1. United States
2. Calif.
3. Letter

In the last few years, the Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, CBS, and potentially soon CNN have been gutted and taken artificially rightward by billionaire oligarchs. There are some fantastic independent outlets like LA Squawk Box/the LA Reporter, LA Taco, and the San Fernando Valley Sun filling the gap - and often, like those three, they are minority owned - but we ultimately need state subsidies to ensure a free press. I can pay $10 a month for a subscription to one of these outlets but not all of them, indispensable as they are, and the GoFundMe model simply can’t replace the big newsrooms of the past any more than it can replace public healthcare. Please amend the State’s upcoming budget to include continuing funding for the Propel Initiative and California Local News Fellowship programs. California needs to be at the forefront of defending the First Amendment by economically guaranteeing a free press.