Shimon Arai

Many professinals came to the convention in hopes of sparking a rise of local news interest. (From left to right, Tim Hunt, Rick Goldsmith, and Steve Glazer)

On Sept. 6, the Tri-Valley Community Foundation partnered with the Firehouse Arts Center for a special screening of Stripped For Parts. It was a documentary about the disappearance of 21st-century American journalism as part of a micro-journalist convention.

Local News Decline

“The collapse of local news is a deep threat to democracy and the fabric of communities. But we can’t turn this around without comprehending how we got here,” says panelist and American journalist Steve Waldman. 

Stripped For Parts Tells the story of Alden Global Capital, a hedge fund that has absorbed countless newspaper organizations. It follows journalist Julie Reynolds as she fights to preserve local news and prevent conglomeration of news outlets.

“Talking about government funding of journalism…to get back—even part way— to where we used to be in terms of coverage of our communities. It’s not a matter of millions of dollars, it’s a question of hundreds of millions of dollars. Just like we pay millions of billions of dollars on defense [and] military budgets. We can do that too for journalism if we value it.” says the director of the film Rick Goldsmith.

Panel of Influence

After the showing, there was a panel that included Goldsmith, Sen. Steve Glazer (D-CA), local journalist Tim Hunt, and the president and publisher for Embarcadero Media Foundation, and moderator Gina Channell Wilcox. 

 Sen. Glazer highlighted his bill, SB 1327, a bill attempting to revive local journalism, was passed this year. 

“Due to the ingenuity of social media and sales platforms, these enterprises have successfully connected folks with friends and hobbies and interests as well as shopping opportunities. In the last 25 years, about one-third of the nation’s news outlets have closed…news deserts exist throughout our state. In California, 65 percent of journalists have lost their jobs,” as written in the bill.