Mayor Rex Richardson brought the item forward, though multiple councilmembers expressed concern over conflict of interest.
The Long Beach City Council navigated new waters Tuesday night, as they discussed how to support local media while remaining independent of the very establishment meant to keep the government in check.
Mayor Rex Richardson proudly brought the item forward to the city council, linking local media with the ability to “tell the story of our city” and thus make Long Beach a more popular tourist and business destination.
Councilmembers Al Austin, Kristina Duggan, Megan Kerr and Vice Mayor Cindy Allen all pointed out the fine line between a government-supported media and a government-controlled media, but ultimately “cautiously” approved the item. With unanimous approval from the city council, City Manager Tom Modica and his team will explore the feasibility of creating a “media incubator.”
“Unless we cultivate a local media and journalism sector, people will not have the opportunity to appreciate or understand just how incredible our community is.”
– Mayor Rex Richardson
A media incubator is an organization made up of multiple partners that’s designed to support emerging or existing businesses by providing them with foundational resources. These resources can range from office space, business development guidance, technical support or customers.
Richardson recommended the Long Beach Economic Partnership (LBEP) be involved in the creation of the incubator, which is a public-private economic development corporation that has an established agreement with the Long Beach Economic Development Department.
The LBEP and the Cal State Long Beach Journalism and Public Relations Department wrote letters to the city council in support of the item.
“There’s somewhat of an emergency and a crisis happening with local media across our country,” Richardson said. “We have to do a better job at telling the story of our city and a big part of that is we need to make sure that we’re supporting local media to be able to tell stories and highlight our local communities.”
While local newspapers and journalism jobs have taken a toll in recent decades, the issue hit home recently when the Long Beach Post, what used to be the city’s largest operating newsroom, laid off most of its staff. The Post’s issues follows a trend of growing news deserts, where cities and counties have very little or no local news coverage.
Another incentive to create a media incubator was a recent site selection that Long Beach hosted, Richardson said. Site selectors are entities from around the nation that steer companies and corporations to look at development within a certain city.
Feedback from the site selection was that Long Beach needs to do a better job of telling its story, Richardson relayed.
“Unless we cultivate a local media and journalism sector, people will not have the opportunity to appreciate or understand just how incredible our community is,” Richardson said.
The mayor’s item also asked the Intergovernmental Affairs Committee to add support for state and federal legislation that aims to support local media and journalism to the city’s agenda.
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