SuperCrowd22: Will Local News be the Next Frontier for Investment Crowdfunding?

Tomorrow I will speak at SuperCrowd22  (see: https://www.supercrowd22.com ) - a two day event (September 15/16) - along with thought leaders and practitioners addressing issues at the cross section of impact investing + investment crowdfunding. 

I am honored to be participating in this event. 

I'll address the topic of "Will Local News be the Next Frontier for Investment Crowdfunding?" 

I believe it's a topic of vital importance to our country and for the preservation of US democracy. At SuperCrowd, I'll speak to: 1) the current state of Local News media (it's not good) 2) a historical perspective on how we've gotten here and 3) a view on what can be done to help save or reinvigorate Local News across the country.    
 
As a preview, here are some slides and facts from part one of my presentation - the current state of Local News.  

Slide 2: The US loses two local newspapers each week! Since 2004, there has been a net loss of 2,514 papers. 

Slide 3: Newsroom employment has been decimated. Total employment has dropped 70% in the past 15 years (over 40,000 lost jobs)!

Slide 4: Inadequate local news is a real problem for our country. It has been linked to: 

- more corruption (in government and business) 
- less competitive elections and a decrease in voter participation  
- weaker municipal finances 
- the spread of misinformation and disinformation 
- a prevalence of party-line politics

Furthermore, 1/5 of Americans, or about 70 million people, either live in a ‘news desert’, or in a community at risk of becoming one.   

 
Slide 5: News deserts are spreading all across the country. Half of all US counties, 1,540, have only one newspaper, usually a weekly. What's in your county?

Sound depressing? It's certainly a growing problem. If there isn't a collective effort to reverse these trends, then we run the risk of local news going extinct in the US. 

During SuperCrowd22, I'll speak to prospective solutions that make use of Regulated Investment Crowdfunding (#RIC) and a potential path forward to support sustainable Local News.  

If you'd like to participate in SuperCrowd22, you can receive a discount by signing up via the Crowdfunding Professional Associations (CfPA) dedicate link: https://www.supercrowd22.com/cfpa

The event itself is sponsored in part by the Dalmore Group and Dealmaker, important companies in the crowdfunding ecosystem.  

Hope to see you at SuperCrowd!

Brian