Committee on Governmental Operations, State & Federal Legislation

He just said wait, so— Okay. Good morning and welcome to today's hearing for government operations, state and federal. At this time, please everyone silence all and any electronic devices. Also, there is no eating food or beverages here. in the hearing room. Uh, also at this point moving forward, no one— I repeat, no one— is to approach the dais.

Finally, if you wish to submit an in-person testimony, please see one of the sergeant-at-arms. Thank you so much. Uh, Chair and Speaker, we're ready to begin. Thank you very much.

I'm Gail Brewer, Chair of Committee on Government Operations, State and Federal Legislation. I want to thank everyone for joining us today for our hearing on the Mayor's Office of ethnic and community media, members of the public, and everyone who joins us today. I think I see Councilmember Morano. I don't know where he went, but he was here.

I'll now turn it over to Speaker Menin for her opening remarks. Thank you, Speaker Menin.

Thank you so much, Chair Brewer, and I really want to thank the chair for holding this important hearing. I'm Julie Menin, Speaker of the New York City Council. And we want to thank members of the public for being here today for this hearing. So this issue that we are discussing today around the Mayor's Office of Community and Ethnic Media is not new to the City Council, and it's certainly not a new issue for me.

I've long recognized the importance of ethnic and community media, which led me to start investing in that over a decade ago. In 2016, when I served as Commissioner of the Mayor's Office of of Media and Entertainment, we announced a million-dollar grant to CUNY's journalism school to create new programs that would help New York City's community and ethnic media outlets stay competitive and bring them further into the digital age.

And we were really proud to announce that program. At that announcement, here is what I said. The diversity and breadth of New York City's community and ethnic media reflects diversity of our city as a whole, and it is crucially important to keep these outlets thriving. These publications add key perspective to our local news landscape, and they keep New Yorkers in the know, whether their native language is English or Bangla.

We look forward to collaborating with the Journalism School on this important initiative, which builds on their history of providing excellent excellent training for journalists at ethnic and community publications. So that quote that I mentioned almost a decade ago still rings incredibly true today. That is why the council passed Local Law 83 in 2021 to formally establish the Mayor's Office of Ethnic and Community Media, codifying former Mayor de Blasio's Executive Order 47.

Local Law 83 also requires mayoral agencies to spend at least 50% of their advertising budget on ethnic and community media outlets. The council passed this bill because we recognize the crucial role that community and ethnic media plays in our city and to address the difficult media climate for small publications. I also want to add, I really appreciate the incredible work that our community and ethnic media outlets provide.

And that is why when I served as the 2020 Census Director, we proudly allocated half of our media budget to community and ethnic outlets all across the City of New York. So I do want to say that when former Mayor de Blasio made that change in policy and the council passed that law, it had a significant impact.

Prior to the implementation of Executive Order 47 and Local Law 83, 82% of the city's advertising spending went to large mainstream media outlets, whereas ethnic and community media outlets only received $2.7 million in the city's advertising budget. By 2020, the first full year of implementation, that amount increased to $9.9 million. City spending on ethnic and community media peaked in 2022 when it reached a high of $23.1 million.

In fiscal year 2025, 57% of city agencies' overall advertising spending went towards ethnic and community media. It was 51% for fiscal year '24 and 40% for fiscal year '23. However, that has not translated into greater monetary benefits because overall advertising spending has decreased significantly. In fiscal year 2022, the city spent $260 million on advertising across all media outlets.

However, that number dropped to $70.4 million in fiscal year 2023, $28.8 million in fiscal year '24. And in 2024, just $7 million of those dollars went to ethnic and community media, less than a third of what it was 2 years before that. So what has changed and why is the city's spending on media so much lower than it was just a few years ago?

Um, over the past summer, the council convened a series of forums to better understand this issue. Between June and July of this year, we hosted roundtables with Black, Asian, and Latino community media outlets at City Hall, bringing together journalists and publishers. And I know many of you came to that and we really appreciate that. In these meetings, we heard firsthand concerns about the city's drastically decreased media spending and investments in ethnic and community media.

Furthermore, participants expressed concerns about not having a point of contact within the city, and they felt that they didn't know how to contact the administration and that lines of connections that they had during previous administrations are now nonexistent. Many also conveyed that their outlets are facing unprecedented financial troubles in this very challenging media environment for local media across the country, and significant decreased ad buys from the city have just exacerbated those difficulties.

I know many are concerned about the moving and staffing of the Mayor's Office of Ethnic and Community Media. So I know I have some questions about that. I know the chair has some questions about that, and we are here to get answers from the administration. to hear from members of the media and to understand how we can support this crucial sector, which reaches all of the diverse communities in New York City with vital, culturally sensitive reporting.

We must do more to invest in our ethnic and community media. So thank you so much, Chair Brewer, and let me turn it back to you.

Thank you very much. And I think during the pandemic, some of the federal money helped a lot, and you could see the difference because health information got out. And then you did a great job during the census doing the same. So we know how important that media is. In addition to oversight, we will be hearing 4 bills.

The first bill, Intro 1127, sponsored by Councilmember Williams, in relation to amending and eliminating certain reporting requirements within the New York City Charter and the Administrative Code of the City of New York. Intro number 1128, also sponsored by Councilmember Williams, in relation to due dates of agency reports to the Council, Intro 1129, in relation to agency transmissions of reports of compliance with operational requirements, and preconsidered intro, which I sponsored, in relation to the creation of a working group to study agency use of communication technologies.

Local Law 83, like Executive Order 47 before it, 83 just codified and added to. requires agencies to spend, as you heard earlier, at least 50% of their advertising budget with ethnic and community media outlets. We are hearing from community and ethnic media outlets that under the current mayor, they are seeing an up to 100% drop in city advertising revenue since Mayor Mondale took office.

We would like to find out whether this is true, and if so, why city advertising with these outlets has decreased so drastically between one administration and the other. Thank you. Local Law 83 of 2021 requirement that agencies spend at least 50% of their budget, their advertising budget, on ethnic and community media doesn't apply to the agency's entire spending budget, but to spending on broadcast, print, and digital advertising.

Other types of advertising, such as social media and digital displays, are considered out of scope. Thank you. Scope and not subject to the 50% spending requirement. They might not have existed in 2021. Agencies can also be granted waivers if they were required by statute, court order, or legal mandate to publish information in media outlets that reach all New Yorkers, or as if— or if as an agency they spend less than $5,000 per year on advertising.

And there's quite a long list that spend less than $5,000 a year. Local Law 83 also created the Office of Ethnic and Community Media, which is tasked with submitting an annual report on agency spending on ethnic and community media, as well as developing and maintaining a directory of community and ethnic media outlets for agencies to use when complying with Local Law 83 spending mandate.

And looking at the most recent 2-5 report, it looks like there are about 293 such media outlets. On one of his first days in office, the mayor moved the Office of Ethnic and Community Media into the Office of Mass Engagement. Ethnic and community media outlets welcomed the move. They viewed it as a signal that, that media was being valued as both channels for messaging, but also as partners in helping New Yorkers understand and participate in civic life.

However, That didn't happen. The executive director left at the end of '25, and no new executive director was appointed until September of this year, after the office was moved again, this time into the mayor's Director of Communications office. When asked about OCM at a previous hearing, the commissioner of the Office of Mass Engagement was unable to answer the questions about the office, despite it being part of Mass Engagement for a year.

The commissioner referred questions to the director of communications. We hope the new executive director— thank you for being here today— will be able to address the many concerns we are hearing from community and ethnic media outlets, as well as the questions we have about the function of the office, including the website. In addition to oversight of the Mayor's Office of Ethnic and Community Media and government spending on ads, We will be hearing my bill, preconsidered intro, which would create, as I heard early— as you heard earlier, a group to study agency use of communication technologies.

At our hearing last month, we heard about a Signal group used by the mayor to communicate with social media influencers and how for a period of time the messages were set to auto-delete, which upsets me because I'm a big FOIL addict. At the same hearing, the commissioner of DORIS explained that instant messages are considered transitory, and therefore there is no requirement that they be archived.

While there are legitimate uses for city employees to use encrypted messaging apps like Signal, it is incredibly important that we keep records of all official communications. This bill would require DORIS to establish a working group to study the instant electronic messaging platforms used by the city agencies and submit recommendations. I also want to highlight the 3 good government bills we are hearing today.

It is important to the city to reevaluate the local laws that it passes, especially those that require city agencies to collect and report out data. Reviewing and making sure that the information we receive is timely, relevant, and worth the burden is an exercise in good government. And where we can repeal unnecessary, duplicative, or outdated reporting requirements, it makes it all the more worth it.

With that in mind, we are hearing Intro 1127, as I said earlier, sponsored by Councilmember Williams, who will make a statement in a minute. And it amends and eliminates certain reporting requirements within the city charter and the Admin Code. Intro 1128, sponsored by Williams, amends the due dates of agency reports to the council. 1129 amends agency transmissions of reports of compliance with operational requirements.

I want to thank the following council staff for their work on this hearing. From Government Ops Committee staff, Johari Frazier, Erica Cohen, and Sigmund Humad. And from my staff, Shuler, Puder, and— And I want to thank Cynthia Horning. I think we'll now hear from Councilmember Williams, but I also want to mention Councilmember Zhuang, and I did mention Councilmember Moreno earlier, but he had gone to get some coffee at the time.

I think that's it. Okay. We'd love to hear from you, Councilmember Williams.

Thank you so much. Good morning, everyone. I would like to thank Speaker Menin and Chair Brewer for being here today and convening this hearing on the Mayor's Office of Ethnic and Community Media and government spending on advertisements. Government cannot be responsible to the people if the people do not know what the government is doing. Ensuring that our messaging is reaching people where they are at is critical for governmental transparency and accountability, and this is what good governing is.

Part of good governing is also ensuring that we, as the legislative branch of government, have access to the data and information we need in order to be an effective policymaking body. There are many obligations that our local laws place on the mayoral administration and city agencies, and we are here at the City Council are very mindful of that burden.

As part of our due diligence as a steward of good governing, we periodically review the charter and administrative code to reduce unnecessary burdens on city agency staff and repeal or streamline outdated reporting or other duplicative or unnecessary requirements. Having engaged with city agencies, I am proud to be the sponsor of the good government bill package being heard today.

Proposed Introduction 1127B will repeal or amend 25 provisions of the Charter and Administrative Code requiring certain reports and studies. Introduction 1128 will create a uniform default reporting due date system for agency reports. And Introduction 1129 will establish a procedure to be proscribed by the speaker for how an agency will attest to the council that it has completed operational mandates proscribed by law— local laws.

Taken together, these bills have us working smarter and more effectively. They will bring efficiencies to the work this city does, and I am thankful to the chair for hearing them here today. I want to thank the committee staff for preparing for today's hearing and to my own team for the hard work they do day in and day out.

And I love how the compliance division, who helped me create these talking points, didn't add a line to thank them for their hard work. So thank you, Malcolm, for your hard work in helping to draft these bills and ensuring that the council, again, is a responsive and responsible steward of city government and making sure that we reduce unnecessary things.

So thank you so much. Thank you.

Thank you very much. And now we'll swear you in with the wonderful counsel to this committee. Good morning. Uh, thank you for already raising your right hand. Um, we will now hear testimony from the administration. Before we begin, I will administer the affirmation. Do you affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth before this committee, and to respond honestly to councilmember questions?

I do. All right, thank you. You may begin when you're ready. Okay, thank you. Fix this mic. Uh, thank you.

Good morning, Speaker Menin and Chair Brewer and members of the Committee on Governmental Operations, State and Federal Legislation. Thank you for the opportunity to be here with you today. My name is Mazen Siddahmed, and I'm the newly appointed Executive Director of the Mayor's Office of Ethics and Community Media. I'm excited to share my vision and hopes for the future of this office and Local Law 83 in New York City.

Let me start with a simple truth: New York City cannot work for everyone if everyone cannot access the information they need. This is why Local Law 83 is a truly transformative law. Across the U.S. and globally, local news is disappearing. For more than 2 decades, the news industry has been battered by shifting business models, changing user behavior, and growing concentration of corporate media ownership.

Since 2001, the newspaper industry has lost more jobs in the US than coal mining. Community and ethnic media have been hit the hardest. Since the pandemic, Northwestern University's Local News Initiative found a quarter of ethnic media outlets nationwide shut down. Many of these publications are small, family-owned businesses operating on the thinnest of margins. They serve communities that are often overlooked by larger media organizations, and they are struggling to survive.

When a local newsroom closes, we lose more than a publication. We lose a source of trusted information. We lose a connection between neighbors and the institutions that shape their lives. The biggest casualty in all of this is our democracy. Research has linked the decline of local journalism to weaker civic engagement, less accountability for public officials, and greater political polarization.

That means fewer people are asking the questions government needs to answer. When local stories disappear, the issues affecting our neighborhoods can disappear from public view. The crisis of local news has led people around the country organizing to rebuild our local news ecosystem and asking an important question: What role can government play in sustaining local journalism? Local Law 83 offers an answer.

