Los Angeles County supervisors want to know where the county's advertising dollars actually go — and whether more of them should land with neighborhood papers, ethnic outlets and hyperlocal news organizations instead of the usual big names. Supervisors Hilda Solis and Janice Hahn have put forward a motion calling for a sweeping review of county advertising spending, with an eye toward building a framework that could steer more public outreach dollars to smaller, community-rooted media.
According to Los Cerritos Community News, the motion calls for an independent examination of county advertising expenditures alongside a countywide framework meant to increase smaller news organizations' participation. The proposal, as reported by Pasadena Now, would have county supervisors consider a motion to study the feasibility of increasing advertising and public outreach through local, ethnic and community media outlets. The motion is described as aiming to improve communication with the county's diverse residents while supporting smaller journalism organizations.
Per the motion, Solis and Hahn said effective government communication requires reaching residents through trusted sources, in languages they understand and within their own communities. The motion also states that coordination with local, ethnic, community and hyperlocal media could improve reach to residents who are underserved by traditional government communications. County departments regularly communicate about health care, public benefits, housing, immigration services, public safety, disaster response and other essential services — areas where the motion argues neighborhood-level outlets could play a bigger role.
A County Report Still Pending From 2020
This isn't the first time county officials have flagged the issue. A 2020 county report found that the county lacked comprehensive information about advertising expenditures, utilization rates and outcomes, the same report notes. The new motion would direct the county CEO to report within 120 days on available funding for an independent study of advertising and marketing expenditures, including money distributed through contractors and other intermediaries.
Importantly, the proposal does not immediately establish an advertising spending requirement, appropriate additional advertising funds, or guarantee contracts to community publishers, per the same account. Instead, it calls for the county CEO to report on the feasibility of a framework for increasing advertising and outreach funding through localized media outlets, with that report due back within 120 days. County officials frame the possible framework as something that could give departments a coordinated way to identify and engage localized media outlets, potentially improving the county's own understanding of how its communications and advertising resources are being used — and helping ensure public information actually reaches its intended communities.
Looking to New York City's Model
The motion points to New York City as a possible template, saying Los Angeles County could consider whether a similar structure would work locally. New York City adopted a policy in 2021 requiring at least 50% of advertising funds to go to community and ethnic media, a shift that followed an analysis finding most advertising money had been going to larger mainstream outlets.
That policy traces back further than the 2021 law. According to the Newmark J-School, New York City's Executive Order 47, issued in May 2019, first directed city agencies to spend at least 50% of their print and digital advertising budgets on community and ethnic media. The City Council followed up in June 2021 by passing Local Law 83, permanently committing at least half of city government advertising to community media. A fiscal year 2021 compliance report from the NYC Mayor's Office of Ethnic & Community Media confirms the law directs agencies to seek to send at least 50% of their advertising spending to ethnic and community media outlets.
The results were notable: community media in New York City received a record $15.6 million in city agency advertising in fiscal year 2021, equal to 82% of the city's $19.1 million print and digital advertising budget, the Newmark J-School reports. More than 230 community media outlets received those funds, and 30 of the city's 33 agencies spent at least half of their print and digital advertising in community and ethnic media that year.
What Preceded New York's Shift
New York's policy change didn't happen in a vacuum. A 2013 City University of New York study found that mainstream outlets received 82% of New York City's government advertising funds while community outlets received just 18%, according to Los Cerritos Community News. That same study found Spanish-language publications received only 4% of advertising expenditures, even though Latinos represented nearly 30% of the city's population at the time.
California has already moved in a similar direction at the state level. Governor Gavin Newsom signed AB 1511 into law, which requires state agencies to develop plans to increase advertising spending in media outlets serving the state's diverse populations, according to Inside Radio. The law reflects a planning and reporting approach rather than a hard spending percentage, setting it apart from New York City's mandated threshold.
Why It Matters for a County of 10 Million
Los Angeles County includes 88 cities and unincorporated areas and is home to more than 10 million residents, a scale that supervisors argue makes coordinated, multilingual outreach especially important. Local, ethnic, community and hyperlocal media can help reach residents who rely on neighborhood-based and multilingual sources for information, the motion states — a point that resonates amid broader struggles facing local journalism, including declining advertising revenue and reduced newsroom capacity, as Los Cerritos Community News notes.
For now, the motion simply sets the clock running on a 120-day report. Whether that leads to a New York-style spending framework, a smaller pilot program, or something else entirely remains to be seen once the county CEO's findings come back to the Board of Supervisors.
