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Some newspapers applying for the SBA’s PPP forgivable loan program using the affiliation waiver have experienced issues applying through their lenders. The News Media Alliance has been in contact with the SBA about this issue and we are offering assistance.

Newspapers that have applied for the SBA’s PPP forgivable loan program using the affiliation waiver can apply individually and separately from the parent owner, thereby circumventing employee count limitations.

If either of the following two situations applies to you, please see the instructions below to provide information that we will share with SBA:

1. If you have had trouble applying through your lender because your newspapers are applying separately but using the same EIN tax ID number as the corporate owner, the SBA has agreed to accept those loans manually. Their system will accept the combined loan application in their system under one EIN and I will provide them those which they can manually flag as compliant post-submission.

2. In addition, the SBA will make similar exceptions for second draw loans for newspapers that are unaffiliating themselves and applying as separate newspapers from the parent or group of newspapers in order to meet the loss requirements for a second draw (now allowable under the law). In those cases, banks have rejected some of the loans because the applicant name on the second draw loan is not the same as the first draw loan. SBA will make similar allowances here, manually. Their system will only allow a second draw loan if it has the same name as the first draw loan, and I will provide the EINs so that they can flag as compliant as separate newspapers under the second draw post-submission.

If you fall under either of the two categories above, please click here and provide the following information in order to allow for those loans to be accepted from the lender to the SBA:

• Your name / email
• EIN number
• Lender
• Full applicant name 
• Location (states) of newspapers 

Please contact News Media Alliance Senior VP and General Counsel, Danielle Coffey with any questions.

The post Assistance for Newspapers: SBA PPP Affiliation Waiver Loans appeared first on News/Media Alliance.

With many local newsrooms trying to do more with less these days, looking outside your newsroom to partner with other local news publications can have the effect of having a larger, more diverse staff that can cover more topics, more areas of your region, and be more representative of your community.

In this guide, we will walk you through key questions to ask when considering a partnership, as well as ideas and tips for success and best practices for cross-newsroom collaboration.

We will also profile a successful partnership between the newsrooms at The Dallas Morning News and Texas Metro News, outlining how they did it, from the formal arrangement to working together on stories, events and more.

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How you can use the Guide:

This Guide provides practical tips and advice to help ensure a successful news publishing partnership, from identifying potential partners, to getting to know your partner, to leveraging your partnership outside the newsroom and over the long-term.

Throughout the Guide, there are helpful worksheets for you to fill in as you go, prompting you to think about key questions you should ask yourself as you are exploring and navigating a new partnership. Tips and ideas are sprinkled throughout the Guide to help build and strengthen the partnership and resulting coverage.

The case study with The Dallas Morning News and Texas Metro News provides a model for a successful partnership that is respectful, strategic and utilizes effective communications. Their journey provides a useful road map for other newsrooms who are looking to expand their coverage, as well as ensure their reporting is more inclusive and representative of their community. Insightful commentary from both publishers offers the keys to their success.

What you’ll find in the Guide:

• Key questions to ask yourself as you are thinking about a partner (e.g., What gaps in your coverage could a partner help fill?)
• Tips and ideas to try as you explore a potential partnership and when working with a partner
• Ways to deepen your understanding of and relationship with your partner across the organization
• Interactive worksheets to organize your thoughts and priorities; brainstorm potential partners; think about collaboration opportunities outside of the newsroom; consider potential challenges and responses; etc.
• Handling breaking news coverage
• Communicating publicly about your partnership
• What has made The Dallas Morning News and Texas Metro News partnership successful and how to apply the learnings
• Key takeaways to help ensure your partnership is a success

Download Guide

Sneak Peek:

Click on the thumbnails below to view select pages of the Guide. (Click the Back button in your browser to return to this page.)

Additional Resources:

News Media Alliance: 

• How Two Texas News Outlets are Taking Collaboration to the Next Level 

Center for Cooperative Media:

• Research and Reports about Collaborative Journalism
• A Collection of Guides, tip Sheets, and Best Practices for Collaboration
  • Building News Partnerships for Journalism Collaborations
  • Building Equity in Journalism Collaborations
  • Collaborative Journalism Workbook

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The post Tips for Successful News Publishing Partnerships appeared first on News/Media Alliance.