It is a groundbreaking effort, the first attempt in the nation to put public resources to work supporting the local news outlets that help our democracy function. It has become a shining light for cities across the country, with many hoping to replicate this approach. On its face, it is a very straightforward law. New York City government must aim to spend 50% of its advertising budget with community and ethnic media.

But underlying that are 2 pillars that provide us with compounding benefits. First of all, it ensures that every New Yorker can access the critical programs and information their government provides. In New York City, we are blessed with publications that publish in dozens of languages. They are trusted messengers in their communities. Through them, we can ensure that nobody is left behind on any government initiative that is intended to support everyone in the city.

As immigrants across New York City are under attack, this could not be more important. Access to accurate, timely information can make the difference between a family receiving the support it is entitled to, and a family being left behind. The second pillar is sustaining the journalists and publications that keep our communities informed and our institutions accountable. These publications are key to our civic infrastructure.

We need them to attend local community board hearings, ask their local electeds tough questions, and critically uplift the issues that are most pressing for their communities. Local Law 83 recognizes that supporting these outlets and connecting New Yorkers with public information are not competing goals. They reinforce one another. When community media is stronger, New Yorkers are better informed.

And when New Yorkers are better informed, our democracy is stronger. That leads us to the creation and role of this office. It is the first and only of its kind nationwide. My responsibility is to serve as an advocate for this community of publishers, across New York City government and help ensure that Local Law 83 delivers on its promise to have agencies spend marketing dollars with community and ethnic media.

My core responsibilities are to, one, train all the New York City agencies on their obligations under Local Law 83 and how to comply with the law; to manage the citywide marketing directory, which identifies the publications city agencies can work with to meet their obligations; And 3, publish an annual report assessing the government's progress towards the law's 50% advertising spending goal.

These responsibilities may sound administrative, but their consequences are real. The way we implement this law determines whether public dollars reach the outlets that need them, whether agencies effectively communicate with New Yorkers, and whether the city delivers on the commitments it has made. I started in this role earlier this month. In this short time, I've already heard from many publishers.

I hope to spend the first few months of my role hearing their concerns, as well as any concerns internally from government agencies about the obstacles they encounter in meeting their obligations. I am also gathering data from the city's media buyers and the agencies to compile the FY26 report on Local Law 83. That report will help us better understand where the city stands, where progress has been made, and where we need to do more.

I'm approaching this work with a clear-eyed understanding of the challenges and a recognition of what this law has already made possible. Throughout the country, attempts to replicate this law have struggled to move from legislative ambition to effective implementation. New York City has spent 5 years building the infrastructure to make this law work, directing millions of dollars in advertising spending to community and ethnic media.

Those are real results. Without that investment, who knows how many community institutions that help New Yorkers stay informed might no longer exist. I'm grateful to the people who built this office before me and to you, the City Council, for your continued interest in this office and this law. This sustained engagement is necessary if we are to ensure that Local Law 83 succeeds.

I'm incredibly excited about what the future holds for community and ethnic media here in New York and what role this office can play ensuring that it continues to thrive. I'd be pleased to answer your questions.

Okay, thank you very much for your testimony. So my first question is, what is the current size of your budget and how many staff members do you have? Thank you for that question. So currently you're looking at the, the Mayor's Office of Ethnic and Community Media. I'm the only person on the team, but I'm really excited to be bringing on somebody in the near future, and I think What we want to do with this office moving forward is really understand what the needs of the publishers are, listen to the publishers, listen to the agencies, understand how they have worked with this office in the past, and then build a team that can really reflect those needs and how we want to move forward as an office.

So I just find that hard to believe you're the only person in this office, and yet you have an enormous responsibility to ensure that 50% of the mayoral agency's ad buys goes to community and ethnic media? No, I appreciate the question and thank you for that. I do think that, as I mentioned, listening to the publishers and listening to the agencies is going to be really critical in these first months to understand how we can ensure this law is successful. moving forward.

I think you highlighted some of the concerns of the past, and I've been hearing from publishers about some of their concerns. So I'm excited to spend some time really trying to understand how we can build a team that can really ensure that this office is successful in the future. I mean, just to be clear, the law was incredibly successful.

It's now been gutted. So that is why we're having this hearing, because we're deeply concerned about what is happening now. What is the overall current media advertising budget of the mayoral city agencies? So when we're talking about 50% going to the community and ethnic, what is that overall amount? So I've been hired actually to do that report and try and understand that exact thing.

So in my first few weeks in the job, I've been reaching out to the different media buyers to get reports from each of them on where they placed ads over the past FY26. I need to collect all of those reports and then take them back to each individual agency to understand if those line up with their internal data.

And then I should be able to publish all of that information in the FY26 report. I mean, I just think this is honestly concerning that we don't have that number. I mean, that is a very basic number. The age— I mean, I say this as someone who was commissioner of several agencies. It's that, you know, each agency has their advertising budget, and it's a very straightforward number.

So, you know, this should not take a long time to do. We would urge you to get that number to the Council, to this Committee, you know, as soon as possible, because this should be very, very basic what that number is.

Why was the Office of Ethnic and Community Media moved originally under the Office of Mass Engagement? Thanks for the question. I can't speak to deliberations that were happening prior to my joining. Yeah, I joined in the— earlier this month and is currently the Director of Communications. Can you answer then why it remained under the Office of Mass Engagement for 8 months and then only to be moved again and then placed under the Mayor's Director of Communications?

Sorry, I can't really speak to deliberations that happened before I started. Okay. And you can't comment on why the office didn't have a director for 8 months. I mean, that is very concerning as well, that no one was running this office for— so while it was under Mass Engagement for 8 months and no one was running it, then it was moved again and again with no director until you came on board.

I appreciate that question. I, yeah, as I said, I can't really speak to deliberations that happened before I started, but I can say that it is a unique office. You know, like I said, it's the only one of its kind in the nation. And in my conversations in joining the administration, I did sense a real desire to really get it right and understand what would be needed for this office.

That's the only thing I can speak to. But other than that— I do just have to say, like, not having a director for 8 months, moving it, originally making the decision to put it under the Office of Mass Engagement, this all begs the question of, you know, how seriously this office is really being taken. I mean, I am someone who's worked with the that office for a long time.

I really believe in community and ethnic media. I'm very troubled by what has happened over the last 8 months and just that you can't answer the rudimentary question of, like, what is the agency's ad buy? Like, that is a basic question to me. Like, that is, like, question number one. What's the overall ad buy? So then how can we make sure that 50% of it is actually going to these outlets, which is what our law prescribes?

No, I appreciate your concern. As I said, I'm really looking forward to digging into the data and getting all of that information for you. Okay, I'll pass it back over to Chair Brewer. Councilmember Wilson has also joined us.

My other question is, what's your vision for the office? I mean, even the website, as you probably know, is outdated. I was looking at it this morning. That's sometimes where people see vision. So what is your vision for the office, and when do you update the website? Thank you so much for that question. Yeah, as I said, I really do see Local Law 83 as a transformative law, that it could be a law that has, as I mentioned, compounding benefits for New York City agencies and for the city as a whole.

So I think my vision for the office is to really help the different New York City agencies work with me to understand the value of working with community media, that this isn't just something that you have to do because the law mandates it. This is critical for you to execute on your mission, whatever New York City agency you are, and help work with the publishers to help them tell me their— tell their story internally to different city agencies, help city agencies meet publishers and understand that, okay, this publisher reaches the majority of this specific community that you need to reach for your program to succeed, and really help lift up the importance of these community assets across New York so New Yorkers can really see their value.

Okay, and the website update? Yeah, I would love to update the website. Right now I'm really trying to listen to the publishers, the agencies, the media buyers. I'd love to speak to people on City Council who really care about this office to help draft that vision. And I think maybe early next year I'd love to update it and write a more concrete vision for what this office is.

Yeah, but I don't mean to be rude, but you have to update the website before next year. You have to, because it's 2024. I read the whole thing this morning. Oh, I'm so sorry. You mean the citywide marketing directory? Yeah, for the— for your office. Yeah, so for the citywide marketing directory, absolutely. I don't want to make too many changes to that in the near future without speaking to publishers first.

All right. Okay. Um, the other question I have is when you are, uh, the timing of all this. So you're saying that by January you will have followed up with what the speaker suggested in terms of knowing the 50% of X agency, but hopefully even before that. So what do you expect to actually have done by January?

What is your actual specific goals by January? That's what your goal is. Thank you for that question. So definitely by January, I hope to have completed the FY26 report, have met with the majority of the publishers on the citywide marketing directory and heard from them about their concerns about the office and what they'd like to see the office do moving forward, and have a detailed breakdown also of which outlets the government has been spending with in the last fiscal year and the fiscal years prior, because I know that's been a big source of concern for publishers too.

Okay. We also heard that some of the media outlets that are on the list currently have gotten off the mayor's press list.

Do you know if that's true, and if so, do you Can you explain why they've been taken off the mayor's press list? Because you're in that agency now, you're in the communications agency. Absolutely. I'd encourage you to direct questions about the press list to the press office specifically. I do think it's really important for us as we're thinking about the future of the Mayor's Office of Ethnic and Community Media to separate press coverage from paid media because I know that some folks in the past have felt that the two things were connected and it created a sense that your press coverage maybe influenced what kind of paid media you receive.

So I don't want to create that impression at all. So I'd really like to focus specifically on paid media. I understand that. Okay, because that comes up when the mayor had his early-on influencer-only press briefing, and then of course it was quite, um, startling that some of the ethnic and community medias were not invited. So you're saying that that's not what your job is, that that's a completely different aspect of the office that you're under?

Correct. Okay. We also are very concerned about the drop in city advertising. The speaker and I also heard 100% drop in city advertising through these agencies. And that's really a huge number. So how do you— how quickly can you get them back on track? Do you think you can't do that till January, or is there something you can do sooner?

Because the end of '26 is very soon. Thank you for that question. Yeah, I think for me it's really important to understand what's going on currently. So I'm really looking forward to digging into the data and getting a deep understanding of how much money is being spent, where that money is going. Is it a question of reallocating funds?

Is it a question of the total amount of spending? and then making a plan based on that. And I'll be excited to report back to you once I get that data. Okay. Do you think there are agencies that are not spending the 50% of their ad budget? What's going to be their— the consequences? Is there some penalty for doing that?

Is there something we can do to make sure that they continue to do what the law calls for? My understanding is the law currently calls for publishing a report and explaining which agencies are not meeting their requirements. And I've found the agencies to be really collaborative and excited to work with me. So, I'm excited to work with any agency that may not be meeting its requirements, as was happening in FY25, and help them see the value of working with community media and increase that spending.

Do you think there's any change? Like, obviously in today's world, there are out-of-scope advertising going on. How will you deal with that? In other words, in the past, It was— I was around in 2021. It was a different world. So how will the new digital opportunities or not impact the spending and impact what I consider the traditional community ethnic media?

Yeah, I think that's something that you've thought about. No, I appreciate that question. I think for me, the goal is really helping the agency see the value of working with the publications who are in the Citywide Marketing Directory. So we have 293 publications. I've memorized the number, yes. In the Citywide Marketing Directory. And we— my goal is really to try and get them to spend 50% of their budget with those publications.

So really, that's my focus. What about the issues like Health and Hospitals Corporation? I was surprised. They spent very little. And some of these bigger agencies, when I looked at the list, I was surprised at how little. And there are a lot of not availables on that list of agencies that are— I have the 2.5 report. I don't want to think about 2.6, but this is the 2.5 report.

There were a lot of them, some of the big ones that spent very little money on advertising. Do you have any sense of why that is yet? No, I'm really excited to sit down with agencies and get an understanding of their plans and how they're operating moving forward. Yes, and I can't speak to any of the media plans that were happening before I arrived.

Okay, and there was also in the report, I think, about 6— I call them middlemen or middle agency. These are the groups that do the buying, or, you know, is that something that you're also going to look at? The— oh, the 6 media placement vendors? Correct. Absolutely, yeah. So as far as compiling the report, that'll be the main source of information for compiling the FY26 report because all of the spend, as you mentioned, goes through them.

And then I'll need to break down each one of their spending by the different agencies because the agencies work with them.

You need that many in order to be competitive? I just— we're always trying to save money. I didn't know if you need 6, you need 4, you need 3, you need different ones, or they have a contract. How have they been decided? It's a great question. I'd love to collaborate with council on thinking through the future of that.

Um, you know, my predecessors established the system with 6. I think at some point, uh, prior to that it was just one. And I've been hearing from different folks about the pros and cons of that system. So if you have thoughts on that, I'd love to collaborate with council on how we structure that moving forward. All right.

Turn it over to Councilmember Murano to ask questions. I have many more. Councilmember Murano. Thank you, Chair. And thank you for your testimony. I appreciate it. Sorry for the frog in my throat in advance. Congratulations on your appointment. First of all, I spent the better part of my professional life in broadcasting, so I have a tremendous appreciation for the importance of local journalism, particularly independent outlets that ask questions government officials would rather not answer.

And I actually agree with much of your testimony, especially your point that when local journalism disappears, government accountability suffers. But I want to examine whether the city is doing enough to protect the independence of the very media it's supposedly supporting. And I want to follow up on a couple of the questions the Chair asked and the Speaker.

