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 – 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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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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Remarks to include discussion of dominant tech platforms’ impact on the sustainability of quality journalism and the need for legislation that ensures fair compensation

Arlington, VA – The News Media Alliance will testify today at 10:00 a.m. ET at a House Antitrust, Commercial, and Administrative Law Subcommittee hearing, “Reviving Competition, Part 2: Saving the Free and Diverse Press,” on the need for the dominant tech platforms, such as Facebook and Google, to compensate news publishers fairly for use of their content. The Alliance submitted written testimony yesterday, ahead of the hearing. A statement for the record by Maribel Perez Wadsworth, President of News for Gannett Media and Publisher of USA TODAY, can also be found here.

Alliance President & CEO, David Chavern, will testify at the hearing, as well as Brad Smith, President of Microsoft; Emily Barr, CEO of Graham Media; Jonathan Schleuss, President of the NewsGuild-Communications Workers of America; Glenn Greenwald, Journalist and Constitutional Lawyer; and Clay Travis, Founder of Outkick Media.

On Wednesday, House Antitrust Chairman David Cicilline (D-RI) and Ranking Member Ken Buck (R-CO) reintroduced the Journalism Competition & Preservation Act in the House, 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 also introduced Wednesday in the Senate by Antitrust Subcommittee Chair Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Senator John N. Kennedy (R-LA).

Members of Congress are also considering more comprehensive solutions to strengthen the bill. These options could include a mechanism to ensure equitable terms are offered to all news publishers, small and large, and an oversight mechanism to ensure the platforms participate in good faith.

News Media Alliance President & CEO David Chavern stated, “We are encouraged by the recent developments in Australia and Europe and that new compensation systems for publishers are gaining support here in the U.S. Quality journalism is key to sustaining civic society, and we must ensure that the digital ecosystem returns value back to the people who create that journalism. The cost of inaction is clearer than ever, as we’ve seen that in the absence of news, misinformation and hate speech run rampant and unchecked. We need trusted sources of journalism – particularly local and community publishers – now more than ever, but without at least an antitrust safe harbor, news publishers will have no capacity to collectively fight for their futures.”

Current 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.

The Alliance applauds Reps. Cicilline and Buck and Sens. Klobuchar and Kennedy for their leadership in support of local news and looks forward to working with them on ways to further strengthen the bill to ensure equitable terms and fair compensation for the valuable content being produced by all news publishers, including small and local.

The world is moving toward a new and more equitable compensation system for publishers and that basic idea now has wide support across the political spectrum and is the cornerstone of all comprehensive solutions. News publishers’ ability to build a sustainable digital future for journalism will depend, in large part, on their ability to get fair compensation from Facebook and Google. Quality journalism supports democracy and it is more important than ever to ask our elected representatives to support legislation that brings value back to those who create journalism.

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

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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Bill will provide safe harbor for news publishers to collectively negotiate with tech platforms

Arlington, VA –The News Media Alliance applauds House Antitrust Chairman David Cicilline (D-RI), Ranking Member Ken Buck (R-CO), 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 a limited antitrust safe harbor for news publishers to collectively negotiate with Facebook and Google for fair compensation for the use of their content.

In response to the bill reintroduction in both the House and Senate, News Media Alliance President & CEO, David Chavern, said, “This is a huge milestone for U.S. news publishers. As we have seen over the last several weeks in Australia and Europe, the world is moving toward new compensation systems for publishers. The cost of inaction, in terms of the spread of misinformation we are all experiencing, is simply too great to ignore any longer. Quality journalism is key to sustaining civic society and we must ensure that the digital ecosystem returns value back to the people who create that journalism.”

Since 2018, the News Media Alliance has been vocally advocating for such legislation in the U.S., which it believes is needed to address the imbalance in the news publisher-platform relationship. “Without an antitrust safe harbor, news publishers will have no capacity to collectively fight for their futures,” Chavern said.

The previous bill received support from several Representatives and Senators on both sides of the aisle and has now been reintroduced in the 117th Congress to continue progressing forward.

