League members studying the loss of local news four years ago were told by Washington State University journalism department chair Ben Shors what the decline has led us to. 

“It’s not a journalism crisis,” Shors told the League members with unflinching clarity. “It’s a democracy crisis.”

Since then, in addition to the LWVWA’s “The Decline of Local News and Its Impact on Democracy,” mountains of research have proven that message to be true. 

Shors and colleagues now have an opportunity to change that reality in Washington state at least a few degrees.  

A new partnership forged between the WSU Edward R. Murrow College of Communication and a national nonprofit would replace and expand on the News Fellowship program that was a casualty of the 2025 Washington state legislative session. 

That fellowship placed 16 journalists in 22 newsrooms across the state, producing nearly 2,700 news stories and providing much-needed civic affairs coverage to League members and hundreds of thousands of other Washingtonians.

Under the new partnership, described as the first-of-its-kind in the nation, each of Washington’s 39 counties would be assigned a fellow to provide coverage of local news and developments. Modeled after the Washington State University County Extension program, the expanded News Fellowship would ensure remote rural areas as well as populated urban areas would have news coverage. News deserts in Washington tend to be in eastern and central areas of the state, although not exclusively.  

Shors said the state would contribute $1 million annually over the next two years but the bulk of the cost of ensuring coverage for all 39 counties would come from funders from whom the partnership has commitments.   
 
The state investment would allow the program to operate under the auspices of the university as well as demonstrate a solid commitment to funders.

Under the plan, the new fellowship would launch in January 2027, with an inaugural cohort of 13 journalists covering key civic issues and addressing gap in local reporting. New cohort would be added every year for three years.

The League will be following developments and call for support of the partnership when the Legislature reconvenes next month.

For more information about the proposal, contact Dee Anne Finken, dfinken@lwvwa.org, chair of the Local News & Democracy team.