In your testimony, you say your office exists in part to sustain publications that hold public officials accountable. But in September, the mayor moved your office under his Director of Communications, right? Isn't there an inherent tension between supporting independent journalism and being overseen by the political communications operation of the very administration those journalists are supposed to scrutinize? Thank you for that question.

Yeah, as I said, I can't really speak to the decisions that were happening prior to my arrival, you know, how that transition happened. But I will say in conversations with publishers, they— I think many publishers see this office as a conduit to their relationship with City Hall and government. And they do like the placement of the office within the Director of Communications.

So some publishers have different opinions on it, but I think that as somebody who's almost their relationship to the government, I think that some people find it almost more natural for the office to be— Well, let me make it more concrete, right? If a neighborhood newspaper publishes a series of highly critical articles about Mayor Mondani, can you guarantee that criticism will have absolutely no bearing on whether it receives city advertising dollars?

Absolutely. Would you support a written prohibition against considering favorable or unfavorable coverage when distributing city advertising? Absolutely. I think it's really clear to make clear that if people's coverage does not in any way influence their ability to receive or access advertising dollars, that's why I really want to make sure that when there are questions about press or anything, my, you know, I've been a journalist myself for a long time before taking this role, and I would never want any journalist to feel feel that doing their job is going to somehow influence the bottom line of their publication.

Speaking of influence, I want to follow up on what the chair mentioned, our hearing on influencers a month ago. And this is something that troubles me as a former broadcaster. Your testimony says we need independent journalists attending community board meetings, questioning elected officials, and investigating problems. Yet the committee report describes influencers receiving anywhere from $5,000 to $20,000 per campaign Some of those influencers aren't journalists at all.

They're essentially paid messengers. Why should taxpayer dollars be used to compensate someone for repeating government talking points when independent neighborhood newspapers are struggling to keep reporters employed? I appreciate the question, Councilmember. I really— my focus of my office is really my list, the citywide marketing directory list. So the 293 publications that are in that list, Those are the people that I'm really focused on trying to get as much money to as possible and working with the different agencies to see the value of working with them and using them to get their message out there.

I can't really speak to how agencies spend their money otherwise, but that's really my goal and my target. You know, I can tell that you're relatively new in the position because you actually answer the questions, which I really appreciate. If taxpayer money is going to influencers, shouldn't every New Yorker know exactly who's being paid, how much they're receiving, and whether they're disclosing their relationship?

I'm curious, would you support public disclosure of the ultimate recipients of every dollar spent on influencer campaigns, including payments made through advertising firms and other middlemen? It's not really my office's responsibility to decide that or not decide that. I think my office's responsibility is really focused on getting the 50% of advertising money to community and ethnic media.

Last question. Your testimony repeatedly celebrates the city's commitment to spending 50% of advertising dollars with ethnic and community media, but as I understand the law, that requirement only applies to certain forms of advertising. Social media advertising and influencer campaigns fall outside of it. So theoretically, Couldn't an administration dramatically increase spending on influencers, reduce traditional advertising expenditures, and still meet the 50% requirement?

So I'm not sure if I understand the question. Well, so it's a loophole, basically, right? I mean, the requirement only applies to certain forms of advertising, right? Social media advertising and influencer campaigns fall outside of it, right? In theory, couldn't an administration dramatically increase spending on influencers, on social media, and reduce traditional advertising expenditures, and they're still in compliance with the law?

I can't really speak— I'm not sure if I fully understand the structure of that, but I think that my goal really is to increase the amount of dollars that are going out to community and ethnic media. That's what I'm hearing from publishers, that they need this money to survive, to keep their lights on daily. So really, that's what I'm focused on in this office, is trying to get an increased amount of dollars out the door to community and ethnic media.

They gave me the hook, so I have more in the next round.

Thank you. Thank you. I'll call on Councilmember Ressler and Wilson in a minute. 2 questions. One is, I think there are media individuals who would like to be on the 293-plus list? How are you deciding who is to be added or taken off of that list? How is that conversation taking place? I really appreciate that question. That is a concern that I've heard from many publishers, you know, and the concerns really vary.

I think there's such a diverse number of views on what should be considered community and ethnic media, you know, who should be in that list. So What I'd like to do is actually convene a group where we have an open conversation about the definition of community and ethnic media, bringing together publishers, independent academics, people who have thought about this issue extensively, members of the city council who have worked with these publications for a long time and have thoughts about how we actually define what a publication who should be in the citywide marketing directory looks like.

I'd love to do that, and I think it could be a model for the country. You know, a lot of cities who have tried to execute this law have stumbled on this question: who counts? Who should we actually put in the 50%? And I think we can lead by example here in New York. Okay, I'd love to work on that with you.

Number 2, the report that came out in '25 was from July '24 to June '25. So what dates do you expect to have your report done for this year? We're in '26, obviously. Right. So the dates the report will cover? Yes. So fiscal year '26. Okay. So it will be coming out hopefully at the end of this fiscal year.

So yeah, the report itself should be done by the end of this calendar year. But it will cover the previous fiscal year. '25 to '26. Fiscal year. Okay. Councilmember Ressler.

Thank you so much, Chair Brewer. Chair Brewer enjoys giving me a hard time at every opportunity. Every opportunity I can. And I will just take this moment to say something nice. I think this is the first time I'm actually having the chance to join a GovOps Committee hearing since I formally chaired this committee. And I can say I can think of no better colleague to chair this committee in this term than Councilmember Brewer.

So thank you for your leadership. I really appreciate it. And I enjoy working with you, especially when you give me a hard time. And I want to just take a moment to thank all of the representatives from, from community ethnic media outlets that have taken the time to join us today, but much more importantly, for the work that you do day in and day out to educate and organize and inform your viewers and readers.

It makes such a difference, and I know it's hard work. You know, we all know how the local media landscape has really been decimated in recent years, and it is harder and harder to get by. But the work you do is so important, and I really appreciate it, and I know everyone here at the council does. So thank you for everything you do.

You know, when I worked in the de Blasio administration, I had the chance to contribute and work on the executive order back in 2019 that dedicated— that set the goal of, you know, a significant percentage of our ad spending going to ethnic and community media from city agencies. And the purpose there was in part to stabilize this struggling industry.

And I think that particularly under the leadership of Eric Adams, this didn't work very well. So, you know, I recognize and appreciate that you're not responsible for the failures of the previous administration. Thankfully, we can say previous. But I do want to just call out the FY25 report that noted that a total of $31 million in advertising spending toward community and ethnic media, but $18 million of it was deemed out of scope.

So our actual ethnic and community media spending was 24%, not 57%, as that report had kind of indicated. Have you done a review of what spending is being recorded as out of scope? And are you looking carefully at how to lift up the in-scope spending so that we're appropriately and accurately counting the community and ethnic media ad spending that we're doing?

Thanks for the question. I really appreciate your focus on this issue as well. I really do think that when I get the data and I'm able to really examine what different agencies have been spending, looking at that total amount will be really interesting to understand, and I would love to collaborate with council on how we're defining in scope and out of scope.

It's something that publishers have mentioned to me as well. But, yes, that is definitely something that I'll be highlighting in my report. Good. I mean, I just— I want to be clear. Out of scope, things like that are not print, digital, radio, or TV ads, including but not limited to things like social media, job boards, digital displays, bus shelter ads.

That's not ethnic— community and ethnic media advertising, right? So we just shouldn't be confusing ourselves or counting it as community and ethnic media advertising when it explicitly isn't. And I just want to make sure that moving forward, we're really clear about what we're doing and what we're not doing so that we're not inflating numbers inaccurately. And I also really appreciated your comments in response to Councilmember Murano's questions that you strongly— you're committed to not allowing for our community and ethnic media advertising to be politicized, because it is the role of these reporters to hold the powers that be accountable, whether it be the council or the mayor, and ad spending should not be correlated to that in any way.

I will say that there were persistent and chronic allegations of that happening in the Adams administration. So I think how you formalize that is really important. Relatedly, I'm concerned that ads have been placed in outlets that are heavily dependent on AI, AI-generated content. Like, we've— I've seen these, like, outlets that claim to be a, you know, Bronx outlet, and it's all AI-generated material.

There's no actual reporters working there. There's no actual independent content being created. by real journalists, and yet the city is spending ad revenue on it. Is this something that's on your radar? Have you conducted an analysis here? Thanks for bringing that up, and generally for your focus on this issue. I really appreciate it. I think that one of the interesting things with this role and how we're thinking about building this office moving forward is how much does the office really get into determining the quality of the different publications because that could lead to some of the accusations that we heard from the other council members.

So really what I want to do is, as I mentioned to the chair, convene a group where we can really have a broad conversation about how we're defining what community and ethnic media is, what we want to— what really fulfills the spirit of Local Law 83 and how we're ensuring that we're supporting publications that are giving us that second benefit.

What is that second benefit? It is keeping New Yorkers civically engaged, having reporters show up to hearings like this, having reporters go to community board hearings, go to NYPD hearings. Really, are they doing that work for their community? And are New Yorkers better off from this organization being sustained, and is it helping agencies get the word out there about their publications?

Yeah, look, I just— I hope that it's— I think that sounds reasonable. I hope as you embark on that process that you focus on making sure that real community and ethnic media outlets are the entities that are eligible for receiving this funding, that we're actually using these resources to not just reach New Yorkers and inform New Yorkers about the work of city agencies and opportunities to access services and benefits, but they were also stabilizing the nonprofit, the community ethnic media outlets that are actually doing the critical journalism and engaging in their constituencies day in and day out.

You know, and I just, I imagine that as you, you know, update or consider the firm select— the ad firm selection process, and, you know, that you're thinking about how many impressions does something get, you're thinking about, you know, how does a given outlet how effective a given outlet is at reaching specific constituencies. You know, I just want to say from the vantage point of a parochial council member, like, I represent Greenpoint.

Greenpointers is like, if you want to reach the people in Greenpoint, you go to Greenpointers. Yeah. And it's not that Greenpointers may reach the people in Queens or the Bronx, and they may not have the most impressions in the world, but if you want to reach that neighborhood, there is no better way to do it. than going and working with Greenpointers.

And so I just want to make sure that we're valuing that and considering that as you both think through updating the ad selection process and as well thinking about how we define what a community ethnic media outlet is so that we're actually working to stabilize and support this sector. Last thing from me. Thank you so much. I appreciate it.

The chair will shut me up when she needs to, which is often, I promise you. The last question from me is that, are you concerned that the decrease in public notification requirements proposed in the ballot questions is going to significantly impact ad revenue for local outlets? Have you looked at this? I'm sorry, I'll have to follow up with you on that.

Have you heard from media, community and ethnic media publications about this? how this is going to impact their revenue? As I mentioned, I have to follow up with you about that. And I'm not familiar with it. And publishers haven't reached out to me about it. But it does sound like something I'd be very interested in learning more about.

Okay. I am really looking forward to working together. Appreciate a fresh perspective and some integrity in this office. And, you know, excited for the work ahead. Thank you so much, Councilmember. Thank you.

I'm going to call on Councilmember Wilson in a minute. My other question, though, was just back to these agencies. Because I assume that they've been kind of lax where there hasn't been any leadership in your agency. So at the same time that you are, you know, talking roundtable to the publishers, I've worked in agencies just as Councilmember Russell has, and they can get real lazy if nobody is pushing them.

I know exactly how that goes. So I guess my question is, how are you going to work with these agencies? I mean, do they qualify for the full mandate waiver? I think that's a great question. Are they really under $5,000 for their advertising budget? You know, are they— I don't— you know, they could not want to have to have any more mandates, so they'll tell you it's $5,000, and even though it's a lot larger.

And then the number of agencies which have a full mandate waiver change per year, how do you keep track of them, et cetera? How are you going to do all that? Because these agencies can be as challenging as, you know, people on the outside, to be honest with you. Thank you so much, Jay. I'm new, so maybe I have naive optimism, but I've seen so much excitement about— from agencies about collaborating, working with me, and about getting their messages out through community and ethnic media that so many of these agencies are really excited to collaborate and have been willing to work with me.

So I really see my role as making that as frictionless as possible, helping the agencies understand which publications would be great conduits for their messages depending on the different communities that they want to reach. As the council member mentioned, you know, if you're trying to reach people in the Bronx, if you're trying to reach a specific ethnic community, which publications they can look up in the citywide marketing directory to find. that can really help them meet their goals.

That's really my mission, and I've seen a lot of willingness and excitement to do that in my first few weeks in the role.

Councilmember Wilson. Thank you, Chair, and again echo my colleagues in congratulating you on your appointment. We started touching on this, but how does the city measure whether its advertising campaigns are actually reaching the communities they're intended to serve? And does the mayor's office track whether advertising in ethnic and community media leads to greater awareness of use of city services?

Thank you so much for that question. And I think that's really one of the goals that I would like to lay out in the vision for this office, is those stories of impact that you're looking for and that you're mentioning. So I would love to work with publishers to uplift stories of impact where, you know, publishing an advertising campaign around vaccinations with the publisher actually led to more Pakistani New Yorkers getting vaccinated, if the publishers can really— we can move beyond the kind of traditional metrics that I think a lot of brands might use for measuring their campaigns.

