New York, NY, May 15, 2025 – A new report by the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism spotlights the transformative impact of New York City’s groundbreaking legislation supporting community media outlets, and the role of the school’s Advertising Boost Initiative in bridging implementation gaps. It also recommends significant changes to bring more transparency to government spending and ensure editorial independence.
The report finds that since the legislation’s inception five years ago, more than $72 million has been infused into the local community media ecosystem. This funding has bolstered trusted sources of news in dozens of languages and ensured critical government information reaches New Yorkers where they are. It has also brought greater transparency to the city’s advertising procurement process, once dominated by a handful of traditional outlets.
“Community media provide essential information to communities that are often underserved by mainstream media,” said Graciela Mochkofsky, Dean of the Newmark J-School. “They are a critical public good. And while public funding should never be the sole source of revenue for community media, it ought to be a key pillar of support.”
The transformation began in 2019, when then-Mayor Bill de Blasio signed an executive order mandating that city agencies allocate at least 50% of their advertising budgets to community and ethnic media—outlets long relied on by New Yorkers but historically overlooked by city marketing dollars. The policy redirected almost $10 million, which represented 84% of the city’s ad budget that year, to more than 200 community media outlets in 2020, shielding them from the financial devastation of the first year of the pandemic, and invested more than $15 million in the sector the following year.
In June 2021, this executive order was codified in Local Law 83, which expanded the definition of eligible community media to include radio and television outlets and led to the creation of the Mayor’s Office of Ethnic and Community Media (MOECM). Local outlets celebrated this passage as a triumph; this policy has served as a model for cities nationwide. Since then, more than $47 million has been allocated into community media.
The report also identifies ongoing challenges–and proposes solutions.
These include potential conflicts of interest due to MOECM’s current organizational structure and inconsistent compliance with the 50% advertising budget allocation mandate. To address these concerns, the report recommends an independent structure for MOECM and calls for immediate steps to increase transparency, including public disclosure of advertising decisions and improved accountability measures.
The Advertising Boost Initiative (ABI), established in 2020 by the Center for Community Media (CCM), has played a crucial complementary role in the legislation’s success. ABI serves as an information bridge between media outlets, city agencies, and advertising agencies, assisting outlets to become more effective in accessing their share of city advertising budgets. ABI also tracks compliance with Local Law 83 and publishes regular reports to provide transparency and government accountability.
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The Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY is a public graduate journalism school that prepares students from diverse economic, racial, and cultural backgrounds to produce high-quality journalism. In 2024, the school launched a campaign to provide free tuition, in perpetuity, to all of its students. Its Center for Community Media serves news organizations that provide essential local coverage for populations whose voices and issues are underrepresented in mainstream media. The Center serves as a hub of information, resources, and training aimed at increasing the sustainability of this news media sector.