Alliance President and CEO Danielle Coffey stated, “The PRESS Act provides a vital safeguard for the important work of the free press in reporting on matters important to our communities, without fear of government interference or intimidation. The Alliance thanks Representatives Kevin Kiley and Jamie Raskin for their leadership on this bill in the House and we look forward to supporting this important bi-partisan bill advancing in the Senate.”

###

The post Statement: News/Media Alliance Applauds Passage of PRESS Act in House appeared first on News/Media Alliance.

We are pleased that the Office has proposed a solution that can be quickly implemented and takes a pragmatic approach by accepting deposits of identifying material to evaluate for registration. It is imperative that digital news publishers can reasonably and functionally access the full benefits of the copyright system, including the statutory remedies for infringement of their content.

Today’s notice is an important step, but not the end, of the process. The News/Media Alliance looks forward to commenting on the proposal and for the Office to swiftly finalize the rule so that publishers can make use of this group option. Building on past successful consultations in connection with the 2018 group newspaper registration rule, we will continue working with the Office to ensure the registration program meets the needs of media publishers. We look forward to further improvements once the outdated computer registration system is eventually updated, and commit to helping educate news publishers so that they may avail themselves of this new group option and comply with its requirements.

###

The post Statement: News/Media Alliance Applauds Copyright Office Proposal for Modernizing the Registration of Online News Content appeared first on News/Media Alliance.

News/Media Alliance President & CEO, Danielle Coffey stated, “We applaud Reps. Tenney and DelBene for introducing the Community News and Small Business Support Act and putting the needs of local communities first by supporting local news publishers, who provide critical journalism and information to Americans across the country. Without vital support such as tax credits for publishers and local businesses, publishers will not have the resources to continue investing in providing news and news deserts will continue to grow, making quality local journalism increasingly inaccessible to those who need it and allowing harmful mis- and disinformation to promulgate.”

###

The post Statement: Community News and Small Business Support Act Introduced in House appeared first on News/Media Alliance.

On July 5, 2023, 18 publisher groups and media associations from around the world issued a joint statement in response to Google and Meta’s threat to take down news in Canada after Canada’s parliament passed the Online News Act (C-18) in June. See the full statement here.

The post Global Reaction to Google and Meta Threat to Take Down News in Canada appeared first on News/Media Alliance.

Facts of the case
Colorado man Billy Counterman had an intense obsession with female singer-songwriter Coles Whalen. From 2014 to 2016, he sent her various disturbing messages from his Facebook account. Each time Whalen blocked his account, he made new profiles to write to her again. Some of his messages suggested he knew her location, while others suggested he wanted her to die or be killed. These messages deeply affected Whalen, causing her to change her daily routine. Counterman was arrested and criminally charged with stalking. He argued that the charges against him would violate his right to free speech because they were not “true threats”. The Colorado trial court convicted him of stalking under a state law restricting speech if a reasonable person could perceive it as a threat. His conviction was affirmed by the Colorado Court of Appeals, and the Colorado Supreme Court denied review. In January of 2023, the Supreme Court granted Counterman a writ of certiorari.

Question for the Court
This case asks the Court to clarify the standard for determining whether a statement is a true threat, punishable by law, or free speech protected by the First Amendment.

Decision
In a 7-2 decision, authored by Justice Kagan, the Court ruled that for a threat prosecution, proof of subjective recklessness is required – that the defendant consciously disregarded that a reasonable person may interpret their words as an act of intimidation or a threat. Therefore, the majority found that Counterman’s prosecution violated the First Amendment. Justice Thomas and Barrett filed dissenting opinions.

Free press implications
The Supreme Court’s decision to adopt a recklessness test, which applies to both civil and criminal contexts, shelters journalists from good faith reporting by requiring proof of intent to threaten. The ruling also reinforces the importance of the actual malice standard in the 1964 decision in New York Times v. Sullivan, continuing to protect journalists when facing defamation claims.

For further reading, please visit:

• SCOTUSblog: Counterman v. Colorado
• RCFP: Counterman v. Colorado
• The New York Times: Supreme Court Puts First Amendment Limits on Laws Banning Online Threats
• Lawfare: The Supreme Court’s Counterman Decision, Explained

The post Counterman v. Colorado appeared first on News/Media Alliance.

Credit: dhdezvalle / iStock/Getty Images Plus via Getty Images

The U.S. Postal Service has announced another postage increase for July 9 that again sends Periodicals postage into the double-digit zone for annual increases. This mid-year hike will be 8.8% for Within County newspapers and 8.1% for Outside County newspapers.

