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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When: Thursday, May 4, 2023, 8:15 a.m. – 6:30 p.m. EDT 

Where: Renaissance Hotel, Washington, DC

Get tickets

The News/Media Alliance is happy to be partnering with Economic Liberties on the Anti-Monopoly Summit. We invite our Alliance members to attend the Summit on May 4, 2023 at the Renaissance Hotel in Washington D.C. This Summit will bring together the growing anti-monopoly movement in a marquee one-day conference to build power and engage with senior policymakers from across the country.

Description:

The anti-monopoly movement has swelled in prominence in recent years. Historic appointments at the Federal Trade Commission, the Department of Justice Antitrust Division, and the White House, alongside bipartisan leadership in Congress and President Biden’s July 2021 Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the U.S. launched a successful all-of-government agenda to arrest corporate power.

For more information, visit antimonopolysummit.org.

Keynote speakers include:

• Amy Klobuchar, Senator for the State of Minnesota
• Lael Brainard, Director, National Economic Council
• Lina Khan, Chair, Federal Trade Commission
• Jonathan Kanter, Assistant Attorney General, Antitrust Division, Department of Justice
• Jennifer Abruzzo, General Counsel, National Labor Relations Board
• Summer Lee, Representative for the State of Pennsylvania
• Doha Mekki, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Antitrust Division, Department of Justice
• Elizabeth Wilkins, Chief of Staff to the Chair and Director, Office of Policy and Planning, Federal Trade Commission
• Patrick Spence, CEO of Sonos
• More speakers coming soon.

Organizations supporting the event include Common Future, Demand Progress, Digital Content Next, Future of Music Coalition, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, National Community Pharmacists Association, National Grocers Association, News/Media Alliance, Small Business Majority, Economic Security Project, Kauffman Foundation, Omidyar Network.

Get tickets

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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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“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

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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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The News Media Alliance applauds the introduction of the “Competition and Transparency Digital Advertising Act,” by Senators Mike Lee (R-Utah), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ted Cruz (R-TX), and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT).  While our priority is the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act, we support the goal of Senator Lee’s bill to break up the ad market, ensure more transparency, create fiduciary duties to publishers, and make more data available to publishers. We look forward to working with the lead sponsors to ensure competition and transparency in digital advertising.

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Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) introduced a Resolution thanking the journalists who are risking their lives to report on the war and humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, and memorializing the dozens of journalists who have been injured or killed while reporting on the war since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The Resolution reiterates the United States’ support of a free press and condemns attempts by the Russian government to use propaganda and lies to mislead the public about its invasion of Ukraine, recognizing the important role of journalists reporting on the ground in Ukraine to combat false propaganda and bring the truth to Americans and the global public.

The Resolution states, “the Senate— (1) declares its gratitude on behalf of the people of the United States to the journalists and news staff who continue to put themselves in harm’s way to report on the humanitarian crisis and ongoing war on the ground in Ukraine following the Russian Federation’s invasion; (2) remembers the journalists and news staff who have lost their lives or have been severely injured reporting from Ukraine and conveys the sympathies and appreciation of the people of the United
States to their families for their sacrifice; (3) condemns President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, President of the Republic of Belarus Aleksander Lukashenko, and their officials for authorizing and executing attacks on innocent Ukrainian civilians, residential areas, and humanitarian corridors, resulting in the loss of life of civilians, including journalists and news staff; and (4) honors the contributions of journalists and news staff reporting from the war in Ukraine as essential in the ongoing struggle for the rights of a free press and free speech internationally, pivotal in pushing back against false propaganda by tyrants, and crucial to informing the people of the United States and the world of the horrors being wrought against the Ukrainian people.”

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Journalism Competition & Preservation Act would allow news publishers to negotiate for fair compensation from the tech platforms

Arlington, VA – Today the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Competition Policy, Antitrust, and Consumer Rights will hold a hearing at 3:00 p.m. ET, “Breaking the News – Journalism, Competition, and the Effects of Market Power on a Free Press,” on the impact of the dominant tech platforms, such as Facebook and Google, on the ability to sustain high-quality journalism and the need for legislation to ensure the platforms provide news publishers fair compensation for use of their online content.

Witnesses scheduled to testify at the hearing include Jennifer Bertetto, president & CEO of Trib Total Media in Greensburg, PA (written testimony here); Hal Singer, economist and antitrust expert (written testimony here); and Joel Oxley, senior vice president and general manager of WTOP and Federal News Radio.

Last March, Senate Antitrust Subcommittee Chair Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Senator John N. Kennedy (R-LA) reintroduced the Journalism Competition & Preservation Act (JCPA) in the Senate, which would provide a limited antitrust safe harbor for news publishers to collectively negotiate with the platforms for fair compensation for the use of their content. An identical bill was introduced concurrently in the House by House Antitrust Chairman David Cicilline (D-RI) and Ranking Member Ken Buck (R-CO).

