MADISON. Wisconsin lawmakers introduced a bill Thursday that would let independent newsrooms match any offer for their own newspaper before an out-of-state investment fund can take it over.

Supporters frame the measure as a matter of civic survival. Since 2005, more than a third of the state's newspapers have closed or merged, and the ones that remain increasingly answer to distant owners.

The proposal has drawn early support from rural weeklies and urban dailies alike. A reminder, sponsors said, that the health of local journalism is not a partisan question.

“When a town loses its paper, it loses its memory,” the bill's chief sponsor said. “This is about keeping the record in the community that wrote it.”

The committee hearing is expected within the month.