FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Arlington, VA – Today the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology, and the Law will hold a hearing at 2:00 p.m. ET, on “Oversight of A.I.: The Future of Journalism,” which will explore the impact of the growth of generative artificial intelligence (GAI) technology on publishers’ ability to provide high-quality journalism and possible oversight mechanisms to help protect and sustain quality journalism.

Witnesses scheduled to testify at the hearing include Danielle Coffey, President & CEO of the News/Media Alliance (written testimony here); Roger Lynch, CEO at Condé Nast (written testimony here); Curtis LeGeyt, President and CEO of the National Association of Broadcasters (written testimony here); and author Jeff Jarvis (written testimony here).

Coffey’s comments before the Subcommittee will explain how Generative AI tools exploit news content to compete directly with publishers, yet need quality journalism to train their systems. Coffey will focus on the copyright infringement implications of how GAI developers train and use their models, as well as the need for legislation, including requiring transparency and responsibility from GAI developers, and passing the Journalism Competition & Preservation Act (JCPA), which would allow publishers to collectively negotiate for fair compensation for use of their content by the dominant tech platforms, such as Meta and Google.

Since generative AI technology took off exponentially last year, the News/Media Alliance has been leading the call for AI companies to seek proper permissions and licensing from publishers for use of their valuable content. Last fall, the Alliance published a White Paper revealing that GAI systems copy massive amounts of publishers’ original works, almost always without authorization or compensation, and publisher content is overweighted in materials used for training these systems. The White Paper and comments the Alliance submitted to the U.S. Copyright Office also explain the legal implications of such use.

In response to the hearing, News/Media Alliance President & CEO, Danielle Coffey stated, “We commend Subcommittee Chair Richard Blumenthal and Ranking Member Josh Hawley and the Senate Judiciary Committee for recognizing the urgent need to address our very serious concerns about the impacts of AI technology on providers of quality journalism, as well as the legal questions this raises. AI companies are scraping our content to compete with it – usually without any compensation to, or permission from the publishers of that content – while they reap all the benefits. This is classic freeriding that infringes publishers’ copyrights and goes far beyond fair use.”

Coffey’s testimony offers multiple suggestions for policymakers, including:

• Recognizing that unauthorized use of publishers’ expressive content for commercial GAI training and development is likely to compete with and harm publisher businesses in a manner that infringes copyright;
• Creating transparency requirements to require the recordkeeping and disclosure of unauthorized training uses of material that is protected by copyright, by technical protection measures, or governed by contractual terms prohibiting scraping; and
• Adopting legislation to remedy existing market imbalances that prevent publishers from engaging in fair negotiations for the use of their content against dominant platforms.

A new report released by the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University in November found that the rate of newspaper closures has accelerated, now at 2.5 closures per week (with more than 130 confirmed newspaper closings or mergers in the last year), resulting in the expansion of news deserts, in which communities lack a source of local news.

Coffey concluded, “For years the tech platforms have gotten away with using publishers’ content without appropriate compensation. This problem, having gone unaddressed, has been getting worse and now, AI doubles down on the threat the largest tech platforms pose to publishers’ viability. Countries all over the world are introducing and passing legislation requiring the tech platforms to pay news publishers. The United States cannot fall behind other countries and should pass the JCPA, which will ensure publishers can continue to provide important high-quality journalism we all depend on. We have to act now before it’s too late.”

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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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Asks include funding of federal advertising spending on local media, direct funding for government agencies for local media advertising

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Arlington, VA – Today, four national media organizations representing thousands of local newspapers and local broadcast media outlets – the News Media Alliance, National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), National Newspaper Association (NNA) and America’s Newspapers – jointly called on Congress to provide critical support to local news media in its next stimulus bill designed to provide relief to businesses impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. In its summary document, the organizations specifically call for Congress to ensure the ability of local media to seek relief under the Paycheck Protection Program and to fund federal advertising spending on local media through directing current U.S. government advertising campaigns to local news and media outlets, and providing the Department of Health and Human Services, the Small Business Administration and other relevant agencies with an additional $5-10 billion for direct funding for local media advertising that would be evenly distributed to local media in communities of all sizes.

News Media Alliance President & CEO David Chavern stated, “Local news provides reliable, fact-based information that is absolutely critical to communities, particularly during events like the COVID-19 crisis. This is evident in the public’s incredible demand for information from local publishers. However, the rapidly contracting ad market in response to the pandemic is dealing a sharp and immediate blow to local news publishing. If this continues, there won’t be local journalism in many communities.”

Readers have rushed to local news outlets to obtain reliable news and information about their communities, but most of the value of the online engagement flows to the dominant tech platforms. The sharp decline in the general ad market since the COVID-19 pandemic began has caused the revenue of local publishers to contract dramatically. According to an industry survey, despite record audience, most publishers who saw an increase in subscriptions from February saw growth of under 10 percent. Additionally, advertising and other sources of revenue are projected to fall by at least 25 percent, with many expecting declines of over 50 percent. As a result, a wide range of local news publishers have been forced to consider layoffs, furloughs or pay cuts, just when the public needs them the most.

National Association of Broadcasters President and CEO Gordon Smith stated, “NAB is proud to join our friends at the News Media Alliance, National Newspaper Association and America’s Newspapers in support of local media. In communities across America, local broadcasters and local newspapers provide an indispensable source of credible journalism and community focused information that simply cannot be replaced by other media platforms. We urgently request that policymakers support our effort to preserve advertising-supported local media outlets that are so important to the fabric of daily life.”

National Newspaper Association President and publisher of the Douglas (Wy.) Budget Matt Adelman stated, “Local newspapers are valiantly serving their communities to the best of their abilities through the COVID-19 public health crisis. They are more critical than ever at a time like this. As the nation pulls together to get through this period, local media need the revenue from advertising and the public needs essential messages from the government.”

America’s Newspapers CEO Dean Ridings stated, “In the face of business challenges that are pervasive and all-encompassing, our member newspapers are carrying out their mission to provide their communities with vital news and information. The assistance we are asking for today is an investment in sustaining the information infrastructure that is an essential element for a successful American response to this public health crisis.”

The summary document can be found here.

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Media Contact:
Lindsey Loving
Director, Communications
571.366.1009
lindsey@newsmediaalliance.org

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

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The News Media Alliance filed comments in support of the National Association of Broadcasters’ Petition for Reconsideration of the FCC’s August 2016 decision to keep in place its ban on newspaper/broadcaster cross-ownership.

Over a decade of evidence on the record demonstrates that the cross-ownership ban undermines the very values – competition, localism, and diversity – for which the rules were created. Contrary to this evidence, the FCC recently concluded that the ban should continue to exist as-is. Such a decision is arbitrary and capricious in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), and also violates the First Amendment because of its restrictions on free expression.

The cross-ownership ban prevents investment in newspapers that create high-quality original content.  This lack of investment harms local newsgathering and reporting, where readers rely on newspapers the most.  The ban’s intention to promote competition does not outweigh its harm, especially as countless sources for news and information across the Internet already exist. The newspaper industry uniquely serves as a source for unfettered information based on long-term investigative research that requires tremendous investment and resources. The 41 year-old cross-ownership ban does not reflect today’s market and must be repealed immediately.
Access the Comments.

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