FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Arlington, VA – Today the California Senate Judiciary Committee will hold an Informational Hearing on “The Importance of Journalism in the Digital Age.” Senator Tom Umberg is holding the Hearing to give California legislators the opportunity to learn more about the state of journalism in the state, the challenges local newsrooms face and potential solutions, and how the California Journalism Preservation Act (CJPA, AB 886) in particular can help support a vibrant free press.

The CJPA would require Big Tech platforms such as Meta (which owns Facebook and Instagram) and Google to pay news publishers a “journalism usage fee” to use the content of eligible digital journalism providers, as defined in the bill. Currently, creators of journalistic and creative content are not adequately compensated for the use of their work that takes a tremendous investment to produce.

The CJPA was introduced by Assemblymember Buffy Wicks (D-Oakland) in March and passed out of the California State Assembly in June in a floor vote of 46-6 before it was held over to the next session. The Informational Hearing will provide legislators the opportunity to ask questions and provide input before the bill is brought up early in the next session in 2024.

“We applaud Assemblymember Wicks and Senator Umberg for their commitment to sustaining journalism and their dedication to the California Journalism & Preservation Act (CJPA),” said News/Media Alliance President & CEO Danielle Coffey. “By holding this informational hearing and having an open dialogue, they are showing their ardent commitment to preserving quality local journalism that supports a healthy democracy and providing their constituents with important information about their communities. Without meaningful action, news outlets will continue to disappear.”

News outlets, especially small, local ones, are shuttering at alarming rates as revenues decline and costs rise. California has lost more than 100 newspapers in the last decade.

A new report from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University last month raised the level of urgency surrounding the local news crisis, finding that one-third of the newspapers in the U.S. in 2005 will be gone by 2024. Previous reports had estimated the timeline to reach that milestone would occur in 2025, which indicates that the pace of closures has accelerated. Most of the communities that lose their local newspaper do not get a replacement or have a digital source for local news for their community.

When local newspapers shutter, there is a significant detrimental effect on communities whereby civic engagement goes down, corruption goes up, and the ability to combat disinformation grows increasingly difficult.

When newsrooms are full, the public reaps the rewards. The CJPA would also promote the hiring of more journalists, requiring news publishers to invest 70 percent of the profits from the usage fee into journalism jobs.

The News/Media Alliance has been vocally advocating for legislation at the federal level since 2018. The Journalism Competition & Preservation Act (JCPA), which was reintroduced by Antitrust Chairwoman Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Senator John N. Kennedy (R-LA) on March 31 (S. 1094), passed through Senate Judiciary Committee markup in June.

The dominant tech platforms have become de facto gatekeepers of journalism, setting rules for how news content is displayed, prioritized, and monetized. They reap the majority of the financial benefits of sharing publishers’ original content without incurring any of the costs of gathering and reporting news their users want and rely on. The CJPA and JCPA directly address these challenges and are a crucial part of the solution to preserving local journalism.

Coffey added, “With similar laws being passed around the world, we are seeing more and more support for getting this legislation passed countrywide. We must act now to protect and support publishers of high-quality journalism, who work tirelessly to keep our communities safe and informed through their reporting. We look forward to the CJPA moving to a Senate vote next year and working with policymakers in California to implement the CJPA and restore fairness and balance to the marketplace.”

For more information on the federal JCPA, visit www.JCPABill.com.

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

The News/Media Alliance is a nonprofit organization representing more than 2,200 news and magazine media organizations and their multiplatform businesses in the United States and globally. Alliance members include print and digital publishers of original journalism. Headquartered just outside Washington, D.C., the association focuses on ensuring the future of journalism through communication, research, advocacy, and innovation. Information about the News/Media Alliance can be found at www.newsmediaalliance.org.

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Additional Resources:

• During the event, the Center for Journalism and Liberty at Open Markets announced the publication of its comprehensive report, “Democracy, Journalism, and Monopoly: How to Fund Independent News Media in the 21st Century.” A tremendous effort from Open Markets and CJL journalists and scholars, this new report – the most comprehensive available today – details how, through a broad & integrated program of reform that restores traditional American principles of competition policy, we can restructure media & communications markets to sustain them in the 21st Century.
• The Center for Journalism and Liberty also launched this week a Technology & Media Fair Compensation Frameworks tracker, which includes information about legislation around the world, plus several sets of policy primers and analyses.

