Introduction
1. The community media landscape
New York City’s community media ecosystem, as captured in CCM’s expansive directory3, encompasses 280 print, digital, radio and television outlets that provide coverage in 39 languages. The business models of these outlets range from for-profit to nonprofit, both large—millions of pageviews a month—and small— a few thousand. Revenue streams include advertising, subscriptions, memberships, donations and sponsorships. Some publications are independently owned, while others are part of larger entities like Schneps Media, which publishes more than 80 newspapers, digital news sites and magazines.
Unlike mainstream outlets, these publications provide targeted news and information tailored to specific neighborhoods, cultural groups and linguistic communities. They reach populations that might otherwise remain disconnected from local politics, community events, immigration policies and essential social services. Beyond merely disseminating information, many of these outlets create platforms where community members can voice concerns, share experiences and actively participate in civic discourse.
Before Executive Order 47, New York City’s community media operated within a deeply inequitable system. A 2013 CCM study revealed that mainstream news publications received 82% of city advertising dollars, while community outlets received just 18%. A small network of family-owned ad-placement agencies controlled this process, directing most spending to major publications like New York Daily News, New York Post and The New York Times, effectively shutting out other publications.
2. Executive Order 47 and Local Law 83
Executive Order 47, issued in May 2019, mandated that city agencies allocate at least 50% of their print and digital advertising budgets to “community and ethnic media,” which it defined as “any print or digital publication that is created for communities of people based on native language, race, color, gender, national origin, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, disability or immigrant status; targets a discrete neighborhood, or a geographic region, or a population that may or may not typically receive information from mainstream publications because of their exclusive use of foreign language.”
It also required the Mayor’s Director of Community and Ethnic Media, or another individual designated by the mayor, to “develop and maintain a list of community and ethnic media outlets.” Finally, it required city agencies to publicly release annual reports that include “the total amount each agency spent on such advertising and the total amount each agency spent on community and ethnic media.”
In June 2021, that executive order was codified in Local Law 83. This new law expanded the definition of eligible media4 to include radio and television outlets. It also led to the creation of the Mayor’s Office of Ethnic and Community Media (MOECM) and established that the mayor would appoint its executive director.
At a high level, MOECM was created to manage the flow of ad dollars and communications between city agencies and community media outlets. To receive ad placements, outlets must apply to be listed in the MOECM directory.
The law also mandated that MOECM publish annual reports that detail the city’s media ad expenditure for each fiscal year, including the percentage spent both on community media and on mainstream media. The reports must also disclose out-of-scope spending, which includes social media and street advertising on billboards and digital kiosks.
3. The Advertising Boost Initiative
The Advertising Boost Initiative was launched in 2020 with funding from the Charles H. Revson Foundation and Citibank5 to help New York City’s community media outlets access their share of the city’s advertising budget after Executive Order 47. ABI serves as an information bridge between the outlets, city agencies and advertising agencies.
ABI represents just one facet of CCM’s broader work to support community journalism. The center operates numerous programs, including media mapping projects, election coverage initiatives, and specialized support for Black, Latino and Asian outlets. Some of these programs are developed in direct response to needs identified through ABI’s publisher consultations and advocacy work. This holistic approach recognizes that government advertising revenue alone cannot—and should not—sustain community media.
ABI advocates for community media outlets in this ecosystem and works to bridge knowledge gaps in three key ways:
- Ensuring competitiveness: ABI prepares community media organizations to compete for advertising dollars by helping them to understand ad metrics and to develop rate cards and media kits. The program also helps them navigate the application process to join MOECM’s directory to receive city advertising dollars. These skills enhance their ability to build stronger relationships with city-contracted ad agencies and also strengthen their position when approaching private-sector advertisers.
- Training and mentorship: ABI has created targeted training programs and webinars—such as Digital Growth Mentorship and Understanding Advertising Agency Best Practices—that are designed to help community media publishers measure audience demographics and engagement, and to strengthen their digital capacity for revenue generation.
- Events: ABI has hosted town halls on myriad subjects, like increasing community media visibility for access to advertising. ABI has also hosted events with MOECM, including one on the implementation of Local Law 83 and the new eligibility guidelines for community media to be part of MOECM’s directory. Other events were done in collaboration with the New York Press Association, including one on digital monetization of websites.
- Advocacy: ABI closely follows how MOECM implements advertising policies and, through independent reports, advocates for systemic change and transparent advertising practices.
The reach of ABI programs has been substantial, with 170 community media organizations benefiting from various forms of assistance, including informational gatherings, needs assessment surveys and direct consultations with ABI’s program director.
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3 CCM’s directory, together with the center’s local mapping projects, are meant to increase the public visibility of the local community media sector.
4 The law slightly changed the definition of community and ethnic media to “any media outlet that: (1) serves 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 the city rather than the city; or (3) falls within a specifically tailored subject matter, as determined by the [MOECM] executive director.”
5 Citibank supported ABI during the initiative’s first two years. The Charles H. Revson Foundation is still supporting it.
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