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Guest Column: Some local newspapers are on life support; banks could provide the cure they need

Continued from Page 6 civic matters through local news should count as educational services. This is not a novel approach: most local journalism entities that have been granted tax exempt status from the Internal Revenue Service have done so by proving that they are a type of educational institution. Finally, banks should advertise more in local news outlets. The law already requires that banks make their products and services known to residents of lowand moderate-income communities. Doing some of that marketing through local media will help them promote their services while simultaneously strengthening the local news that can, in turn, strengthen the community

We are not arguing that CRA eligibility alone will open the floodgates of bank and CDFI financing to meet the credit and capital growth needs of local news outlets. But it could catalyze philanthropic funding and mission-driven financial institutions to develop innovative credit and investment products tailored to the unique opportunities and challenges of rebuilding a local news infrastructure.

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When CRA was first established, philanthropic organization stepped up with the research and development funding to test new models and was a key ‘loss leader’ with new social investment products that unleashed exponentially larger pools of public and private investment targeted to community revitalization. It could do the same if CRA eligibility were extended to the revitalization of local news.

Since 1977, banks have made profitable investments and marketing decisions under the CRA firmament — creating a win-win for private sector investment and the public good. Helping local media is one way to help that would have ripple effects — assisting not only these particular small businesses, but all the residents that are served by having accurate, trustworthy local information.

American Banker is the essential resource for senior executives in banking and financial services, keeping its users updated on vital developments and focusing sharply on their most important concerns — innovation, transformation, and disruption; technology, regulation, and reform. Steven Waldman is Chair of the Rebuild Local News Coalition and co-founder of Report for America. Julie Sandorf is President of the Charles H. Revson Foundation.

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