The post ‘Protecting News to Preserve Democracy’ by Center for Journalism & Liberty at Open Markets Institute appeared first on News/Media Alliance.

Arlington, VA – The California Journalism Preservation Act (CJPA, AB 886) passed out of the California State Assembly today in a floor vote of 55-6. The bill, which was introduced by Assemblymember Buffy Wicks (D-Oakland) in March, would require Big Tech platforms such as Facebook and Google to pay news publishers a “journalism usage fee” to use the content of eligible digital journalism providers, as defined in the bill. Currently, creators of journalistic and creative content are not adequately compensated for the use of their work that takes a tremendous investment to produce.

The CJPA would also promote the hiring of more journalists, requiring news publishers to invest 70 percent of the profits from the usage fee into journalism jobs. The bill is expected to advance to the California Senate next month, and then head to Governor Newsom to become law.

News/Media Alliance President & CEO Danielle Coffey stated, “We applaud the California Assembly for taking decisive and direct action to save journalism through passing the California Journalism & Preservation Act (CJPA). We are extremely encouraged to see this progress at the state level, which shows that Americans understand the importance and value of journalism to keeping their communities safe and informed and holding those in power to account. We look forward to the CJPA moving on to the Senate and working with policymakers there to pass the CJPA and restore fairness and balance to the marketplace.”

The News/Media Alliance has been vocally advocating for such legislation at the federal level since 2018. The Journalism Competition & Preservation Act (JCPA), which was reintroduced in the 117th Congress (S. 673 and H.R. 1735), passed through Senate Judiciary Committee markup in September and nearly passed into law in December before the Congress ended. Senate Antitrust Chairwoman Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Senator John N. Kennedy (R-LA) reintroduced the JCPA, which has strong bipartisan support, in the Senate (S. 1094) on March 31.

Coffey added, “We are encouraged by the support we’ve had for addressing the severe marketplace imbalance between tech platforms and news and magazine publishers and look forward to legislation moving through both California legislature and Congress. Between similar laws being passed around the world, and the positive movement in the U.S. at the state and federal level, I believe we are at a turning point, and we are seeing more and more support for getting this legislation passed country wide.”

For more information on the federal JCPA, visit  www.JCPABill.com.

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

The News/Media Alliance is a nonprofit organization representing more than 2,000 news and magazine media organizations and their multiplatform businesses in the United States and globally. Alliance members include print and digital publishers of original journalism. Headquartered just outside Washington, D.C., the association focuses on ensuring the future of journalism through communication, research, advocacy, and innovation. Information about the News/Media Alliance can be found at www.newsmediaalliance.org.

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“We are very pleased Senators Feinstein, Hirono and King have joined in support of the JCPA, and we applaud them for their commitment to sustaining high-quality journalism. Publishers must be compensated by the Big Tech platforms for use of their valuable content, and the JCPA will ensure they receive the compensation they need and deserve to be able to continue providing the important news and content that supports a strong and informed society. We look forward to working with all of the co-Sponsors to advance the JCPA toward becoming law.”

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Arlington, VA – Last night, at a hearing of the California State Assembly Committee on Privacy and Consumer Protection, members voted 9-0 in favor of the California Journalism Preservation Act (CJPA, AB 886).

The bill, which was introduced by Assemblymember Buffy Wicks (D-Oakland) in March, would require Big Tech platforms such as Facebook and Google to pay news publishers a “journalism usage fee” to use local news content. Currently, creators of quality journalism are not adequately compensated for the use of their content that takes a tremendous investment to produce, and therefore, cannot reinvest enough in journalists and newsrooms.

The CJPA would also promote the hiring of more journalists, requiring news publishers to invest 70 percent of the profits from the usage fee into journalism jobs.

News/Media Alliance Executive Vice President & General Counsel, Danielle Coffey, testified at the hearing, alongside Assemblymember Wicks and Matt Pearce, representing labor unions.

Coffey stated, “We applaud Assemblymember Wicks and the Privacy and Consumer Protection Committee for recognizing the value of high-quality journalism and the need for journalism providers to be compensated fairly for the use of their content by the tech platforms. We are very happy with the outcome of the hearing in California, and we look forward to next steps as the bill moves forward.”

