It is an open secret that the global journalism crisis has taken its toll on local community media in California. Their sources of income have been diminishing, to the point that many of them have had to close their doors. Others reduced their staff, cut their pagination or limited their dissemination.

Various studies, such as that of the Local News Initiative at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University or the “Rebuild Local News” Coalition, show that one in three newsrooms in the state, especially in the south, have closed in the last 25 years. And that in the same period, 70% of active journalists in our state have lost their jobs.

This drop is not due to problems with content, design, or dissemination. It is the result of the emergence of alternative sources by platforms such as Google and Meta (Facebook and other social sites) that captured most of the digital advertising revenue, and in the distribution of reduced sums, local newspapers, which in many cases generated the content thus used, were left as the last recipients.

This situation deprives the millions of readers of local community media in California of access to essential information, which for decades has helped them grow, improve their economic and social situation, and accelerate their absorption and integration into the state and the country.

These media are the ideal instrument for residents of all communities to understand what is happening with the homes in their neighborhoods, the safety in their streets, the education in their schools, or the debates in their town halls.

And it is from that understanding that the individual is expected to be aware, reason, and act to defend and protect his or her interests and those of his or her family and community. That is the source, the origin of civic participation. It is in this way that the progress of the population and the greatness of the nation takes on meaning.

That is why the current position is an unsustainable position that requires a change of perspectives and recognition by those who direct state policies of the urgency of the moment.

Many of these outlets, including La Opinión, created or strengthened community media alliances for communities of color, such as Latino Media Collaborative, American Community Media (formerly called Ethnic Media Services), California Black Media, and others. We organize ourselves.

Thus, initiatives emerged in the California State Legislature to help community media in their time of affliction, to strengthen and increase Californians' access to reliable local news.

The budget committees of the California Senate and Assembly have before them a financing proposal that, if approved, would dedicate $35 million to strengthen community media. The proposal is part of the state's annual budget negotiations.

Specifically, the promoters of this effort, guided from the beginning of the initiative by today's former state senator Steven Glazer, ask that the Legislature include this item of $35 million within the final State Budget Law for 2026-2027. And the Legislature must approve it.

By law, California's budget must be approved by the Legislature by midnight on June 15.

Time is short.

The $35 million, divided among those who need it, is not going to solve the problem. The sum pales in comparison to the hundreds or billions of dollars that are spent each year on various projects. And yet, it is an important beginning that must be encouraged.

Local journalism is part of the social fabric in which we live. It must flourish, develop and innovate to improve the lives of the community, instead of fighting, day after day, for its survival. State assembly members and senators should support this project.

Because the alternative is that in the very near future we will live in a news desert, without strong, vibrant local publications and professional journalists whose mission is to spread the truth.