Restructuring Democratic Infrastructures: A Policy Approach to the Journalism Crisis

Democracy requires a free press. However, most people rarely reflect on the requisite infrastructures and policies that maintain a healthy press system. Today, as we look to journalism to protect us against misinformation and authoritarianism, the press is in a structural crisis. Journalism’s institutional support is collapsing, leaving entire regions and issues uncovered at a time when we desperately need reliable information and robust reporting. The crisis is disproportionately harming specific groups and regions, especially communities of color, rural areas, and lower socio-economic neighborhoods. This article addresses key policy issues that are central to the future of journalism, including those connected to media ownership, broadband policy, and the rise of new digital monopolies such as Facebook. It concludes with a call for designing a new public media system in the United States.