The Alliance has been vocally advocating for such legislation at the federal level since 2018. The Journalism Competition & Preservation Act (JCPA), which was reintroduced in the 117th Congress (S. 673 and H.R. 1735), passed through Senate Judiciary Committee markup in September and nearly passed into law in December before the Congress ended. Senate Antitrust Chairwoman Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Senator John N. Kennedy (R-LA) reintroduced the JCPA, which has strong bipartisan support, in the Senate (S. 1094) on March 31.

Coffey added, “The dominant tech platforms reap the vast majority of the online revenue at news publishers’ expense. If balance isn’t restored to the marketplace, we will continue to see local newspapers closing at the same alarming rate, leaving bigger and bigger news deserts that encourage misinformation, confusion and corruption to dominate, threatening democracy and our constitutional right to a free press.”

Watch a video of the hearing here. For more information on the federal JCPA, visit  www.JCPABill.com.

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

The News/Media Alliance is a nonprofit organization representing more than 2,000 news and magazine media organizations and their multiplatform businesses in the United States and globally. Alliance members include print and digital publishers of original journalism. Headquartered just outside Washington, D.C., the association focuses on ensuring the future of journalism through communication, research, advocacy, and innovation. Information about the News/Media Alliance can be found at www.newsmediaalliance.org.

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Arlington, VA – The News/Media Alliance applauds Senate Antitrust Chairwoman Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Senator John N. Kennedy (R-LA) for today reintroducing the “Journalism Competition and Preservation Act” (JCPA). The bill would provide digital journalism providers the ability to collectively negotiate with Facebook and Google for fair compensation for the use of their valuable content. Currently, publishers do not have the ability to negotiate these deals on their own, as the dominant tech platforms capture the majority of U.S. digital ad revenue, leaving publishers with little to reinvest in the production of high-quality journalism. This follows in the wake of other countries’ successful compensation systems for publishers, with Australia’s Media Bargaining Code and European legislation leading the way and Canada and the UK expected to follow.

In response to the bill reintroduction in the Senate, News/Media Alliance Executive Vice President & General Counsel, Danielle Coffey said, “The time is now to pass this critical legislation that will protect and sustain local journalism, now more important than ever to ensuring an informed society. Emerging technologies such as AI are making it even more clear the need for compensation when content creators may soon see even less return than what they receive today. The cost of inaction is simply too great to ignore any longer. We must ensure that the digital ecosystem returns value back to the people who deliver high-quality journalism we all rely on around the world.”

Since 2018, the News/Media Alliance has been vocally advocating for such legislation in the U.S. “A compensation framework between news publishers and the tech platforms will help correct the current imbalance in the marketplace whereby Google and Meta have set the rules that everyone else must play by,” Coffey said.

Previously reintroduced in the 117th Congress (S. 673 and H.R. 1735), the Senate Judiciary Committee completed its bipartisan markup of the JCPA in September 2022. The bill received broad support, not only in Congress where it had 90 co-sponsors in the House and Senate (on both sides of the aisle), but also from over 300 consumer interest groups, unions, conservatives, advocacy groups and third-party organizations. In addition, nearly 24,000 individuals signed a Change.org petition for the bill and nearly 1,000 editorials in support of the JCPA have been published in newspapers in 48 states across the country. In a poll of 1,000 U.S. adults conducted in April 2022, 70 percent of Americans said they support Congress passing the JCPA.

The bill nearly passed into law in December when it was included in the NDAA legislation package. However, as it did in Australia just before the Media Bargaining Code passed there, Meta threatened to remove news from Facebook in the U.S. if the JCPA passed, further demonstrating their outsized power.

The JCPA has now been reintroduced in the 118th Congress to continue progressing forward.

Coffey added, “We are grateful to Chair Klobuchar and Senator Kennedy for their commitment to quality journalism, and we look forward to working with them to ensure small and local news publishers receive fair compensation from the platforms for the valuable journalism they work tirelessly to provide. News publishers need a lifeline, and the JCPA is that lifeline.”

More information on the bill can be found on the News/Media Alliance website at www.JCPABill.com.

