"Local news plays a fundamental role in our democracy, fostering civic engagement and holding government officials and corporations accountable. Its collapse represents a national crisis of such scale and significance that it necessitates philanthropists, private companies, government regulators, lawmakers, civil society organizations, and the public to come together to tackle it. PEN America addresses each of these stakeholders in the recommendations below. No single approach is, in and of itself, a panacea. To meet the scope of the problem requires a combination of proposals and strategies. After comprehensive research and consultation with experts, PEN America concludes that there is no credible way to restore and revitalize local news without a significant investment of public dollars—potentially funded by a substantial tax on major technology companies. Central among
the following recommendations is the call for a Congressional Commission on Public Support for Local News, to systematically examine the state of public funding for local journalism. [...]" (Recommendations, page 76)