But on the individual campaign fronts, I think that the media placement agencies are really responsible for working with the agencies on that. But I think my office can play a really great role in making just a broader case for the importance and the value and the impact of and ethnic media. And so many of, as you know, many smaller ethnic and community newspapers serve residents who don't get their news from major outlets.

What steps is the mayor's office taking to ensure the smaller publications have a fair opportunity to receive city advertising funding? So really, that's the goal of this office, is to ensure that small publications have a clearer understanding of the steps towards getting access to those dollars. So working with the publishers to just create more transparency about how agencies are spending, where agencies are spending, which agents, which media placement vendors are holding which campaigns, really trying to make that process really clear.

And then also working with the placement vendors additionally to help them understand that this is really important and that working with a small publication might be more complicated. than a typical, you know, big buy, but that they really need to do that and that we as the government see value in that. And then just to one of the bills we're considering today, Intro 1129, the agencies would have to confirm when they've completed certain requirements established by local law.

So how would the city verify that these requirements have actually been completed rather than relying only on the agencies? confirmation. So I'm not familiar with the, um, the resolution that you're referring to, so I'd have to follow up with you. Proposed. It hasn't passed yet. Okay. I'm not, uh, referring— I'm not familiar with the proposal that you're referring to, but I'm, I'm happy to follow up with you once I have a chance to review it.

Okay. Thank you. I'm good, Chair.

Been joined by Councilmember Felice and Councilmember Stevens. I'll call on Councilmember Stevens in a I'm still focused on these agencies. I know they have nice, wonderful, sunny ideas, but they still don't always do what you might want them to do. So are you going to work with training materials? Don't forget there's a lot of new people, so they may not have the background to know what you are hoping to achieve.

So are you going to do training materials with them? Are you going to do roundtables? How are you going to get them— to actually do their job, even though you say they're so excited about this? Thank you for that question, Cher. So I really want to spend the first few months of my role understanding what their experience has been like with MOECM in the past, especially the agencies that maybe have struggled to meet the 50% or agencies that have large ad budgets.

Really understand what was the friction, what was your experience working with MOECM, how can I reduce that friction? Once I get an understanding of that, and hopefully we can maybe change some processes and reduce that friction slightly. I'd love my training to be focused on the value and impact that working with these publications provides. So really getting understanding of what are the communication goals of all the different government agencies and focus the training to be tailored towards that particular agency and help them understand that, okay, you typically work on these 5 or 6 campaigns.

Here's how community and ethnic media can really help you achieve those goals. Let's sit down and work together and think about how you can build a media plan and maybe even bring some publishers in who can help them, help explain to them what their publication does, who it reaches, and how it can be helpful. So are you going to develop training materials?

Is that also part of your vision, or is this something— how are you going to actually implement this training? That's what I mean. Yes. So the law mandates that I have to train every agency every 15 months. fiscal year, I believe. And I think part of my job in the next few weeks is really going to be building those materials.

But I do think I don't want to build them without really understanding how things were done previously and what people's relationships are like. I understand that. I just— I'm concerned because I want to get the money out the door because you and I could be learning and they could be folding because they don't have funding. So that's why I was asking these agency questions.

Councilmember Stevens. Okay. All right. This out-of-scope issue is mostly concerning because it's a different world than what it was when the law was implemented. So I guess this would come down to what it is that a community and ethnic media outlet is when you have you know, figured out their new or not new definition. But social media advertising is considered out of scope.

And why is that? Is that because of the law, or is there some other reason? I would have to really look back at my predecessors and how they defined the in-scope versus out-of-scope piece. But I think that what I really want to do, first of all, is get all of the data for FY26. understand how spending was laid out for the private previous fiscal year, and then build a definition around that and understand how agencies are spending.

But really, ultimately, the goal is to increase the amount of dollars that are going to community and ethnic media. That's the ultimate goal for this office, and I'd love to collaborate with City Council in finding solutions for that. Okay.

Councilmember Stevens. Ready? Um, I guess one of my questions is, I know, um, in conversations with some of the ethnic media groups, they have, um, expressed their concerns about not being able to get access to some of the advertisement dollars or feeling like they're not part of the conversation. And maybe you've kind of already addressed some of this.

What are, what are some of the steps you plan to take to ensure that you're doing outreach to all the different outlets and making sure that they have a seat at the table? And also, like, traditional media, print, and those things— how are you going to make sure that they're, they're engaged in, in this process as you are building out your plan?

Thank you for the question, Councilmember. So I've spent the first few weeks of my job sitting down with publishers. I've met a dozen publishers who represent about 60 news outlets in the city, and I'm looking forward to continuing to do that work, listening to publishers and really making it clear that my office is accessible to them, that they have my phone number, they can call me, and we can build a long-term relationship.

I think that, you know, as a journalist myself, I feel that people want to be doing the job of journalism, and a lot of these publications, the journalists are also the publisher who's running who's trying to get ad dollars. So I want to make that as frictionless as possible and really make myself accessible, make it easy to meet with me, not make it so that everyone has to come to City Hall.

I can go and meet them where they're at and hear from them about their needs. And as I get a better understanding of everything that's happening internally, really try and create more transparency so people understand how they can get access to So I represent one of the largest African communities in the city, and they're growing fast. And so one of the questions that I have is also, why is African outlets such as Little Africa One and others not receiving— haven't received any advertising dollars for this year yet, if this is something that is a priority?

Thank you for the question. So I can't speak to what was happening before I arrived and the media plans, what was happening before I arrived, but I am really excited to dig into the data for FY26. How long is that going to take? So I'm hoping to have the report— I'm confident I'll have the report done by the end of this year.

And so, so I just want to make sure I understand. So because you just started, folks have to wait till the end of the year to figure out how they're supposed to access. So how do we ensure that these outlets don't collapse in the meantime while you are getting acclimated? What was the transition like? Because that's unfair that because you started that everyone has to wait.

So what, what is the transition? What does that look like? I'm confused. Are you the only person there? Was no one there before? Like, I'm confused. I appreciate the question. So are you asking with the transition into my role? I do, because you just said that you— it's going to take you about to the end of the year to figure out how these folks are going to get access to the advertising dollars.

And I'm saying that by then they probably already folded and collapsed. So I'm trying to understand What was the transition from you, from the person before you, and the staff that's currently there? Are they not there? Because I'm not understanding why it's going to take that long, because that's not fair to the folks who are waiting for it.

So I can't speak to what was happening before I arrived. I really do appreciate the question and your advocacy for community and ethnic media. And I think my first job really is getting an understanding of what happened in the previous— So when did you start? I'm sorry. 3 weeks ago. started 3 weeks ago. Councilmember, there were 8 months nobody in the office, just so you know. 8 months.

So because this wasn't a priority for the administration, people now have to suffer. Because I want to be clear, that's the signal that's being sent out. Whether you started 3 weeks ago or not, that doesn't mean that the work does not continue. And so I'm concerned that now folks are suffering because that's going to be a problem.

So I'm really confused about folks waiting until the next steps. And so is there any way— is there not staff there that you can work with to figure out how to get these advertisement dollars out faster than by the end of the year? So I really appreciate the question. I think that the, um, the— what I mentioned previously, my previous comment was about the report.

And I think really that's what a lot of folks are trying to understand is where the money went, how the money was spent in the last fiscal year, how different agencies allocated their dollars in the last fiscal year. So By the end of the year, I'm really working on developing that report. So getting that data from the different media buyers, understanding which agencies they work with, and then having the agencies verify that information.

I have another question. How are folks supposed to contact you if there's no contact information on the website? Because I'm getting intel right now that they don't even have contact information on the website. I appreciate that question. I can follow up with you with more information about that. But I've tried to make myself as accessible How do they find you and how do you be accessible if there's no contact information?

I'm gonna help you update your website if you want. It has to be updated. I know how to update websites. You can't say that you want people to reach out to you and you're accessible if they don't have the information. Please update the website. I'll get the, uh, commissioner of OTI to do it for you. Literally, I'm calling her.

I've known her since she's born. I will get that website updated. Thank you so much, Chair. I mean, I guess I'm done with my time. I just want to be clear, like, I don't think that it's fair that folks have to wait. Take as long as you want, Councilmember. Oh, you sure? Don't give me an inch. I just don't think that it's fair that this office sat without someone appointed for 8 months and now folks still have to wait.

Like, I think the sense of urgency, and this is— it seems like a running theme because I had a hearing yesterday, and a sense of urgency does not seem to be there. And, you know, I think that when there's issues that the administration deems important, they move mountains to get things done. And this is a sense of urgency because these outlets are going to fold, and they depend on this.

This is their lifeline. And it's not okay for us to kind of just say that we're going to assess and figure it out. That should have been done. And even if there's not someone at the helm, if we have— agencies that if someone leaves, everything stops. That's problem number one. Things should be in place so that doesn't happen.

So I'm disappointed that that happens, and I'm disappointed that these, these outlets might fold because we are failing them. And that is a problem for me, because again, when things are deemed important with this administration, things get done. And this clearly is something that you guys don't deem important, and that's unacceptable to me. So thank you, and I appreciate All the things you're saying and understanding that this isn't your fault because you just started 3 weeks ago, but that is really unfortunate.

Thank you. I totally agree. I think that the contact would be half of the equation just in terms of showing good faith. And then secondly, the issue that I brought up earlier of who is going to be on the list has to move as quickly as possible so that her organization and others can get funding. But I did note that in '25, then-Controller Lander did a report and even had organizations like 1010 WINS and New York One on the community and ethnic media list.

So I mean, that's— I don't know, to me that would not be community and media list eligible. But that's, again, you're going to have to figure that out as quickly as possible. Rather have Councilmember Stevens smaller community and ethnic lists be on the list. So as quickly as possible, I would suggest that has to be done.

Thank you. And just to pick up on one of the things that both Chair Brewer and Councilmember Stevens were alluding to, I'd like to get a little bit more clarity on how you get on this list, right? So your office maintains the citywide marketing directory which agencies use to identify eligible media outlets. Who determines whether an outlet qualifies for inclusion?

Are the eligibility criteria public? And is there a formal appeals process if an outlet is rejected? Thank you for that question, Councilwoman. Yeah, that is one of the most important things in this office. So I can read for you the current criteria that's on the website. In the law. So it says, serves a particular communities of people based on native language, race, color, gender, national origin, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, disability, or immigrant status. 2, targets a discrete neighborhood, geographic region, or population within a city rather than the city as a whole.

Or 3, falls within a specifically tailored subject matter as determined by the executive director. So I think that as a, you know, member of the media previously and, you know, in my conversations with publishers, you know, the folks from NYCOLM, the New York City local community ethnic media group, are here. So many publishers have expressed confusion about this list.

And that's why I do think creating a much more public policy and approach to this and having a public conversation so that there isn't confusion about which publications are in and which publications aren't, I think is really one of my main goals for this office. And as I said, I think it can really be a model for the rest of the country as well.

And we're all rooting for you, I think. I mean, and we're wishing you the best of luck with that goal. Let me give you a hypothetical. Say there are 2 neighborhood newspapers that serve essentially the same audience, right? One's been around— Staten Island. One's been around for 50 years, has a small staff, and publishes original reporting. The other is sort of what Councilmember Ressler was alluding to earlier, a relatively new operation that either uses AI or just mostly republishes press releases.

Are they treated identically for purposes of your directory? Does original reporting count for anything? Or is this strictly a question of reaching a particular audience? It's a great— I really just want to say thank you for the question and the level of detail and thought around this issue. But I do think this, as I said, is something that I want to be made as a community.

I really do want us to convene a conversation that includes publishers, independent voices, people like yourself who have detailed understanding of this problem, because I do think that the question of the agencies being able to reach the most people through these community media outlets and ensuring that we're sustaining that civic function that I mentioned in my testimony are 2 really important pillars and goals and live up to the spirit of local law 83, which I think is critical.

And would you support— and I'm guessing you would based on everything we've heard today— publishing how many outlets apply to join the directory, how many are rejected, and the reasons for rejection? I will definitely follow up with you once we have those conversations and, you know, really think about what a robust, transparent process looks like for this directory.

And I think really, I just generally, I think that one of the goals for me in this role is to increase transparency of this office as a whole.

I have to maintain my reputation with Chair Brewer by asking a Staten Island-focused question. So, you've talked about reaching underserved communities, and I totally agree with that objective. And I represent the South Shore of Staten Island, where a lot of residents rely on neighborhood publications that the larger citywide media rarely pay attention to. Does your office track advertising expenditures based on the communities an outlet actually serves, rather than simply where its headquarters happens to be?

I mean, and— Further, as a kind of a second question there, can you tell me how many Staten Island-based or Staten Island-focused media outlets are currently in the directory? Thank you for that question, Councilmember. I can definitely follow up with you on the second half of the question and get you that information. And on the first half of the question, I would also need to follow up with you just to really get an understanding of how we would define that.

