Public Act 102-0569
 
SB0134 EnrolledLRB102 15340 JLS 20697 b

    AN ACT concerning journalism.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Local
Journalism Task Force Act.
 
    Section 5. Establishment. The Local Journalism Task Force
is established to:
        (1) conduct a comprehensive, nonbinding study relative
    to communities underserved by local journalism in
    Illinois; and
        (2) review all aspects of local journalism including,
    but not limited to, the adequacy of press coverage of
    communities, the ratio of residents to media outlets, the
    history of local news in Illinois, print and digital
    business models for media outlets, the impact of social
    media on local news, strategies to improve local news
    access, and public policy solutions to improve the
    sustainability of local press business models and private
    and nonprofit solutions.
 
    Section 10. Membership. The Task Force shall consist of
the following 13 members: one member of the House of
Representatives appointed by the Speaker of the House of
Representatives; one member of the House of Representatives
appointed by the Minority Leader of the House of
Representatives; one member of the Senate appointed by the
President of the Senate; one member of the Senate appointed by
the Minority Leader of the Senate; one member appointed by the
Governor; one representative of the Medill School of
Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications at
Northwestern University; one representative of the Public
Affairs Reporting Program at the University of Illinois at
Springfield; one representative of the School of Journalism at
Southern Illinois University Carbondale; one representative of
the Illinois Press Association; one representative of the
Illinois Broadcasters Association; one representative of the
Illinois Legislative Correspondents Association; one
representative of the Illinois Public Broadcasting Council;
one representative of the Illinois News Broadcasters
Association; one representative of the University of Illinois
at Urbana-Champaign; and one representative of the Illinois
Municipal League. Appointments shall be made no later than 30
days following the effective date of this Act.
 
    Section 15. Meetings. The Task Force shall meet a minimum
of 5 times to review, study, and analyze existing literature
as well as quantitative and qualitative data on the status of
journalism in the State of Illinois.
 
    Section 20. Support. The Department of Commerce and
Economic Opportunity shall provide administrative and other
support to the Task Force.
 
    Section 25. Findings and recommendations. The Task Force
shall submit its findings, along with its recommendations for
legislation, to the Governor and the General Assembly no later
than one year after the effective date of this Act.
 
    Section 30. Repeal. This Act is repealed 2 years after the
effective date of this Act.