Read the full post on NNA.org

Through our partnership with the National Newspaper Association Foundation (NNAF), News/Media Alliance members* receive access to extensive postal-related resources, events and materials.

*Please login using your NNA account to access this article. If you do not have an NNA account set up, you can set one up here. Please use your Alliance member newspaper organization name and email address to create your account. Your Alliance membership will be verified prior to your account being confirmed via email and receiving access to the site.

View all Postal Rate posts

The post NNA: Newspaper Mail Hit Hard Again by US Postal Service appeared first on News/Media Alliance.

###

The post Statement: Arrest of Wall Street Journal Reporter in Russia appeared first on News/Media Alliance.

Read the full post on NNA.org

Through our partnership with the National Newspaper Association Foundation (NNAF), News/Media Alliance members* receive access to extensive postal-related resources, events and materials.

*Please login using your NNA account to access this article. If you do not have an NNA account set up, you can set one up here. Please use your Alliance member newspaper organization name and email address to create your account. Your Alliance membership will be verified prior to your account being confirmed via email and receiving access to the site.

View all Postal Rate posts

The post NNA: Publishers Must Navigate the Next Steps Toward Mailing in a Digital World appeared first on News/Media Alliance.

News/Media Alliance President & CEO David Chavern has accepted a position at the Consumer Brands Association as President and CEO. The Consumer Brands Association press release has details about his new role.

Below is a statement from Maribel Perez Wadsworth, President of Gannett Media and Chair of the Board of the News/Media Alliance, about David’s contributions to the organization:

“We are grateful for David’s many contributions to the news and magazine industries during his tenure at the News/Media Alliance. Under David’s leadership, the Alliance was completely rebuilt and transformed into a powerful and effective champion for the future of quality journalism. The organization now enjoys the support of a broad range of the great news and magazine publishers, from the largest national outlets to a wide array of small and local publications. Most important, publishers are now aligned and fully focused on the need to fight for a digital future that rewards and sustains great reporting. This includes the immediate fight for the Journalism Competition & Preservation Act.

David will remain with the Alliance until the end of the year to continue that fight through the end of this Congress. The Alliance also benefits from having a strong team and we are confident in the organization’s continued growth and impact. We will begin the process of working with David on a transition plan and identifying his successor.”

###

The post Statement: David Chavern Accepts Position at Consumer Brands Association as President and CEO appeared first on News/Media Alliance.

Particularly notable is the support from Australia where nearly 18 months ago, its parliament adopted legislation creating the News Media Bargaining Code, a code of conduct to address bargaining power imbalances between Australian publishers and Big Tech.

A new analysis from the News/Media Alliance states, “Like the JCPA… the Australian Code does not attempt to solve all the problems faced by news publishers in the online ecosystem. Instead, the sole purpose of both measures is to balance the playing field between publishers and online platforms, creating a more sustainable foundation for the preservation of high-quality journalism.”

The Australian media endorses U.S. efforts to pass the JCPA because they’ve seen the success of their own legislation firsthand. Thanks to the code, Facebook and Google have now paid over $140 million to qualifying publishers – publishers which employ an estimated 90-plus percent of Australian journalists. In a recent report, former Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) Chair Rod Sims confirmed the success of the News Media Bargaining Code, estimating that the compensation accrued to date amounts to approximately 20 percent of Australian journalists’ salaries and likely more than 20 percent of eligible publishers’ combined earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization.

In response to the recent progress on the JCPA, Sims stated, “I am delighted to see the JCPA advancing through the US Congress.  It will benefit US media significantly, and so will greatly strengthen the USA in so many ways.”

Similar legislation is also in the works in Canada, Europe and the United Kingdom. Canada’s Online News Act, a bill which aims to ensure fair compensation for news media, was introduced in April 2022 and, following the adoption of new laws in the European Union, publishers have had successful negotiations with Google, which signed deals to pay more than 300 publishers in May 2022. The UK is also likely to introduce new legislation in the coming months to combat Big Tech’s influence on local media by granting statutory powers to the Digital Markets Unit (DMU), its tech watchdog organization. We applaud their efforts to hold Big Tech accountable and make local news more sustainable.

As the JCPA moves forward in the U.S. Congress – the Senate text of the bill was released Monday and is on the agenda for Senate Judiciary Committee markup in September – we thank our international supporters for urging passage of the JCPA in both the Senate and House of Representatives.

###

Media Contact:
Lindsey Loving
Director, Communications
lindsey@newsmediaalliance.org

The post Statement: International Organizations Support the JCPA appeared first on News/Media Alliance.