I think it's really important though, what you're raising is that who are we reaching with citywide marketing dollars? Are they— I think when this law was created, the majority of the money was not going to community and ethnic media, it was just going to really large publications. So part of the role of this office is really helping city government understand who are we reaching when we spend with community and ethnic media.

So in line with that, I think there is potentially a role for that, and I'd love to follow up with you. Well, you've got a partner in me. Okay. Thank you so much.

Thank you very much. We've been joined by Councilmember Dinowitz. I have one more question. We asked earlier about the ones who are the primary advertising firms to help place the ads, and I know you said that that's still part of your discussions, and there are 6 of them, but did the city have master contracts with Greystone or Miller, and are there master agreements with the other ones?

And I think, as I said, there are 6. So how are you going to make this decision as to who to engage with, and do you know how long these contracts are for? I'm happy to follow up with you with that particular information and get you the details of that from DCAS, but I do think that the way in which we're working with the vendors is such a critical part of making sure that Local Law 83 succeeds.

They're really a linchpin in ensuring that we work with the community and ethnic media and, you know, from the agency side, creating a more frictionless process, and also from the publisher side, feeling like not only are they receiving support, but they're being treated with respect and they're actually getting the things that they need and, you know, able to do reporting in a way that the agency finds useful.

So how are you going to evaluate them? I assume you haven't had a chance to meet with all 6 of them yet, but how are you going to evaluate whether or not they're doing their job? So I would love to partner with you on that and, like, what role this office should play in that evaluation. You know, I think that, you know, when we're thinking about the scope of Local Law 83 and what this office is responsible for and what it does.

I think that that kind of evaluation is something that we'll need to discuss, but I'm happy to follow up with you once I have more information about how the contracts are structured and what we can do moving forward. Okay. I know you mentioned that you're going to hire an additional person. Are you going to hopefully have others hired, or it's not clear yet?

I believe that what we're hoping to do over the next few months— or sorry, What we are going to do over the next few months is really evaluate the needs for this office, the strategy and how we want to execute on this office, and then build a team that reflects those needs.

Councilmember Stevens. Sorry. I just had a question. Specifically, the New York Coalition for Ethnic and Community Media. They're saying that how— what is the engagement going to look like with them? Because they feel like they have not been part of a lot of these conversations, and specifically, um, because sometimes they're— I guess they're not necessarily seen in a good light from the admin.

What does that look like with, you know, ethnic media groups who might be pushing the envelope, which technically they're supposed to do because that's what media is supposed to do, be the check on government? And so could you talk about like what is your approach is going to be with those org— um, those outlets? My approach with all outlets will be the same.

I'm really excited to meet as many publications as will meet with me from the Citywide Marketing Directory. I'm having sit-down meetings with a number of publications and publishers. Publishers are also busy, and, you know, scheduling time with them— Have you already started reaching out to them? Have you scheduled roundtables and conversations with them? Has that already started?

Yes, I've spoken to about a dozen publishers so far, and I have a number of meetings coming up in the next few weeks with other publishers, and they've been really informative. So as I said, I'm really excited to have the way that this office functions moving forward be informed by conversations with publications and really trying to capture the range and diversity of publications that we have in the city.

Folks who are hyperlocal, focused on a specific geographic region, or people who focus on a specific language group or a specific group based on sexual orientation or disability. So, and the needs of the different types of publications based on their medium and size really varies, and their relationships with MOECM in the past and what they'd like to see in the future is also quite diverse.

So I think that the goal really is to listen to as many publishers as possible and try and understand those through lines and then explain to folks how we want to work moving forward. Okay, well, I want to just uplift that. You should definitely reach out to the New York Coalition of Ethnic Community Media because, you know, they feel like they haven't been at these— been a part of these conversations.

And I do think that we want to make sure that we have a diverse group, even if they might seem adversary, because the media's job is to push government and hold us accountable. And so making sure that we are reaching out to all of those who might not necessarily be as friendly, because that's what the media is supposed to do, hold us accountable.

I really appreciate you raising that, Councilmember, and I just want to be super clear. I was a reporter, so I have a lot of respect for reporters who are adversarial, and I have no issues with meeting with reporters who are adversarial in any way. So I'm more than happy to meet with publishers. If you— if I could reach out to your office and be connected to them, I would love to do that.

And to the councilmember's previous questions, I really do want to make clear that people's coverage of the administration in no way impacts their relationship to this office. Yeah, I just want to be clear. Like, I'm an elected official. I want the people to hold me accountable. I'm— that's— if everyone is just saying I'm doing a great job, I'm scared because you're not pushing my thinking.

And so we need media to make sure that they are actually a check on us. and being the voice of the community in the same way I'm the voice of the community. And so wanting to make sure that everyone has a chance and opportunity, even if they may seem adversarial, because again, like, I talk to everyone even when I don't want to, but we should be talking to everyone, and that's the media's job.

So I just wanted to make sure that that was taken into consideration. So thank you. Thank you, Councilmember. Thank you. We— I have the number, we'll be glad to share for the coalition. They're wonderful.

Um, we're just back to this influencer issue because obviously Department of Sanitation, as an example, they have a budget. I assume it's more than $5,000. So they would be one of the agencies that would in fact have come under Local Law 83. So they will do, I assume, hopefully 50% for the list that you come up with that you will hopefully have done by the end of the year.

Hopefully they've been spending up to now, even though they don't necessarily have a complete list. But then the other 50%, would that go if they want to use influencers or other out-of-scope scope individuals? How would you have any sense of that? Or do we keep that other 50% as their decision? But in the world that's different than it was in 2021, is there any change in the definition of what a community and media outlet is?

Or will it— is that something you're going to kind of stick to? Because some of these media and community folks are probably influencers and a community and media outlet. Who knows? So I'm just wondering, again, I'm coming back to this definition is perhaps different than it was in 2021, and how will you be looking at that? Not to say that you're going to make a final decision, but how are you thinking about that?

I appreciate that question, Chair. So I think really, as I've mentioned, my focus is trying to increase the amount that the agencies are spending with the publications in the citywide marketing directory. So that in-scope number, the whatever it might be, however we want to slice it, I really want to ensure that publishers feel like they're getting their fair share and that they're able to continue to grow their publications and do their— the critical job of journalism that they're doing in the city.

So I think that that's really my focus, and helping the agencies understand the value of working with these publications. that this isn't something you just have to do because of the local law. No, this serves your interests. This is critical to you to actually execute on your vision for what you want to accomplish with your agency and your marketing communication goals.

The other question I have is just a little bit hypothetical, but God forbid we have some other crisis, Office of Emergency Management would obviously kick in, but I'm just wondering if you're— I know this is not a hopeful thing, but there's always something that comes up in our city. I'm just wondering if you're meeting with them just to say that if in fact there is some crisis, it could be a health crisis, it could be a hurricane, it could be, you know, something beyond imaginable, meeting with them to say if such a thing happens, how could we work together to get the word out?

In other words, obviously there have to be increased advertising budget in certain communities. communities. So are you thinking along those lines also? Absolutely. I think that there are, you know, in a lot of the communities that the publication serves, we're already in a state of emergency and crisis for a lot of communities in New York City right now.

And I think that ensuring that they're getting critical information out to the communities that these publications serve is critical. And really trying to ensure that marketing directors at all the agencies understand the importance and that these are your best conduits for trying to get information out to all New Yorkers is something that is incredibly important. So I will be making that case.

And the example of the pandemic is really important and I think is a turning point for many folks around, you know, how Executive Order 47 kind of coming into— being written right before the pandemic, and I think really was what set the stage for Local Law 83. I wasn't in government in 2020, so I wouldn't— I was.

I'd love to partner with you and understand how that worked and how, if something like that was to happen again, we can learn from that experience and try to— Not a panic, but the census could be a panic if this president decides how he's going to handle it and we don't. So, I mean, that's an example. It's a situation where we absolutely need every single outlet to be available and clear.

And so that's an example. And 2030 is not so far away. I couldn't agree more. Councilmember Dinowitz.

Thank you, Chair. I think you had just made reference to some of the local newspapers. And in my district, we actually lost a local newspaper, the Norwood News. Have you heard of this? Of course. And if you could just share some of the work that your office does or can do, because as we're losing papers, we're also losing, you know, a critical part of our civic structure.

What work your office does to support our local media and what further work you can do and investments you can make to bring back the Norwood News. I appreciate that question, and I think everyone in local media was devastated to hear about the loss of Norwood News. It was you know, breeding ground for a lot of great Bronx journalists and is a publication that I think was near and dear to many people's hearts.

So we were all devastated to hear about that. And it speaks to the broader trend that I've spoken about in my testimony of the difficult conditions that we're currently under to keep local news alive. So that is really the whole entire purpose that this office was created for and why Local Law 83 was put into place was to help preserve these community institutions like the Norwood News.

Well, I understand that, but it has not been preserved. So I'm wondering how we can work together to preserve it, or what work, if any, the office has done to bring back the Norwood News. So specifically on specific publications, I think the goal of the office is really to work on the sector as a whole and try and help agencies understand that they should be working with the publications in this sector in order to achieve their goals.

So really what I'm trying to do as we start in this role and build out this office is work with the different agencies to help them understand where they're spending and how they can be spending more with publications that can both meet their goals getting the word out to the communities that really need this information and also help sustain publications in the city that are critical for our civic infrastructure.

So in your assessment, do you think the agencies are aware that there's only one local newspaper that covers the Northwest Bronx, that's the Riverdale Press, because the Norwood News is no longer there? So I couldn't speak to their kind of understanding of all the different marketing directors in all of the different agencies. And so Some of them are former journalists themselves, and I'm sure, you know, maybe worked in the Bronx themselves.

I wouldn't wanna completely say that no marketing director in New York City government is aware of that, but I do see it as my role to help people understand the urgency of this moment and to help them— Well, I guess I'm asking, if you're identifying your job as to work with these marketing directors in the different agencies, wouldn't it then also be part of your job to make sure they know about the closure of local media outlets?

I appreciate the question. Yeah, I appreciate the question. Yeah, I think that, um, I do agree that there is a role to be played for helping them understand the Norwood News is a critical source of information for people in the Northwest Bronx, and that if you're trying to reach people in the Northwest Bronx, it's critical to work with publications like that.

Um, and I hope that all the different agencies in my time in working in this office will have a deep fluency of all the different publications in New York and will know which publications to work with if they're trying to reach different people in different places. And I see my role as trying to educate them and help them understand that.

Yeah, I would think you don't just have to hope that they have an understanding. I mean, I would think that would be part of your job, right? And so I'm ready to work with you to make sure our agencies understand this. The Norwood News isn't just critical, a critical publication in Norwood, Bedford Park, it's the only one.

That was the only place my neighbors were getting their information, and now they have nothing. There's no other print publication that's delivering to the different buildings that's in all the centers where people need to get information. I stand ready to work with you, but I, but I think the perspective should be less about hope and more about obligation.

I think we as a city have an obligation, and in your office have an obligation, to work with these marketing directors as you've identified to support local journalism, particularly those who have or are on the cusp of closing. Thank you, Councilmember. I appreciate that. Thank you. Thank you, Chair. Thank you very much, Commissioner. We appreciate it. We look forward to working with you.

We're going to go to the next panel. Thank you so much. Thank you. So I now open the hearing for public testimony. I remind members of the public that this is a government proceeding and that decorum shall be observed at all times. Members of the public shall remain silent at all times. The witness table is reserved for people who wish to testify.

No video recording or photography is allowed from the witness table. Members of the public may not present audio or video recordings as testimony, but may submit transcripts of such recordings to the sergeant-at-arms for inclusion in the hearing record. I just want to say— I'll continue, but we're going to call Rachel Faust from Reinvent Albany and Ben Weinberg for Citizens Union.

Please come to the table. If you wish to speak at the hearing, please fill out an appearance card with the sergeant-at-arms and be recognized. When recognized, you will have 3 minutes to speak at today's hearing, Mayor's Office of Ethnic and Community Media and Government Spending on Advertisements. That's the title of the hearing. If you have a written statement or additional written testimony you want to submit for the record, please provide a copy of that to the sergeant-at-arms.

You can also email written testimony to testimony@council.nyc.gov within 72 hours of the close of the hearing. Audio and video recordings will not be accepted. If you're here as a panelist in person, please come up to the table once your name has been called. Thank you very much. And we will start with either Rachel or Ben, whoever wants to begin.

Ben and I were talking about who should go first, and we were both being too polite, but I'll, uh, I'll start. Thank you, Chair Brewer. My name is Rachel Foss. I'm the senior policy advisor for Reinvent Albany. Reinvent Albany advocates for transparent and accountable government in New York. We're here today to ask the council to do 5 things.

First, pass legislation clarifying that electronic communications that create a public record must be archived and thus easily retrievable by agency FOIL officers. users. And we presented a draft bill in conjunction with Citizens Union at last month's hearing. While we appreciate that this hearing provides another opportunity to discuss instant messaging retention policies, we do not think creation of a working group in your preconsidered bill is necessary.