News publishers provide an essential public service by reporting the facts and keeping their communities informed during this time of uncertainty. Millions of people around the world get their information about the COVID-19 pandemic from trusted publishers, whose journalists risk their health and well-being for that mission every day. Though online traffic to news sites has spiked during the pandemic, far too many news publishers are still struggling. Thankfully, the recently enacted Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act provides some relief for American businesses, including news publishers, during this challenging time.

The Alliance’s Stimulus Updates portal provides multiple resources dealing with the stimulus package, including the Alliance Stimulus Funds Guide, a members-only detailed overview of the CARES Act (member login required), but here is a short summary of the important provisions of the CARES Act.

The Small Business Administration’s (SBA) coronavirus relief programs now include four separate options: the Paycheck Protection Program, the Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) Emergency Advance, SBA Express Bridge Loans, and SBA Debt Relief (These are all SBA loans.)

The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) is a completely new program that has been accepting applications since April 3. Similar to Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL), newspaper publishers with less than 1,000 employees are eligible to apply for PPP loans. The loans are granted by SBA-approved lenders and provide a maximum amount of $10 million or 2.5 times the average monthly payroll, whichever is lower. Since this money is meant to incentivize keeping employees on payroll, SBA will forgive loans if all employees are kept on payroll for at least eight weeks and the money is spent on payroll, rent, mortgage interest or utilities. Due to expected high enrollment, SBA estimates that at least 75 percent of the forgiven amount must have been used for payroll.

Meanwhile, the EIDL, is an existing program that allows small businesses to apply for loans of up to $2 million. Under the CARES Act, many of the qualifying requirements have been waived, making it easier for businesses to receive help. While the general small business threshold is 500 or fewer employees, to be eligible for an EIDL loan, newspaper publishers must have 1,000 or fewer employees. In addition, through the EIDL Emergency Advance program, EIDL applicants can get an advance grant of up to $10,000 three days after approval, even if their EIDL loan application is denied, providing a fast way for a business to receive financial assistance. The advance does not need to be repaid. In addition to the advance, borrowers who have been affected by COVID-19 and have an existing relationship with an SBA Express Lender can apply for an Express Bridge Loan to get up to $25,000 quickly while they wait for their EIDL application to be approved.

The Treasury and Federal Reserve loan programs created under the CARES Act are designed to support larger businesses, as well as states and municipalities. In addition to direct loans to distressed businesses, the Treasury must “endeavor to seek the implementation” of a program to support bank and other lending to medium-sized businesses and nonprofits with 500-10,000 employees. While many of the details are still unclear, both of these loan programs come with many more obligations and restrictions than the SBA loans. The exact conditions vary by loan type, but include prohibitions on stock buybacks and dividend payments, requirements on workforce retainment and limitations on executive pay.

With regards to tax code changes, the CARES Act provides for employee retention tax credits. These provisions are designed to incentivize employers that were either fully or partially closed due to the pandemic, or suffered a 50 percent decline in gross receipts compared to the same quarter in 2019, to retain their employees. The provisions provide for a fully refundable tax credit of 50 percent of qualified wages paid to the business’s eligible employees between March 12, 2020 and January 1, 2021.

In addition to these major benefits, the CARES Act includes multiple other provisions designed to help struggling businesses, such as news publishers, including allowing businesses to carry net operating losses from 2018 to 2020 back five years in order to reduce prior years’ income, and removing the taxable income limitation. The Act also delays the payment deadlines of employer payroll taxes, allowing employers to pay 50 percent at the end of 2021 and 50 percent one year after that.

As well as payroll tax extensions, the Act allows employers with single employer pension plans to delay payments due in 2020 to January 1, 2021 (with interest), while also providing that the plan’s status for benefit restrictions as of December 31, 2019, will apply throughout 2020.

As for employees, the Act expands unemployment insurance to include independent workers who might not otherwise qualify for benefits, including independent contractors such as newspaper carriers. The Act also extends the maximum benefit period and provides an additional $600 per week for up to four months. This could impact news publishers’ retention of independent contractors during the period that increased unemployment benefits are available.

These are just some of the provisions in the CARES Act designed to help American businesses. The Alliance’s Stimulus Updates portal provides more information on these and other subjects. We will continue to monitor developments and keep our members informed of any opportunities that can help news publishers survive at this critical time.

This content is for informational purposes only. You should consult your financial experts or lawyers before making any decisions.

The post How News Publishers Can Benefit from Government Loan Programs During COVID-19 appeared first on News/Media Alliance.