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

The News/Media Alliance is a nonprofit organization representing more than 2,000 news and magazine media organizations and their multiplatform businesses in the United States and globally. Alliance members include print and digital publishers of original journalism. Headquartered just outside Washington, D.C., the association focuses on ensuring the future of journalism through communication, research, advocacy, and innovation. Information about the News/Media Alliance can be found at www.newsmediaalliance.org.

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Arlington, VA – The News/Media Alliance applauds California State Assemblymember Buffy Wicks (D-Oakland) for today introducing the California Journalism Preservation Act (CJPA, AB 886), which would require Big Tech platforms such as Facebook and Google to pay news publishers a “journalism usage fee” to use local news content. Currently, creators of quality journalism are not adequately compensated for the use of their content that takes a tremendous investment to produce, and therefore, cannot reinvest enough in journalists and newsrooms.

“These dominant digital ad companies are enriching their own platforms with local news content without adequately compensating the originators,” Wicks said. “It’s time they start paying market value for the journalism they are aggregating at no cost from local media.”

In response to the bill’s introduction, News/Media Alliance Executive Vice President & General Counsel, Danielle Coffey said, “We applaud California Assemblymember Wicks for introducing this legislation and for recognizing the critical importance of high-quality journalism to ensuring informed and engaged communities. We hope Congress takes note and follows suit by reintroducing legislation at the federal level as well to give news publishers across the U.S. the same ability to be fairly compensated by the dominant tech platforms.”

The CJPA would also promote the hiring of more journalists, requiring news publishers to invest 70 percent of the profits from the usage fee into journalism jobs.

The Alliance has been vocally advocating for such legislation at the federal level since 2018. “The dominant tech platforms benefit tremendously from news publisher content, while not fairly compensating the creators of that content and reaping the vast majority of the revenue,” Coffey added. “Balance must be restored to the marketplace to allow for fair and equitable compensation. Otherwise, we will continue to see newspapers closing, creating larger news deserts around the country where misinformation quickly takes hold.”

Currently, Google takes up to 70 percent of every advertising dollar, leaving news publishers unable to reinvest in providing important investigative journalism and news to their communities.

A federal version of the JCPA, previously reintroduced in the 117th Congress (S. 673 and H.R. 1735), successfully passed out the Senate Judiciary Committee in September 2022. The bill nearly passed into law in December. At that time, Meta threatened to remove news from in the U.S. if the JCPA passed, further demonstrating their outsized power.

For more information on the federal JCPA, visit  www.JCPABill.com.

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

The News/Media Alliance is a nonprofit organization representing more than 2,000 news and magazine media organizations and their multiplatform businesses in the United States and globally. Alliance members include print and digital publishers of original journalism. Headquartered just outside Washington, D.C., the association focuses on ensuring the future of journalism through communication, research, advocacy, and innovation. Information about the News/Media Alliance can be found at www.newsmediaalliance.org.

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Through news media, citizens can express themselves and advocate for their causes, whether they be political, religious or just personally meaningful to us; share our thoughts and ideas; petition the government; and plan assemblies. Local journalism can be our own personal amplifier for sharing our unique perspectives, as well as a wider lens through which to view and engage with our communities.

But beyond offering a means for citizens to exercise their First Amendment freedoms, news media also help protect those rights: through their role as government watchdogs. They are often the first to report when government officials try to overstep their bounds and hinder Americans’ right to information, made available through freedom of the press. Journalists work to keep the legislative process transparent and hold government officials accountable. Perhaps because of our prominent mention in the Constitution, news media are uniquely committed to their pursuit of the truth.

But the future of journalism and free speech is in jeopardy. Currently, news publishers are finding themselves without a way to recoup their investment in quality news. Big Tech platforms do not fairly compensate news publishers for their use of news content, making it increasingly difficult for publishers to reinvest in journalism.

The News/Media Alliance has called for small and local news publishers to be granted an antitrust safe harbor to be able to come together to negotiate for better business terms with the platforms. This is the best solution to correcting the imbalance in the digital ecosystem and ensuring a sustainable future for digital news. We are encouraged that a bill that would do just that – the Journalism Competition & Preservation Act (JCPA), which has bipartisan support in the House and Senate – was voted out of committee in the Senate in September. The JCPA, through ensuring the sustainability of local news publishers through payment from the tech platforms, helps ensure our ongoing freedoms of speech and the press are protected.