News Media Alliance President & CEO, David Chavern, stated, “We applaud the Senate Judiciary Committee for holding this hearing and recognizing the urgent need to address the local news crisis. We need trusted sources of journalism now more than ever. Currently, the dominant tech platforms set the rules, using news publishers’ content without providing appropriate compensation, while taking the majority of digital advertising revenue in the U.S. This is revenue that news publishers need to reinvest in providing quality journalism. Now is the time to act, and we believe the Journalism Competition & Preservation Act is the solution that will help sustain high-quality journalism and therefore our civic society.”

Current antitrust laws prohibit news publishers from taking collective action by negotiating with the large online platforms for fair compensation for all news publishers – large and small – across the board. This legislation would provide news publishers with a limited opportunity to negotiate together and to withhold content from the online platforms during the negotiations, while presenting a sensible, market-based solution to a major threat to the future of high-quality journalism.

Managing Director of Econ One, Hal Singer, said, “The reason Google scrapes, indexes and posts news publisher content for free is because it can. It’s like some bully coming into your house and taking your lunch. As long as market forces are allowed to dictate the payments for accessing news publisher content, the access price will remain at zero, and news publishers will be deprived of billions of dollars per year of value created for the platforms.”

“While Google and Facebook earn record profits year after year, their monopolistic behavior has led to downsized or shuttered newsrooms across America. Even with our restructuring and enhanced digital offerings, it was not enough to level the playing field,” said Jennifer Bertetto, President and CEO of Trib Total Media. “The Journalism Competition and Preservation Act (JCPA) would allow news publishers – irrespective of size or political persuasion – to jointly negotiate with the platforms for fair compensation for the use of our content. The JCPA would give my company – a small, regionally-focused publisher – what we don’t have today: a seat at the table.”

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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 organizations and their multiplatform businesses in the United States and globally. Alliance members include print, digital and mobile publishers of original news content. Headquartered just outside Washington, D.C., 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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In October, House Antitrust Chairman David Cicilline (D-RI) and the Democratic Majority of the House Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial, and Administrative Law released a report on the anticompetitive behavior of the big tech platforms, which resulted in the antitrust bills (link to bills) that will be marked up in the House Judiciary Committee this week. The Report also referenced the News Media Alliance White Paper, “How Google Abuses Its Position as a Market Dominant Platform to Strong-Arm News Publishers and Hurt Journalism,” which outlines several of the ways in which Google uses news content to its advantage across its products and services.

The House Majority Report also recommends passing the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act, which will allow for the fair exchange of value for quality journalism that is extracted and monetized by the tech platforms.

Alliance President and CEO, David Chavern, stated, “The anticompetitive conduct of the dominant tech platforms can’t be ignored and is a testament to the critical need to correct the glaring imbalance in the marketplace. We applaud the House Judiciary Committee’s attention to these very important issues that cause consumer harm across our country.”

In March, Chairman Cicilline, Ranking Member Ken Buck (R-CO), Senate Antitrust Chairwoman Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), and Senator John N. Kennedy (R-LA), reintroduced the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act (JCPA), which would grant news publishers the ability to collectively negotiate with the dominant tech platforms for fair compensation for use of their content. The News Media Alliance is strongly advocating for the JCPA.

Chavern continued, “Both short- and long-term solutions are needed, and we applaud Chairman Cicilline, Chairwoman Klobuchar, the Department of Justice, state Attorneys General, and other supporters who are continuing to push for a fair and competitive digital landscape that rewards the producers of original content, both now and in the future.

“Local news is more important than ever, but without a fair deal from the tech platforms, we can’t continue to invest in providing the public with high-quality journalism critical to our democracy.”

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The Star Tribune reported that Klobuchar wrote “an estimated 8,400 columns over 30 years.” Starting at the Star Tribune as a general columnist in 1965, he wrote about anything and everything, but first and foremost, about the town and the lives of its people. An avid chronicler and active community member, he was passionate about journalism and the local community he served. He genuinely cared about his fellow community members, and it showed in his work.

Alliance President and CEO, David Chavern, stated, “People like Jim Klobuchar are what make this industry so special. He is a shining example of how local journalism – provided by journalists who are members of the community themselves – is ingrained in our everyday lives. We are honored to count him as one of our own and we will continue to honor his legacy through promoting the importance of quality local journalism.”

The University of Minnesota School of Journalism and Mass Communication will be introducing a scholarship in honor of Klobuchar’s many contributions to the field. They are currently accepting donations in his memory.

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