Whereas the United States was founded on the principle of freedom of the press enshrined in the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which declares that Congress shall make no law . . . abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press . . . ; Whereas an informed citizenry depends on accurate and unbiased news reporting to inform the judgment of the people; Whereas a robust, diverse, and sustainable local news presence leads to civic engagement and the buttressing of democratic norms and practices; Whereas the absence of local news outlets and investigative reporting allows local government corruption and corporate malfeasance to go unchecked; Whereas local journalists help combat disinformation by using their community knowledge and connections to debunk fraudulent or misleading content; Whereas local cable franchises routinely provide for public educational and government access channels on their systems, and those channels— (1) offer vital local civic programming that informs communities; (2) provide news and information not often available on other local broadcast channels or cable; (3) supplement local journalism; and (4) at times, are the only source for local news; Whereas the people of the United States trust local news sources by a 2-to-1 margin; Whereas, according to recent research— (1) the United States has lost more than 2,500 local print outlets since 2005, which accounts for 1/4 of all local print outlets, and is on track to lose 1/3 by 2025; (2) an average of more than 2 local print outlets are being shuttered every week in the United States; (3) more than 200 of the 3,143 counties and county equivalents in the United States have no local newspaper at all, creating a news shortage for the 4,000,000 residents of those areas