News media have made our democracy stronger, our citizenry more informed and engaged, and our Constitutional rights secure and strong. As we mark Free Speech Week, we ask that anyone who relies on news for their information — whether in print or online (and if you get your news on social media, it’s most likely still from a news publisher) — to ask Congress to support the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act. Visit JCPABill.com for more information.

Visit our Free Speech Week page for more related articles and resources.

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“It is more important than ever to protect quality journalism that is independent both from government and from powerful Silicon Valley companies,” a coalition of center-right publishers wrote in a letter to the bill’s original sponsors. “We urge you to support the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act.”

The JCPA is designed to level the playing field between Big Tech and small and local publishers by allowing them to collectively negotiate for fair compensation for the use of their content. The Senate text of the bill was released Monday and was listed on the agenda for Senate Judiciary Committee for markup in September and its supporters are urging Congress – specifically the bill’s lead co-sponsors Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and John Kennedy (R-LA) and Reps. David Cicilline (D-RI) and Ken Buck (R-CO) – to initiate a markup of the bill and accelerate its passage in the House of Representatives and Senate.

These publishers are in tune with Republican voters, who, according to pollsters Echelon Insights, support the goals of the JCPA. Their poll found that 76 percent of Republicans agree that Big Tech should not be allowed to profit off content from news publishers without fair compensation.”

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BACKGROUND

“It is more important than ever to protect quality journalism that is independent both from government and from powerful Silicon Valley companies. We urge you to support the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act.” – Coalition of conservative publishers, including from Newsmax, Washington Times, Redstate.com, Salem Media Group, Washington Examiner, the Daily Caller, and more

[The] “JCPA provides a remedy by permitting a coalition of publishers to negotiate a deal to receive fair compensation for their original and valuable news content. … The Journalism Competition and Preservation Act is the kind of legislation that Republicans and Democrats alike can and should get behind. … There is a shared interest in preserving a free and diverse press.” – Christopher Ruddy, CEO of Newsmax Media, Inc.

“76% agree that Big Tech should not be allowed to profit off content from news publishers without fair compensation and 74% agree that Big Tech should be required to offer the same compensation terms to local, conservative, and national news organizations.” – Echelon Insights poll of Republican voters

The post Statement: Conservative Publishers Support the JCPA appeared first on News/Media Alliance.

Arlington, VA – Today, hundreds of local and regional newspapers across the country launched the “Don’t Let Big Tech Cancel Local News” ad campaign in support of the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act (JCPA).

The JCPA, a bill being considered in Congress, is designed to level the playing field between Big Tech and small and local publishers by allowing them to collectively negotiate for fair compensation for the use of their content. The nationwide campaign comes amid speculation that the JCPA legislative text will be released in the coming days and its supporters are urging Congress – specifically the bill’s lead co-sponsors Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and John Kennedy (R-LA) and Reps. David Cicilline (D-RI) and Ken Buck (R-CO) – to initiate a markup of the bill and accelerate its passage in the House of Representatives and Senate.

“This is a critical time for the JCPA. We thank our sponsors for their leadership on this important bill, but the time to act is now,” said News/Media Alliance President and CEO David Chavern.

The campaign contains information on how readers can contact their Members of Congress to ask them to move forward on a markup for JCPA, including a QR code links to a page where readers can send emails and a phone number for constituents to call their representatives directly.

Since the JCPA was introduced last year, the bill has amassed 10 co-sponsors in the Senate and 63 co-sponsors in the House of Representatives. The bill has bipartisan support in Congress, and a recent poll showed that a strong majority of the American public support Congress passing the JCPA (70%). The time is now. Congress must act.

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

The News/Media Alliance is a nonprofit organization representing more than 2,000 news and magazine media organizations and their multiplatform businesses in the United States and globally. Alliance members include print and digital publishers of original journalism. Headquartered just outside Washington, D.C., the association focuses on ensuring the future of journalism through communication, research, advocacy, and innovation. Information about the News/Media Alliance can be found at www.newsmediaalliance.org.

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