Establishes advertising set-asides for eligible local news organizations.*

S3744 1R

[First Reprint]

SENATE, No. 3744

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

INTRODUCED MARCH 5, 2026

Sponsored by:

Senator� ANDREW ZWICKER

District 16 (Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex and Somerset)

Senator� ANGELA V. MCKNIGHT

District 31 (Hudson)

Co-Sponsored by:

Senators Wimberly, McKeon, Diegnan, Greenstein, Johnson,
Mukherji and Turner

SYNOPSIS

����
Establishes
advertising set-asides for eligible local news organizations.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� As reported by the Senate State Government, Wagering,
Tourism & Historic Preservation Committee on June 11, 2026, with
amendments.

��

An Act
establishing

1
[
advertisement
]

advertising
1

set-asides for eligible local news organizations, amending P.L.2018, c.111, and
supplementing Title 52 of the Revised Statutes.

����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:

���� 1. (New section) The
Legislature finds and declares that:

���� a.� New Jersey residents
benefit from robust local news services that provide trusted and essential
information to the community, encourage transparency, accountability, and
citizen participation, help combat misinformation, and mitigate community and
individual alienation.

���� b.� Local news organizations in
the State and throughout the country are struggling with newspaper advertising,
which, according to the Pew Research Center, has decreased by 82 percent
nationally since 2000. �This loss of advertising has led to newspaper closures,
a 75 percent drop in the number of reporters on average nationwide, and,
according to a recent study, New Jersey specifically employed the lowest number
of journalists per capita in the nation at fewer than five journalists per
100,000 residents.

���� c.� Local news organizations
are trusted sources of information for communities throughout the State, and
monies spent on advertising with these organizations provide for the effective
dissemination of important government information to the communities they
serve.

���� d.� Government initiatives to
increase spending on local news advertising have been successful in both
supporting local news organizations and in producing a well-informed citizenry.

���� e.� The State can implement an
advertising set-aside and transparency policy while preserving the editorial
independence of local news organizations selling advertising space.� Moreover,
the State acknowledges that any diversion of advertising spending that has the
effect or appearance of an attempt to influence the editorial content of a
local news organization violates the federal and State guarantees of freedom of
the press and freedom of speech.

����� 2.
(New section) As used in this act:

����� a.�
�Advertising or marketing agency� means any agency that creates, plans, and
manages advertising campaigns or marketing strategies, or both, for clients.

����� b.�

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�Advertising� means the discretionary use of media
to promote products, programs, or services, regardless of the medium employed.

�����
c.
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� �Eligible local news organization� means an entity
that:

����� (1)�
engages professionals or students to create, edit, produce, and distribute
original content concerning matters of public interest through reporting
activities including, but not limited to, conducting interviews, observing
current events, or analyzing documents or other information;

����� (2)�
has at least one person, which can include a sole proprietor, working at least
30 hours a week to provide coverage of the local community and living within
the State, who gathers, prepares, collects, photographs, writes, edits,
reports, or publishes original local or State news for dissemination to the
local or State community;

����� (3)�
in the case of a local newspaper or publication published solely as a print
edition, has published at least one print publication per month over the
previous 12 months and either
1
[
(1)
]
1
holds a valid United States Postal Service
periodical permit or
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[
(2)
]
1
has at least 25 percent of its content dedicated to
local news;

����� (4)�
in the case of a local, digital-only newspaper or online news publication, has
published an average of three original news pieces about the local community or
the State per week over the previous 12 months and, within a 12-month period,
has at least 50 percent of its digital audience in the State;

����� (5)�
in the case of a local news organization that publishes both print editions and
online news publications, meets the requirements of either
1
[
subsection c. or d.
]

paragraph (3) or (4)
1
of this
1
[
section
]

subsection
1
;

����� (6)�
has disclosed in its print publication or on its Internet website its
beneficial ownership or, in the case of a not-for-profit entity, its board of
directors;

����� (7)�
maintains and publicly displays an editorial policy for error correction and
clarification that includes an accessible process for reporting errors or
complaints to the eligible local news organization;

����� (8)�
has not received more than 50 percent of its gross receipts for the previous
year from political action committees or other entities organized under section
527 of the federal Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. s.527), or from an
organization that maintains a section 501(c)(4), (c)(5), or (c)(6) status under
the federal Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. s.501);

����� (9)�
has media liability insurance coverage of at least $1,000,000; and

����� (10)�
has been in operation, or its parent company has been in operation, for at
least two years.

����� c.�
�State agency� means any of the principal departments in the Executive Branch
of State Government, any division, board, bureau, office, commission, or other
instrumentality created by a principal department, and any independent State
authority.

����� 3.
(New section) a.� (1)� Beginning in the fiscal year next following the
effective date of P.L.��� , c.��� (C.������� ) (pending before the Legislature
as this bill) and each fiscal year thereafter, every State agency required to
advertise bid solicitations pursuant to P.L.1954, c.48 (C.52:34-6 et seq.)
shall allocate at least 30 percent of its total advertising spending for
eligible local news organizations.

