Congress once again shows support for local newspapers

Feb 3, 2026

The National Newspaper Association public policy team and its partners are happy to announce that Congress has once again demonstrated a belief in the value of their hometown newspapers.

Earlier today, the appropriations package was passed by the House and signed by President Trump. Language in both the FY House and Senate Labor HHS ED Appropriations Reports directs the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to use local newspapers in rural or small markets to advertise their public health messages and communicate with America.

The NNA was pleased to have this language included again in the Labor HHS ED report for the third year. We look forward to providing the quality service to HHS that we have in the past. Our one order, one bill, truly gives an ease of use to agencies and media buyers for the department.

Earlier this year, NNA secured similar appropriation report language in the FY 26 Senate Agriculture Appropriations report.

We will continue to collaborate with our Hill allies on this project to ensure that the HHS fulfills its responsibilities under this bill, according to NNA Executive Director Lynne Lance.

As always, the voices of our members were crucial in educating members on the value that community newspapers can provide in delivering key messages for HHS.

“The members of NNA are very effective in reaching out to Congress for this kind of support.” NNA Chair Martha Diaz Askenazy, publisher of the San Fernando (California) Valley Sun and El Sol Newspapers, said. “Having Congress support our efforts in successive years shows the strength of community journalism across the country and their ability to communicate with their readers.”

NNA Public Policy Chair Brett Wesner, president of Wesner Publications in Cordell, Oklahoma, stated that we are incredibly grateful to Sens. Hyde-Smith (R-Mississippi) and Merkley (D-Oregon), and Reps. Cole (R-Oklahoma), Aderholt (R-Alabama) and Bice (R-Oklahoma) as they continue to demonstrate their belief in local newspapers and validate their importance to the citizens in the communities they serve.

The report language follows.

House Labor HHS Appropriations report language:

Rural News Media and Advertising Campaigns — The Committee continues to recognize the critical role that local media plays in delivering lifesaving messages to small and rural communities. Therefore, the Committee urges the Secretary to ensure that local media in small and rural markets are a key component in the Department’s public health advertising campaigns which is critical to improving the delivery of public health messages to these small and rural communities. To further this goal, the Committee urges the Secretary, in coordination with the Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs and the Department’s buyer contractors, to utilize local news media in small and rural areas for public health advertising campaigns for HHS and its related agencies to reach citizens with key health messages. Local media includes newspapers, specifically non-daily newspapers, television, and radio. Within 90 days of enactment of this Act, the Committee directs the Office of the Secretary to provide an update to the Committee on the efforts of the Department in its utilization of local media in small and rural areas as part of the Department’s public health advertising campaigns for the most recent fiscal year for which data is available and plans for subsequent fiscal years. The Committee also directs the Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs, in consultation with the CDC’s Office of Rural Health, to undertake a review of the use of local media in small and rural communities in an HHS public health advertising campaign for the most recent fiscal year for which data is available, in several States to better understand their role as a key delivery system to reach small and rural communities with critically important health messages. The Committee requests an update from the Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs within 180 days of enactment of the Act on the status of this review and requests a final report by the end of the fiscal year.

Senate Labor HHS Appropriations language:

Rural News Media and Advertising Campaigns — The Committee continues to recognize the critical role local media plays in delivering public health messages to small or rural communities. Therefore, the Committee directs the Secretary to ensure that local media in small or rural markets are part of Federal public health advertising campaigns. To further this goal, the Committee directs the Secretary, in coordination with the Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs and the Department’s media buyer contractors, to utilize local news media in small or rural areas for HHS and its related agencies’ public advertising campaigns to reach citizens with key health messages. Local media includes newspapers, including nondaily newspapers; television; and radio. Within 90 days of enactment of this act, the Committee directs the Office of the Secretary to provide a briefing on the efforts of the Department in its utilization of local media in small and rural areas as part of the Department’s public health advertising campaigns for fiscal year 2026 and future fiscal years, and the amount of money allocated to local media in small and rural areas for fiscal year 2025 broken down by Statewide newspapers, non-daily newspapers, TV and radio. The Committee also directs the Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs in consultation with the CDC’s Office of Rural Health to undertake a review of the use of local media in small and rural communities in HHS public health advertising campaign in fiscal year 2026 in several States to better understand the role of local media as a key delivery system to reach small and rural communities with important health messages. The Committee requests a report detailing this review within 1 year of enactment of this act.