In late January, a tax credit to support journalism jobs in Maryland was introduced into the General Assembly.
The legislation would provide tax credits for Maryland news organizations up to $25,000 a year for newsroom employees in the first year and $15,000 per employee a year four years after that.
HB891 was introduced by Delegates Joe Vogel and Linda Foley. Foley was the international president of The NewsGuild-CWA from 1995 until 2008 and is a former journalist at the Lexington Herald-Leader.
The tax credits would go to print, digital and broadcast outlets and be available for profit and non-profit newsrooms. It follows similar legislation passed in New York and Illinois last year.
“Tax credits to support journalists is the best way we can stem the losses of news jobs across the U.S. and Canada,” said NewsGuild-CWA President Jon Schleuss. “We strongly support these target tax credits that will help retain current journalists and support the hiring of more journalists.”
In written testimony, Schleuss highlighted the massive loss of working journalists and newspapers across the U.S.
“Since 2005 the United States has lost more than 3,300 printed newspapers, according to the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University,” he wrote. “At the same time we’ve lost more than 45,000 newsroom jobs. That’s a 60% loss of editors, reporters and other journalists in just two decades.”
According to Medill, Maryland ranks 46th among states and Washington, D.C. for a low number of news outlets per capita.
Next, Maryland’s Ways and Means Committee will decide whether to favorably report out the bill to the General Assembly.
The Guild represents journalists at the Baltimore Sun and The Capital in Maryland, along with 27,000 members at more than 500 workplaces across North America.