement under which the recipient pledges that, 
within the 2-year period following the termination of the 
academic program for which the recipient was awarded a 
scholarship, the recipient shall:
        (1) begin working in journalism in this State for a 
    period of not less than 2 years;
        (2) fulfill this obligation at local news 
    organization; and
        (3) upon request of the Commission, provide the 
    Commission with evidence that the recipient is fulfilling 
    or has fulfilled the terms of the teaching agreement 
    provided for in this subsection.
    (c) An eligible student is a student who meets the 
following qualifications:
        (1) is a resident of this State and a citizen or 
    eligible noncitizen of the United States;
        (2) is a high school graduate or a person who has 
    received an Illinois high school diploma;
        (3) is enrolled or accepted, on at least a half-time 
    basis, at an institution of higher learning; and
        (4) is pursuing a postsecondary course of study 
    leading to a career in journalism or a similar field.
    (d) Each scholarship shall be used by the recipient for 
the payment of tuition and fees at an institution of higher 
learning.
    (e) The Commission shall administer the Program and shall 
adopt all necessary and proper rules not inconsistent with 
this Section for its effective implementation.