Worcester Business Journal

wbjournal.com | June 24, 2024 | Worcester Business Journal 25 Good news about local news BY MARK HENDERSON Special to WBJ T his headline was the title of a talk I gave to a group of area businesspeople. I don't normally title my talks, but I thought it appropriate because for the last 30 years, talks about local news have been dour and dire. at's not the case anymore, and people really need to understand that. Yes, newspapers, the institutions we generally think of when considering the state of media, have seen more than their share of declines. However, most of us who care about local news and for a generation have been longing for what was, we are missing what's taking place right in front of us. I push back whenever someone says Worcester is a news desert, a misunderstood industry term rooted in describing communities or regions lacking a newspaper. Here's why: In 2013 Worcester had seven companies whose purposes it was to create and distribute local news and information. (e criteria I used was the company must have employees in or focused specifically on Worcester.). Fast-forward to 2023. Care to guess how many there were? Given the conventional wisdom, most people I ask reply with a number between two and five. e answer is 18. How can that be? Consider this: Among the myriad forces that led to destruction of legacy media at scale, one was the democratization of tools allowing anyone to quickly and inexpensively become a media company and contribute to the community discussion. Want proof ? Ask your child or grandchild, "Can you make me a Substack?" and have a stopwatch ready. It was precisely this explosion in the number of local media companies that led me to tell WBJ for its May 13 two-story series "e new Worcester media" that: "e quality of journalism in the city of Worcester right now is better on a day-in and day-out basis than it has been for 20 years. at gets lost in the fact that it's not just happening because of one entity." And that's where the016.com comes in. It was clear as early as 2011 we would one day be dealing with a multitude of entities serving the community. e problem then, we realized, would be one of discoverability; not everyone with an interest in local news would take the time to search for or be able to find all that local news. In other words, Worcester needed a platform to showcase all that work, so we built a first-of-its kind platform and launched the016. com in January 2019. So what does the future hold? We've witnessed the destruction, we're seeing the rebuilding, and the range of likely outcomes becomes both fairly predictable and good news for local news. Mark Henderson is a journalist, technologist, and executive with more than 40 years of media experience. He is the founder and CEO of e 016. Maintain a pragmatic approach to Chinese companies Mark Henderson I n U.S. election years, little on the political front seems to be subtle or nuanced. Complex policy proposals can easily get whittled down to single sound bites, as partisans cast fear when attacking the other side's position. However, there seems to be one issue where of late both sides of the aisle seem to be on the same page: China=bad. Can we share technology with China that could someday put us at risk? On the military and high- tech fronts, extreme caution seems completely justi- fied, but do those same concerns translate to the field of life sciences? It's debatable, but legislation from Congress could have real fallout in Central Mass. An example of the China=bad policy approach was in April when President Joe Biden signed a law to potentially ban TikTok, unless its Chinese parent company sells the social media platform. Having one of Americans' favorite apps under the oversight of a company based in a potential foreign adversary does create some cause for concern, but TikTok seems to have worked out a plan where the Chinese gov- ernment can't access U.S. user data. Either way, the courts will decide the ultimate fate of the TikTok ban. Hitting home in Central Massachusetts is the proposed BIOSECURE Act, which would cut off federal funding for biotech companies with close ties to governments considered to be foreign adversaries. e legislation would require American companies to stop any outsourcing or equipment contracts with foreign companies deemed security risks. Specifically named in the legislation is WuXi Biologics, a Chinese firm constructing a $300-million, 189,500-square- foot biomanufacturing facility in Worcester. WuXi is meant to be the anchor tenant at e Reactory biomanufacturing campus in Worcester and is one of the key components in the effort to turn Central Massachusetts into its own life sciences hub, as a meaningful extension to the industry epicenter in Kendall Square. In the wake of the proposed legis- lation, which has not yet passed but is supported by the likes of Congressman Jake Auchincloss (D-New- ton) and Seth Moulton (D-Salem), WuXi told the City of Worcester it was pausing construction at e Reactory. While in mid-June the work appeared to be ongoing, the stated delay is nonetheless concerning. e BIOSECURE Act is aimed at keeping U.S. taxpayers dollars out of the hands of organizations affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party, accord- ing to a statement on Auchincloss's website. However, the fallout from this proposal may keep much-need- ed private investment out of Central Massachusetts, which could have a cooling effect on the industry, es- pecially when companies in the sector are struggling. We would favor a more pragmatic approach, and not an all-or-nothing situation. Just like TikTok can protect U.S. user data from the Chinese government by putting safeguards in place, it would seem WuXi and its partners could negotiate a meaningful com- promise to address the core security concerns while still maintaining ties, seeking a win-win scenario. W The above Editorial is the opinion of the WBJ Editorial Board. The Viewpoint column, the A Thousand Words cartoon, and the Word from the Web commentary represent the opinions of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of WBJ or its staff. WBJ welcomes letters to the editor and commentary submissions. Send them to bkane@wbjournal.com. W

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