We note that the working group would dissolve after issuing a report. It's in line with the council's goals of limiting reporting requirements, like the other bills on today's agenda. Thank you. But we do believe our bill to clearly define substantive instant messages and retention rules in the city charter is the best path forward. We are concerned that further delay in clarifying these requirements risks losing additional important government communications that should be preserved.

Second, we ask the council to hold a separate hearing on the Freedom of Information Law compliance and our proposed records retention bill. The Department of Records and Information Services told the City Reporter this week that their implementation report for Local Law 199, your bill, Chair Brewer, that codifies and expands the open records portal will be released in mid-November.

These topics are synergistic given that one important goal of records retention is ensuring the public can access records about government decision-making through FOIL. We also support the council's initiative to consolidate or eliminate agency reports that are no longer necessary. And we support Intros 1127, 1128, and 1129. Considering the topic around ethnic and community media today, we continue our ask that Intro 1076, which has influencer disclosures, could be folded into the annual advertising spending report rather than reside with Doris.

I think given the conversation today about influencers and ethnic media, there's a lot of overlap, and being in the comms office actually makes it— might make sense to broaden that report. And then lastly, on the topic of paid advertising, we asked the council to look at clarifying enforcement authority for the council— the city charter's ban on electioneering communications paid for with city resources.

And there's more in my testimony, but my time is up. Thank you. Thank you very much.

Thank you. Thank you, Chair Brewer and Councilmember Dinowitz. My name is Ben Weinberg. I'm the Director of Public Policy at Citizens Union. I'll make 3 comments today, 2 on the topic of the hearing and one on Chair Brewer's bill. So first, government spending on advertisements using social media influencers, this came up September hearing. We strongly encourage this advertisement to be clearly disclosed.

When people see an influencer post, they may not realize it's paid for by the government. So the council should establish clear paid-for-by disclosure requirements that mirror federal guidelines, incorporate them into the city's advertising contracts, as the council often does, establishing conditions on city contracts in Title 6, Chapter 1 of the Admin Code. So this would be a simple fix.

We don't recommend addressing this issue by placing restrictions on individual public servants, as was discussed in the last hearing. Second, we think the council should limit government spending on advertisement for political and electioneering purposes. This also came up in some of the questions by council members. So the charter has prohibited using public resources to influence elections and referendum questions since 1998.

But we've seen in recent years that that prohibition has eroded, especially when we have the legislative branch and the executive branch on opposite sides of a ballot referendum. There are basically no clear guidelines on this issue. There's no regulator who decides or guides on who crosses the line and when, and no one who enforces the ban on referendum electioneering.

Even in recent weeks, we've seen questions and concerns about the ad campaign by City Hall around the ballot questions. The truth is we don't really know if those violated the law or not because there's no regulator or watchdog that would tell us whether they— this does in fact constitute illegal electioneering. The conflicts of interest towards COIB is best positioned to address this gap, and the council should give the COIB explicit authority to issue rules and provide guidance on the existing prohibition.

Third, on record retention related to preconsidered by Chair Brewer, the council needs to ban the use of auto-delete functions from government communications and codify instant messaging record retention policy in the charter. This was discussed in September as well, a bit in this hearing as well, but the recent reporting that you all might have seen of a whistleblower lawsuit involving DCAS where senior managers allegedly used personal phones, private emails, memos to keep sensitive talk out of public record.

In one case, explicitly opening their text messages by saying, hey, I didn't want this on Teams. That further highlights why we need to keep this issue, keep clear rules on this issue. And I'll just mention, I know I'm out of time, just mention quickly At the last hearing, we heard the administration imply that public servants are basically free to choose for themselves whether messages on third-party apps should be retained, what messages constitute as substantive communication, what apps they should use for communication.

So there's obviously a lot of confusion there, to say the least. Councilmember Brewer's bill to have a working group led by Doris to study and recommend improvements is a useful first step. We appreciate the effort to align the modern use of instant messaging with the City's needs for record retention and public accountability, and to encourage the administration to rethink its position on enforcement in this issue.

But we also believe the Council should go further and prioritize directly amending the Charter to address these challenges, establish binding record retention requirements, codify instant messaging message policies and explicitly prohibit the use of these auto-delete functions. Thank you very much.

Thank you both for many years of excellent testimony and support. I will say that, just so you know, all of the bills that you talked about previously and in your testimony are being drafted. It's just a little slower and couldn't get them ready for this hearing, but we're certainly focused on them. So thank you both very, very much.

Thank you. Thank you. Next panel is Mona Davids, that's from the group that we love and was mentioned earlier by Councilmember Stevens, Ms. C. Fuadimaris, Bob Henley, and Walter Sanchez. Thank you. Go ahead, whoever would like to start. I don't know where everybody else is, but go ahead.

Good morning, Chair Brewer. Thank you for the opportunity to testify today. On behalf of the New York Coalition of Ethnic and Community Media, we want to thank you for having this hearing. We want to thank you, the Speaker's Office, her team, as well as Simone Jones, the Chief Equity Officer for the City Council, for meeting with us and hearing our cries.

Although the council has touched on— this hearing has touched on the challenges that ethnic and community publishers have faced this year under the Mamdani administration, I think it's really important just to quickly, before I go into our proposed amendments and recommendations for Local Law 83, but just to have it on the record how we have suffered for the general public to understand what's been happening.

It has not been 8 months of no leadership. It's been 9 months without leadership, staff, or recourse. For the first 9 months of the Mamdani administration, no one was leading the Office of Ethnic and Community Media. Publishers were left without a functioning office, a designated contact, or anyone to answer fundamental questions about the disappearance of city advertising and the city's compliance with Local Law 83.

During this period, publishers repeatedly sought answers about why advertising that had supported their businesses and helped them serve New York's diverse communities had disappeared. Their inquiries went unanswered. There was no meaningful point of contact, no clear explanation, and no avenue for resource. The impact on ethnic and community media publishers has been devastating. These are often small independent businesses, including immigrant-owned publications that have spent years building trusted relationships with their communities and sharing information about public services and city programs.

They provide news and public information in languages and neighborhoods that mainstream media frequently do not reach. Yet for 9 months, publishers were left to confront the loss of advertising without effective leadership or support from the very office established to serve the sector. I'm just going to briefly outline our proposed recommendations for the office and comment as to the— Go ahead.

I'm letting you go overtime because you have a lot to say. say. Go ahead. Thank you, Chair Brewer. The New York Coalition for Ethnic and Community Media calls on the New York City Council to amend Local Law 83 of 2021 to establish a transparent, independent, and enforceable system governing city advertising expenditures, the selection of media recipients, and the oversight of advertising agencies and other contractors spending taxpayer funds.

The proposed amendments should: 1, establish an independent Office of Ethnic and Community Media outside of the mayor's direct authority; require quarterly public reporting by the independent office for every city agency and every contracted advertising agency; Require disclosure of every recipient of city-funded advertising, including ethnic and community media outlets, influencers, and other digital recipients. Establish uniform verification, reporting, and accountability requirements for influencers receiving taxpayer-funded campaigns.

Prohibit political favoritism editorial coercion, and retaliation in advertising allocation and press access. Strengthen enforcement of the minimum 50% mandate for ethnic and community media advertising and improve waiver oversight. Establish an independent complaint, appeal, and audit and investigation procedures. Require transparent advertising placement criteria and written explanations for exclusions. Protect public records and require the preservation of advertising-related communications.

And lastly, commission an independent review of advertising allocations since January 1st, 2026, including the reported decline by publishers. The coalition's position is that the city cannot claim to support ethnic and community media while leaving publishers without an office to contact, an explanation for disappearing advertising, or a process to challenge decisions affecting their livelihoods. The law must provide enforceable protections regardless of which administration controls City Hall.

I thank you. Thank you very much.

I know you'll be submitting that, and it's a wonderful list. I think about half of it we discussed in this, but there's still other parts to it. So thank you so much. Thank you.

Thank you, Chair Brewer. I think this is the first time in my 50 years of journalism I'm on this side of the microphone. My name is Bob Henley, and I'm the general manager and City Hall reporter for WBI Pacific. Pacifica Radio in New York City. This has been on the air as a nonprofit, community-run, and informed radio station since 1960.

WBI provides emergency alerts as well as local, national, international news, all without a subscription or paywall, to hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers who can't afford either. That's right, all you need to know for free, something that's essential for democracy to survive in an era where corporate-owned social media has increasingly supplanted authentic journalism. On 9/11, we were based at 120 Wall Street, just blocks from the World Trade Center, and because our transmitter was on the Empire State Building, we stayed on the air until 5 PM, until National Guard ordered us to leave.

There's no doubt with our traffic and subway updates, we saved lives that day, and in the years since, have led the discussion on the lingering health impacts from the EPA's assertion the air was safe to breathe. And since June of 2024, we've managed to stay on the air thanks to listeners and unions representing 5 million households. We've not gotten CPB money in a decade.

My first reporting job was when I was 17 for a local community newspaper. I'm 71 and have been in the news gathering business for over half a century and pivoted to broadcast journalism because, as it turned out, extemporaneous expression paid better than the printed word. which when I was on staff at the Village Voice paid $1 a word.

For many years, I was on staff at WNYC, which up until the Giuliani administration was municipally owned. After being pension eligible at what was now New York Public Radio, I went to work for several years at the Chief-Leader, the city civil service newspaper in business since 1897. BAI is one of 5 flagship stations owned by the California-based Pacifica Foundation, a 501 nonprofit that also includes a Pacific affiliate network made up of 210+ affiliates in 40 states, several countries, and 30 swing districts, all run by their local communities.

BAI is where, as a struggling college student, I learned the basics of broadcast journalism without having to pay any tuition. It really helped me to get the foundation for a long career in print and broadcast journalism that includes work with NPR, The New York Times, CBS 60 Minutes, and dozens of other outlets. WBI has a paid SAG-AFTRA staff of 5 master control engineers, 1 news director, a program director, several interns, and dozens of volunteer producers who helped us maintain a 24/7, 7-day-a-week broadcast schedule.

Our paid full-time employees are overwhelmingly composed of women and people of color. Our volunteers have included people like Dr. Michio Kaku, the world-renowned City University of New York physicist, David Rothenberg, the founder of the Fortune Society, as well as the legendary broadcasters Gary Bird and Bob Lawa. WBI was the incubator for Democracy Now!, hosted by Amy Goodman and Juan González, which went on to become one of the most widely distributed news programs in the world with its unique style of anti-authoritarian reporting.

Back during the Adams administration, when I raised Local Law 83 that advanced the concept of municipal financial support of community and ethnic media, I was told The administration was not interpreting the law that way, and that my understanding was informed by an executive order from the de Blasio administration. The mayor's Office of Ethnic and Community Media did solicit a proposal from us for a news internship program, which my program director, Kaziah Glow, completed and submitted.

After months of back and forth, we were told there was no money. I'm happy to report that thanks to the Transport Workers Union of America, we will receive $20,000 to start the Michael J. Quill Labor Reporter Internship Program. This will be in addition to our existing intern program and our partnership with Audiophiles, an award-winning news magazine and podcast produced by students at the Greg Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY.

The reality is union and listener support is not enough to cover our $1.3 million operating expenses, which includes an $18,000 monthly payment to the Durst Organization for our transmitter on top of the Times Square building, which I believe was built on land owned by the New York City Economic Development Corporation. Bobby, you're going to wrap up? One more.

We've paid over $400,000 to Durst Organization the past 2 years and currently owe another $200,000. Thanks for holding this hearing, and we need your help.

Thank you both very much. Thank you. The next panel is Kamlesh Mehta, 73rd, I can't read that, from the South Asian Insider. Imadi Nadeau from the Radio W.E.B. and Eleanor Tatum, my friend. Is she still here? God, she lost weight. We'll add a few more because I think some people have left. Chelsea Community News, Chart Buttersill. Somebody from URC Media, Mr.

Keilata. Hi. and George Fiala from Red Hook Star. If you're here, please join. Okay. Go ahead, Ms. Tatum.

Good afternoon, Chair Brewer. Thank you so much for having this hearing today. It's so important, as you know how important community media is. I'm Eleanor Tatum. I'm publisher and editor-in-chief of the New York Amsterdam News. We have been around for 117 years supporting and reporting on the communities in New York City. When Local Law 83 came about, it was very important to the survival of the Amsterdam News and community media all across New York City.

It came at a time where we all needed that support more than I think a lot of us even knew at the time. And over the next few years, it became even more and more apparent how much we needed that support, especially when COVID hit. And then the Adams administration came in and we saw it weaponized. We saw it used to some people's advantage and some people's very much disadvantage.

That wasn't really talked about here, but it really was used as a weapon. And also, we saw advertising dwindle. We saw it cut nearly in half. And while it has been talked about that we've seen in the Mondavi administration it get even further hit. That is absolutely true. But it started even before that. And the Office of Community and Ethnic Media, while it serves a very important purpose, it's not the one that actually places the advertising.

It helps us answer questions. It helps us navigate. But it's not their responsibility to actually place the advertising. The one that does that is the advertising agencies, and that's who we really need to be looking at. Those advertising agencies, those 6 agencies, are the ones that I think we really need to be investigating, because those 6 advertising agencies are the ones that have the contracts with the city.