����� (2)�
For State agencies that demonstrate the need to spend less than 30 percent of
their advertising
1
[
revenue
]

budget
1
in-State, at least 50 percent of that in-State spend shall be spent with
eligible local news organizations.

����� b.�
A State agency may consult with third party organizations to ensure compliance
with the provisions of P.L.��� , c.��� (C.������� ) (pending before the
Legislature as this bill).

����� c.�
Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection a. of this section, a State agency
may apply for an exemption from the provisions of P.L. , c. (C. )
(pending before the Legislature as this bill) upon showing to the Department of
the Treasury that the purposes of the advertising are inconsistent with
placement in an eligible local news organization publication.� If a State
agency applies for an exemption pursuant to this subsection, the State
Treasurer may grant an exemption, but shall reject the application for an
exemption if the State Treasurer determines that the objectives of the
advertising can be served as effectively or better through placement in an
eligible local news organization publication.

����� d.�
A State agency shall not discriminate among eligible local news organizations
based on editorial content, unless that content is objectively relevant to the
articulated purposes of the advertising.

���� 4. (New section) a.� The New
Jersey Civic Information Consortium, established pursuant to section 3 of
P.L.2018, c.111 (C.18A:64-96), shall create and maintain a list of eligible
local news organizations.� Such list shall include any organization that
qualifies as an eligible local news organization pursuant to section 2 of
P.L.�� , c.��� (C.������� ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).

���� b.� No later than three months
after the effective date of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending
before the Legislature as this bill), the Department of the Treasury shall
publish on its Internet website, in an easily accessible location, the criteria
to qualify as an eligible local news organization pursuant to section 2 of
P.L.��� , c.��� (C.� ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).

���� 5. (New section) a.� Any advertising
or marketing agency that contracts with the State shall report to the
contracting State agency the total amount of advertising spending on at least a
quarterly basis.

���� b.� Beginning one year after
the fiscal year next following the effective date of P.L.��� , c.��� (C.�������
) (pending before the Legislature as this bill) and each year thereafter, every
State agency shall report to the Department of the Treasury the following
information, at a minimum:

���� (1)� the total amount of
advertising spending categorized by the type of media platforms that received
advertising;

���� (2)� the total amount of
advertising spending with eligible local news organizations; and

���� (3)� the specific recipients
of the advertising spending, including which eligible local news organizations
received which individual advertising contracts and the amounts of such
contracts.

���� b.� Within two years after the
end of the fiscal year next following the effective date of P.L.��� , c.����
(C.������� ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill) and every year
thereafter, the Department of the Treasury shall publish on its Internet
website, in an easily accessible location, a cumulative report that shall
include, but not be limited to:

���� (1)� the operative list of eligible
local news organizations;

���� (2)� the cumulative total
amount of advertising spending categorized by the type of media platforms that
received advertising;

���� (3)� the cumulative total
amount of advertising spending with eligible local news organizations; and

���� (4)� the specific recipients
of the advertising spending, including which eligible local news organizations
received which individual advertising contracts and the amounts of such
contracts.

���� 6.� Section 4 of P.L.2018,
c.111 (C.18A:64-97) is amended to read as follows:

���� 4. a. The consortium shall
have a board of directors that shall set strategic priorities and metrics to
guide the consortium's grant-making and other initiatives,
such as creating
and maintaining the eligible local news organization list pursuant to section 4
of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending
before the Legislature as this bill),
as well as to approve grants pursuant
to section 7 of P.L.2018, c.111 (C.18A:64-100).

���� b.��� The board of directors
shall consist of 16 members as follows:

���� (1) two members appointed by
the Governor who shall not be of the same political party;

���� (2) one member appointed by
the President of the Senate, and one member appointed by the Minority Leader of
the Senate;

���� (3) one member appointed by
the Speaker of the General Assembly, and one member appointed by the Minority
Leader of the General Assembly;

���� (4) six members, no more than
four of whom shall be of the same political party, appointed by the president
of each member university, each of whom shall have background or experience in
the field of journalism, media, or technology; and

���� (5) four members, no more than
two of whom shall be of the same political party, appointed by a majority vote
of the 12 board members appointed pursuant to paragraphs (1) through (4) of
this subsection, of which: (a) one member shall represent the media sector; (b)
one member shall represent the technology sector; and (c) two members, not
employed by the State or a member university at the time of the member's
appointment, shall have demonstrated a record of commitment to public service
and understand the importance of media and technology to the State's future.

���� c.���� Each board member shall
serve a term of four years and shall serve in one of four classes as determined
by the board of directors. Members of the first class shall serve an initial
term of one year, the second class an initial term of two years, the third
class an initial term of three years, and the fourth class an initial term of
four years. No board member shall serve more than two four-year terms.� In the
appointment of members to the board, every effort shall be made to strive for
diversity and balance of representation according to gender, race, ethnicity,
and geography within any limits allowed under law.� Any vacancies in the
appointed membership of the board occurring other than by expiration of term
shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointment, but for the
unexpired term only.� Board members shall serve without compensation, but may
be reimbursed for necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their
duties within the limits of funds available to the board.

(cf: P.L.2023, c.323, s.1)

���� 7. �This act shall take effect
immediately.