Menin reports publisher concerns from summer roundtables
Menin says the Council held roundtables with Black, Asian, and Latino publishers between June and July. Publishers reported no city point of contact, lost connections from prior administrations, and severe financial strain worsened by reduced city ad buys.
So what has changed and why is the city's spending on media so much lower than it was just a few years ago?
Over the past summer, the council convened a series of forums to better understand this issue.
Between June and July of this year, we hosted roundtables with Black, Asian, and Latino community media outlets at City Hall, bringing together journalists and publishers, and I know many of you came to that and we really appreciate that.
In these meetings, we heard firsthand concerns about the city's drastically decreased media spending and investments in ethnic and community media.
Furthermore, participants...
expressed concerns about not having a point of contact within the city, and they felt that they didn't know how to contact the administration and that lines of connections that they had during previous administrations are now not existent.
Many also conveyed that their outlets are facing unprecedented financial troubles in this very challenging media environment for local media across the country,
and significant decrease ad buys from the city have just exacerbated those difficulties.
I know many are concerned about the moving and staffing of the mayor's office of ethnic and community media, so I know I have some questions about that.
I know the chair has some questions about that.
And we are here to get answers from the administration, to hear from members of the media, and to understand how we can support this crucial sector, which reaches all of the diverse communities in New York City with vital, culturally sensitive reporting.
We must do more to invest in our ethnic and community media.
So thank you so much, Chair Brewer, and let me turn it back to you.