Those are the ones that have bid for those contracts. Who have the deal with the city that goes on till— I think most of them go on till, I think, 2029, who usually go with the lowest-hanging fruit, whatever is easiest for them. And most times that is television and radio. And that's where a lot of times the local press, both websites and print media get left out.

Now, the agencies themselves, as you rightly said, sometimes they also get lazy. And I'm talking about the city agencies. And they don't want to do the work. And it's our responsibility as publishers to be going out there and telling them that we're here and that we exist. And it's the responsibility of the Office of Community and Ethnic Media to help us do that.

And I think having this hearing when you did was a disadvantage for that office because Mazen is so new. And he does not have all the answers yet because he has been put in a spot that's untenable because he did not put any of this into play. He just got here. Yeah. And he is not responsible for anything that has happened as of to date.

And I think that was very unfair, and I just had to put that on the record because I think he's on the side of all of us and wants to do the best that he can. The administration, however, and I know he is now part of this administration, They have some explaining to do, but he can't do that explaining for us because he does not have that information yet and cannot talk for anything that happened before he got here.

So, um, thank you. And also, the law itself needs to be strengthened, and only the council can do that. So thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you.

Next. I'm Charlie Battersby, a reporter with LGBTQCommunityNews.nyc and with Chelsea Community News, and I'm here to read words written by our editor-in-chief, Scott Stifler. Scott has 2 statements he'd like me to read for him. The first is, good morning. These are Scott's words. Good morning, members and supporters of local and ethnic media. I'm thankful for this occasion to collectively improve upon 2001's Local Law 83 and the Mayor's Office of Ethnic and Community Media, which was created to bring that law into real-world practice.

I hope that the Council and Mayor's Office will do all they can to ensure that— to ensure that office is empowered with the authority and resources to achieve its mandate. The success of MOECM will determine the effectiveness and the very existence of hyperlocal publications throughout New York City. I'm not invoking that mass extinction scenario out of smarm or exaggeration.

To be a publisher of ethnic or community media is to constantly pull back from the brink of financial ruin. But what is the point of existing if one cannot constantly publish hyperlocal news our readers turn to us for? Or as our editor, Scott Stifler, says, we are only as prolific as our editorial budget allows. And Scott has another statement.

What publishers need is income. To not only keep the lights on, but to ensure a steady, consistent stream of new content. The income derived from the city campaigns was at first an important contributor to the bottom line. But now advertising agencies alone determine what media will carry a city department's message. Ethnic and community media cannot match the metrics of a CBS.com.

Many publishers, including myself, have gone all of 2026 with no calls of inquiry, let alone contractual work. Please empower MOECM to have sign-off power over these campaigns and to insert our style of media when appropriate. The LGBTQCommunityNews.nyc site, for example, should be part of every agency's HIV prevention, testing, or awareness campaign. And also, please consider ways to distribute Local Law 83's funds that are not beholden to performance.

Why not— and this is Scott's words— why not just throw money at us? Make it specific for rent or office supplies and let every member of the directory get an equal portion.

Hello, my name is George Fiala. I'm a publisher of 2 papers, one the Red Hook Star-Review in Brooklyn and one the the Village Star-Review in Lower Manhattan. And I've been in the business actually for— since the Koch administration. And I'm not here today to ask for anything, but I would like to give my perspective on how I think MOECM should be handled.

And I want to also say that Mazin is an unbelievably great hire. Thank you. I'm also on the executive committee of NYCOLM, which is a group of New York City-based print and community and ethnic media. In any case, and we were introduced to Mazin at City Hall. I also want to say that since NYCOLM got us connected with City Hall— What I'm trying to say is that even the what they call the earned media, we weren't involved in.

In other words, the mayor did not put us on any press— on the press list or whatever. But now we met a woman named Dakota who is wonderful. So I have good things to say about Dakota at the press office and Mazin. But what I would like to say is last week in Red Hook, Brooklyn, we had a community meeting that was sponsored by our Councilwoman Alexa.

It was about how to use money that EDC was able to— it was like a bribe that the community got some money to do with what we thought was right. Like many things, I publish an old-fashioned newspaper, we have a website, we have newsletters, but everybody puts stuff on Instagram and Facebook. So I saw the meeting announcement on Facebook, and I called up Alexa and I said, listen, this would be perfect for our paper because it's a local thing.

And she said, well, we don't have any budget for that. It's an EDC thing, and you'd have to talk to them. Talking to EDC is like not something you can do. But the MOECM, to me, They should go to all the communities and have people to understand what people are reading, how to reach people, whether it's on whatever social media or legacy media or whatever it is, and then advise to be a resource for the council people to say, listen, we have something going on, how do we get it out there?

That should be another part of what MOECM should do, a resource for the city council.

Thank you all. Thank you all very much. And we were following up on everything. Thank you. Next is Abu Dare from Staten Island and CG. It says CG Washington. Washington. Somebody see G. Washington? Go ahead, sir.

Good morning. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you to the speaker who already left and member of the committee. I would like also to acknowledge, you know, Frank Morano, a fellow Staten Islander who already left. I cross the bridge today to show support to many of our community leaders who have been outstanding protecting the purpose. My name is Abou Sy Jahateh.

I am the co-chair of Staten Island Immigrant Council as an immigrant advocate from Senegal, West Africa, and longtime Staten Islander, and I think 24 years It's not a week. It's not a decade. I'm here to call for a fair and equitable distribution of New York City advertising dollars to African ethnic and community media. African New Yorkers help the city thrive.

As you all know, we own businesses. Care for patients, teach students, serve the public, and support our neighbors. We pay tax, raise family, and contribute to the cultural and economic life of New York City. We deserve to see our community reflect in the city public investment. And I think that is a must, and I think it's a moral obligation for all of us.

Yet many of us feel that African community media are being overlooked. We hear commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, and one of my favorite slogans is no one should be left behind. And I stand for that, and I know, Madam Chair, you've been outstanding protect the purpose when it comes to inclusive process. Today, I ask specifically about Little Africa News and Suno Africa News.

Have they received city advertising funding? If not, why not? What criteria determine which outlet receive advertising? I would love to get that answer, and I know our newly appointed executor, I think, tried hardly and has been outstanding answering those questions, and I give him credit for that. How does the city ensure African media receive fair considerations? This question deserves clear public answer.

African community media provide essential services. They help residents learn about healthcare, housing, education, small business, resource, and government program. They educate us and they raise awareness. And I think access and resource is key element that we need protect. As an immigrant, I think, you know, this is what I have been echoing for the past 2 decades. Their strengths come from trust relationship familiar language, and an understanding of the community they serve.

Many newcomers do not speak English. On Saturday night, including me and my mom, who usually come, we stay until midnight to listen to SUNU Africa Radio. Little Africa News goes citywide, including Staten Island. Those, they deserve credit, and they are not overnight media. They've been around For years, I come in U.S. 2001, and since then, Sun African Radio and Little Africa—they deserve a thumbs up from me, and I give you that credit.

When the city overlooked this outlet, it risked leaving residents without information they need. Why the advertising agencies are getting the privilege? I believe in fair share and fair representation, and my slogan has been: No one should be left behind. Little Africa News, Sun Africa News deserve opportunity and a fair chance to thrive regardless of their— where they belong, where they come from, including their accent, but from the challenge they face, they need to be taken into consideration.

I'm going to conclude by saying fairness means giving every eligible outlet a meaningful opportunity Equity means recognizing and addressing the barriers that prevent some outlets from participating. Small organizations might lack the staff or resources to navigate. The city must examine whether its process allows these outlets to compete fairly and whether it's advertising to rich African communities effectively.

Every ethnic community deserves support. African community deserves that, some respect, consideration, and investment. I respectfully ask this committee and the city to take 2 concrete steps, which is my recommendation. First, publish clear, accessible advertising spending data, because I'm very data-oriented, so we can see where the gap is and we can bridge the gap. by agency and media outlet along with the criteria used to allocate this dollar.

I know single dollar will not run America. We need to wrap up. Yes. Second, review how advertising decisions affect African community media identity gap and establish a public timeline for addressing them. We need transparency about where the money goes and accountability for whether it's reach all our community. Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you, Committee Council, for your outstanding work and support through this process.

Thank you. Thank you very much.

The next is Hinadi Nadi from Sun Africa Radio and Christopher Leon Johnson. Hello. Hello, Chair Brewer. My name is Christopher Leon Johnson. I want to say this right now that look, I support this 100%. I know that you care about this. I know that the new executive director cares about this. But the issue here is that the city council have been asked.

Like what's up with the Moam situation where, um, where people try to pop up press passes, Moam move the goalposts of who gets them and who doesn't get them. Um, I want to know why is that when an influencer covers a certain event it gets approved, but a regular person cover the same event, the goalposts get moved.

I want to say this right now, that this administration when it comes to media access, they're like the worst. Um, it's all about influencers and that's it, and who could do cringy TikTok videos more than real, um, journalism. More than— that's, that's what's going on here. Um, the big issue is that this administration is known for retaliating against people that gives them unflattering coverage.

And going forward, I know there's gonna be more hearings about this. Um, They need to start asking questions to members of MOAM about what is the real criteria of getting a media pass? Because if you cover 6 events at one spot, how does one reporter get approved for covering the same events, but somebody else doesn't get approved?

What's the real criteria? And basically, this mayor administration needs to start giving respect to the ethnic media. people that know how to do journalism, not just people that know how to exploit AI and ChatGPT to get a point across with these social media influencers. So going forward, I support these bills 100%, and thank you. Thank you very much.

Thank you.

I'm sorry we called you earlier. I apologize. No problem. Thank you, Madam Chairman. Thank you, Committee Council. We are very Proud to always see you for your leadership. We've been following you for the longest, and we've been working with City Hall, covering City Hall since Bloomberg time. I gotta admit, I've been hearing it since morning. I gotta say, the administration of de Blasio has do right for ethnic media.

Since then, we had issue, I gotta admit, with the previous administration, with Eric Adams. But we didn't see this coming. This is just unbelievable. Madam Chairman, I could tell you that at the moment I'm talking to you, my anxiety has just gone overwhelming. It gets to a point where I'm thinking, should I get a part-time job? And that's when that happened.

I mean, I won't be focused on doing what I've been doing for over 20 years. Soon after graduation, he's serving in the tri-state, most definitely the Five Boroughs. As I said, You said it very well. If he, in the moment of the pandemic, if he wasn't of the ethnic media giving information to our community, it would be a big disaster.

And coming to, like all my predecessors already said it, the major problem we're always having is after doing the job, we don't get paid. It takes us 3 months, sometimes 4 months to even get, get paid. And from what I heard, mainstream media Get paid in advance, and I think we deserve that more than ever. Now, question was asking here.

I heard it. Who decide who get advertisement? Since we I went to a point that right now I almost going out of business. That's the truth. I did call some agency, and the answer, and I know it doesn't have nothing to do with Mr. Mazone. The answer they give me is, it's from City Hall, the new administration.

They didn't tell me exactly whom, but what they told me was a couple of agencies that they are more favoring influencers. I heard that from them. I do have a radio show that I've been doing for 20 years and we get a website. And I told them, how come then I don't get advertisement from the website? And the question comes again.

They favor the influencers and they don't want to tell— they telling them who they should give advertisement or not. It's clear that don't have nothing to do with Mr. Mazondo just started 2 weeks ago. So I would be straight up, I may be wrong, is the new mayor. I'm just going straight and I try everything to be able to go and cover certain event since Bloomberg.

You know, Grace Mission was everybody's house. That's what I remember. Now, when there's even happening, it's a pick and choose. Even if you click to say I will come and cover it, it's up to them to tell you if yes, you are more than welcome to be there or not, which is really unfair. So, Madam Chairman, all I can say is like it's more than now than more than ever that.

The ethnic media, we need your support and hoping that the new mayor will understand. And the African community, the immigrant community, we are the fastest growing community and we always, for some reason, be left behind. And hear me out. We are making the differences. I don't know if I'm allowed to say it, but I may say all this election that's been going on.

We are making the decision. If the what's so-called new fastest growing communities doesn't vote for you, you likely may not get it. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. And thank you because I thought I made it really clear when I was speaking was even December is a long time to get your office in order because of the funding desperately needed by the community and ethnic media.

So we're going to keep on it. Thank you so much, sir. You were terrific. Thank you.

Okay. Okay. After final in-person is over, which has now happened, we will turn to the virtual panelists. Oh. We will look to— have you filled out the forms? Okay, they were called. Oh God, I don't know. Okay, so I don't know who these people are. All right, go ahead. Who are they? I don't know. Sorry, I thought we had called everybody.

I apologize. My name is Walter Sanchez. Yep, go ahead.

So I'm blown away at the amount of— I'd like to invite you to my next party because People don't know newspapers the way you do, and some of the other council people the same way. Terrific. Thank you very much for your support. So I'm Walter Sanchez. I've been doing this 40. I've been publishing papers 41 years. I'm a resident of Maspeth, Queens, and owner of a collection of nine weekly community legacy newspapers in Brooklyn and Queens called the Queens Ledger Greenpoint Star News Group.

