Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Advisory board urges county to address local "news desert"; communications director outlines digital and outreach plans
Summary
The Public Information Advisory Board urged Tompkins County to support local journalism and broaden public notice distribution. County communications staff outlined a $15,000 America250 grant, an intranet for staff, and plans to evaluate AI chatbots and media-monitoring tools.
Linda Holtzbauer, chair of the county's Public Information Advisory Board, told the Government Operations Committee the board will "encourage meaningful public involvement" and sponsor public forums and op-eds to counter what she called a growing local news desert.
"We feel that we support [the communications director] because she's so competent and so thorough in her job," Holtzbauer said, adding the board hopes to "create a community conversation to raise these issues up and to make people aware of what's going on." Ron Van Ormer, the advisory board secretary and vice chair, described outreach that includes networking with donors and foundations…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