I also happen to be the chairman of Community Board Five in Queens. Don't hold that against me. And— I love community boards. I know you do. And many of us, and I'm the chair of the board of the Variety Boys and Girls Club, and I'm on a federally qualified health center board in Rockaway. And I want to make the point that many of us here, many of the publishers are really pillars of their community, and they do incredible community work.

It's a lifestyle. And it's our mission to really help and serve the community. The Wave has been published every Friday since 1893. I'm the leader observer of Woodhaven Richmond Hill every week since 1909. It seems that dollars spent have definitely dried up, and you know that, and we talked about that. I mean, in I think people feel that somebody said, you know, nobody reads newspapers any longer, and we're not just print, by the way.

We have websites. and newsletters and things like that. And if you go out to Rockaway, there are 110 newsstands where we outsell the Post and the Times and the News. Everybody in Rockaway reads the Wave. We even have a fishing column and a surfing column. So how about that? I know the newspaper well. I worked there for 2 years.

I love the Wave. Thank you. So social media and blogs using clickbait have a model that has really driven more readers towards our trusted legacy newspaper. Sure, they get clicks and views, but people really trust and fully consume what's in our newspapers. Most of us print 30, 40, 50 pages a week, and it's a weekly storybook and time capsule for our community with calendars, obituaries, coverage of local civic meetings.

I really want to talk to you about, and Eleanor really inspired me to talk about this, the agencies really don't know us. Too many, I don't want to say fake, but too many news organizations that weren't real. Got advertising in the in the last episode, and it really bothered me. So I figured I have trust in the in in the city and the way you do things.

And I just figured it really blew my mind when when people got ads that they shouldn't have gotten ads. If you know, we know more about our community, and I'd I'd love for the executive director to really meet with us. I've never met him, and I have nine newspapers here in Queens and Brooklyn. So I feel that.

I love what Eleanor said. Talk, you know, take a new look at the agencies. The New York Press Association is a collection of newspapers that does this for free. We'll tell you what's the first read, what's the second read in each community. I'd love for you to talk to them. But thank you more than anything for holding this hearing and being such advocates for us.

Thank you.

We have a saying in Queens that Queen gets the money. So here Walter Sanchez and I am. I would like to introduce myself. My name is Smitra Kalita. I live in Jackson Heights, Queens, and I have been a journalist for 30 years covering and leading news teams nationally and locally. I was a senior vice president at CNN, managing editor of the LA Times, executive editor of Quartz, a page one writer for the Wall Street Journal, a reporter for Newsday, the Associated Press, and the Washington Post.

I've also written 2 books and been honored for my work in newsrooms, including the Pulitzer Prize and the Edward R. Murrow Award. In 2020, I left corporate mainstream media as the pandemic, racial justice protests, and presidential election collided. With our democracy in crisis, I decided my efforts might be best applied to local news. Today, I am the CEO of URL Media, which stands for Uplift, Respect, and Love, which is a revolutionary idea in media, and the publisher of Epicenter NYC, a community-centered news organization rooted in Queens covering issues citywide.

As CEO of URL Media, I am here on behalf of the New York City publishers in our network, numbering more than a dozen, whose experiences with city advertising admittedly vary widely. Some tell us they have received zero advertising dollars in calendar year 2021, That has not been the case for Epicenter NYC, which I also run, but I stand in solidarity with New York City publishers, nonprofit and for-profit, large and small, ethnic and mainstream, and veterans of print, broadcast, and digital, just like myself.

We are stronger together. New York needs an ecosystem, not a handful of survivors. Local Law 83 was a pioneering policy, And we've talked about much of the decimation of that. In the interest of time, I'll speed this up. The implementation has not lived up to the promise. You have cited the reports showing that spending has fallen 84% since the law took effect.

And we've raised concerns about late reporting and the addition of major mainstream outlets to the ethnic and community media directory. This distinction matters. A growing percentage of a shrinking or narrowly defined advertising budget is not a growing investment in our communities. Translation, you cannot shrink the denominator and call it a success. I have been sounding this alarm for more than a year.

I have raised these concerns with council members, mayoral transition committee members, Governor Hochul's policy advisors, and members of the State Senate and Assembly. Last December, URL Media and the Center for Community Media tried to get in front of the issue, and we signed an open letter signed by 51 outlets publishing in 14 languages, asking the incoming administration to restore spending and transparency.

We also made a number of recommendations around some of the issues that have been raised around press passes, access, spend by city-supported institutions on local and ethnic media. They're in the appendix. I don't want to take more time, but I do want to mention that We laid out quite a number of issues. We are still today asking for a functioning, predictable, and transparent system.

We are thrilled, and I want to be clear about this, by Mazen Sidhamed's appointment to lead the Mayor's Office of Ethnic and Community Media, and we look forward to working with him. He understands the work, the communities, and the stakes and the urgency. His appointment is an opportunity for a reset. But it must also come with the staffing, authority, resources, and accountability necessary to make that reset real.

We are asking this in the middle of a media landscape that has changed dramatically since this law passed. For example, our audiences are consuming more video now. AI-generated summaries can draw on our reporting without sending readers back to us. Publishers in our network describe steep web traffic losses, in some cases approaching 40%, and in other cases unknown because of the prevalence of bots and unknown visitors to our websites.

At the same time, government funding cuts have left community outlets without the money to deliver information and resources to New Yorkers, while the retreat from DEI commitments and pressure on subscriptions and audience reach are hitting multiple parts of our business. Even those who have diversified our revenue feel under assault. Creators and influencers are also a part of this changing landscape.

I do not believe we should pit them against established publishers. I do believe we need transparent standards for everyone receiving public advertising dollars. Who was selected? Why? What were they paid to deliver? And which communities were reached? Today I am asking for your partnership to modernize the system. Do not make it more opaque. We also need to reconsider how we talk about ethnic media.

The term can make us sound peripheral. In a city as diverse as New York, where 2/3 of the city is non-white, we are not peripheral to the people we serve. We are New York City. At Epicenter, we helped more than 20,000 New Yorkers connect to COVID vaccines, and I just want to take a moment to thank you, Councilwoman, for including links to how to get vaccinated to Epicenter in your weekly communication with your constituents.

Our work did not stop at publishing information. Today, we are helping communities understand their rights amid immigration enforcement like we have never seen before, in English, Spanish, Bangla, Chinese, and other languages. We do not just tell people a service exists. Community media close the distance between a public promise and a person's ability to use it to gain access.

That trust is valuable, but it is also labor-intensive. Translation, cultural adaptation, answering questions, and community distribution should not be treated as free extras attached to an advertising buy. I'm going to speed this up. I asked the council administration to take time to take 5 concrete steps. First, publish a clear implementation and recovery plan for Local Law 83.

Explain how every agency will meet its responsibilities, identify gaps in current outreach, and restore meaningful investment, not simply report a percentage. Second, require quarterly outlet-level reporting. Show the agencies, campaign outlets, language, boroughs, or audiences served, the amount allocated, and the amount actually paid. We must report agency and intermediary fees separately from the dollars. Piggybacks on Eleanor Tatum's excellent point.

We should include a creator and influencer spending. I do want to also mention that the delays in payment from the city results in delays in payment to the agencies, which result in delays or non-existent payroll that our publishers have to meet. It's a citywide problem. We're aware of it. Keep going. Third, open the decision-making process. Publishers should know who selects outlets, what criteria are used, and whom to contact when an entire language, community, or neighborhood is being missed.

Eligibility and placement decisions must be protected from political favoritism. Advertising, as we've discussed, must never be a reward for favorable coverage or withheld as punishment for scrutiny. Fourth, modernize what the city buys and how it measures value. We must, as we've discussed today, go beyond the web impression and recognize how publishers deliver on engagement. For example, through community partnerships and cultural competent outreach.

Evaluate whether a campaign reaches the intended residents, not simply whether it generates inexpensive ad impressions. Fifth and finally, establish regular engagement and a broader plan for media resilience. Give this office a dependable mechanism for hearing from publishers. and yes, the website is a start. Work across city agencies and with state government on complementary policies that support journalism, workforce development, shared production resources, and the transition underway in our industry.

New York is held up as a model for community advertising policy, community media advertising policy. At conferences across the world, I hear praise for— Can you wrap up? Yes. I hear praise for our law, while knowing how uncertain and interrupted the experience has been for publishers at home. We should be able to stand behind that model, not bite our tongues when it is celebrated.

New York, too, is the media capital of the world. Remaining so requires more than preserving famous brands. It requires sustaining the newsrooms, broadcasters, creators, and community relationships that make this city legible to the people who live here. This is not a request that government replace our business models or purchase our loyalty. It is a request that government communicate effectively, spend transparently, pay us fairly for our work, and honor the responsibilities.

We need both an ecosystem that sustains this work and an infrastructure that values it. Thank you so much.

Thank you both very, very much. I'm sorry about the confusion. I think that's That's everyone from in-house, correct? Anybody else? Otherwise, we'll go to the Zoom. Thank you so much. Appreciate it. We will now turn to virtual. For virtual panelists, once your name is called, a member of our staff will unmute you and the sergeant at arms will set the timer and give you the go-ahead to begin.

Please wait for the sergeant to announce that you are there and that you can begin before delivering your testimony. And the first person is Terry Wisdom. Thank you, Terry Wisdom.

Okay, yes, good morning, good morning everyone. I'm Terry Wisdom. I am the CEO and founder of Harlem Network News, and I just want to really show my gratitude to Gail Brewer, our Councilwoman Gail Brewer, former Manhattan Borough President, and also to our speaker, Julie Menin. Harlem Network News started at the onset of COVID I have a background in media, 30 years.

I am in several units— unions, a video editor. I've worked at every network that you can think of, from ABC to NBC, to CBS, local news, network news, worked at CNN when they first started. I was up in Connecticut, so I know this media world. I have worked in feature films. I am trained. I have a degree in media from Fordham University, went to Lincoln University, and was part of a PBS program that they had for media.

And I started my career at CNN. Sesame Street and Electric Company. So I am a media person. I live, sleep, and breathe it. I'm also a Harlem entrepreneur. At the onset of COVID my partner was— had been encouraging me to start a network. But at the onset of COVID when I saw Black people walking around Harlem thinking that they could not get COVID because they did not see their images, and we know that there are certain diseases that, you know, affect other and certain communities, like sickle cell mainly impacts people of color.

So they were thinking they were immune. But part of it was they were not part of the media conversation. And because of things like the Tuskegee experiments, they really didn't trust the medical community. So I had to jump in the deep water and start Harlem Network News. I am proud to say that then our borough president, Gale Brewer— Your time has expired.

Okay, so what I want to say is it's critical with this ethnic media that money be infused. I'm part of the ethnic media team. I've been asking for a whole year. I do get Mayor Mondani's press, you know, thing every day, but I did not know who was ahead of it. Now I know. We need to be on the planning committee.

We are media people. We can turn this thing around in a day. I'm used to coming to an NBC at 3 o'clock and being on the air at 6. So there's no reason with all the money that there is that we can't gallop and get this thing going. It's disparity, particularly in Harlem and Harlems of the world.

We are suffering, suffering, suffering, suffering. And most media that looks like it's Black, it's not. It's a Tubi who is owned by Fox News, and they're getting our advertising dollars for our eyeballs looking. So I'm here, I'm willing to participate to help this thing get boots on the ground so that there can be equity in media. And media is a message, the message is media, and it's more critical than ever in the political climate that we are in.

And half of my community has no idea what's going on. And mainstream media does not cover things that are happening in Harlem, and they will tell you, oh, You know, send us some B-roll and we'll put it on. They never do. So I'm ready to stand up and fight back for this. And it's unacceptable from this administration that it's taken this long for us to get ahead of ethnic media.

It was a mystery. This is insane, especially in a time where we have access to everything. So thank you very much, and I yield my time. Thank you very much. Thank you. And I do need to get contacts for the head of the ethnic media so that we can connect. And I appreciate greatly— this is a breakthrough thing that's happening.

So I love it.

Thank you. Thank you, Terry Wisdom. And we're going to fix that website. And I appreciate everyone who's been here today. And I suppose— okay, we've now heard from everyone who has signed up to testify. If we inadvertently missed anyone, we would like Who would like to testify in person, please visit the sergeant's table and complete a slip.

If we missed anyone who would like to testify virtually, please use the raised hand function in Zoom and a member of our staff will call on you in the order of hands raised. I don't know that anyone is going to do that, but if— I will call the names of anyone who registered to testify but has not yet filled out A witness slip?

I don't think anybody is in that category. Seeing no one, I'd like to note again that written testimony, which will be reviewed in full by committee staff, may be submitted to the— for the record up to 72 hours after the close of this hearing by emailing it to testimony@council.nyc.gov. I mostly want to thank everyone who's here, from the council staff as well as those who testified.

And I can promise you that we are going to follow up. I think this hearing was well-timed in the sense that it puts a little heat on the fact that the money has to flow. Thank you all very, very much, and we are on the case. Thank you. Adjourned.