Chavern added, “We are grateful to Chairs Cicilline and Klobuchar, Ranking Member Buck, and Senator Kennedy for their commitment to quality journalism, and we look forward to working with them on ways to further strengthen the bill to ensure equitable terms and fair compensation for the valuable content being produced by all news publishers, including small and community publishers. News publishers need a fighting chance with the tech platforms that currently control who receives our content and how much we are paid.”

Currently, the Duopoly captures 90 percent of all digital ad revenue growth and approximately 60 percent of total U.S. digital advertising revenue. The Alliance joins the members of Congress in their belief that a safe harbor for news publishers to allow them to come together to negotiate with the platforms on their overall behalf is the solution to this problem.

That basic idea now has wide support across the political spectrum and is the cornerstone of all comprehensive solutions. More information on the bill can be found in the News Media Alliance’s JCPA Talking Points.

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

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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Brown wasn’t the only one who questioned Facebook’s “disruption” of the news industry. Senator John Kennedy (R-LA) was also suspicious of the platform’s impact on the news media, asking Facebook representative and Libra co-creator David Marcus if the platform was actually replacing news with “bullshit.” See Sen. Kennedy’s question below:

The post Senators Suggest Facebook’s “Disruption” of News Does More Harm Than Good appeared first on News/Media Alliance.

Remarks support safe harbor legislation for news publishers to negotiate for better business arrangements with tech platforms

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Arlington, VA – Tomorrow, the News Media Alliance will testify at a House Judiciary Committee Congressional hearing, “Online Platforms and Market Power, Part 1: The Free and Diverse Press,” on the need to protect the future of journalism through granting news publishers a safe harbor to negotiate for better business terms with the big tech platforms, such as Facebook and Google. The Alliance submitted written testimony today, ahead of the hearing.

News Media Alliance President & CEO David Chavern stated, “Journalism is critical to our civic society. The major tech platforms know this and they extract the value from our reporting without adequately compensating the publishers who create it. News publishers need the ability to band together to negotiate a sustainable future for quality journalism.”

The Journalism Competition & Preservation Act, which would provide a limited safe harbor for news publishers to collectively negotiate with the platforms, was introduced in April in the House (H.R. 2054) by Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee Doug Collins (R-GA) and Representative David Cicilline (D-RI), Chairman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial and Administrative Law, and in June in the Senate (S.1700) by Senators John Kennedy (R-LA), Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), the Ranking Member of the Senate Antitrust Subcommittee.

The Alliance applauds Reps. Collins and Cicilline, and Senators Kennedy and Klobuchar for their leadership in support of local news and looks forward to news publishers finally having the right to ask the platforms to recognize the value of news content in the form of fair compensation.

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Media contact:
Michael MaLoon
VP, Innovation & Communications
michael@newsmediaalliance.org
571.366.1020

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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Bill will provide safe harbor for news publishers to collectively negotiate with tech platforms

Arlington, VA – Today, on the heels of the Alliance’s House congressional briefing, Senator John Kennedy (R-LA), Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights, introduced the “Journalism Competition and Preservation Act” in the Senate with the incredible appreciation of the News Media Alliance. The bill, similar to H.R. 2054 introduced in the House last month by Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee Doug Collins (R-GA) and Representative David Cicilline (D-RI), Chairman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial and Administrative Law, would provide a limited safe harbor for news publishers to collectively negotiate with Facebook and Google for better business arrangements.

News Media Alliance President & CEO David Chavern said, “We are thrilled that two bipartisan leaders of the Senate Judiciary Committee have championed this legislation, which speaks to its widely understood importance. We are grateful to Senators Kennedy and Klobuchar for their commitment to quality journalism and we look forward to news publishers soon having the ability to negotiate with the platforms that currently control who sees our content.”

The News Media Alliance has been very vocal over the last year in advocating for such legislation, which it believes is needed to address the imbalance in the news publisher-platform relationship. “The tech platforms greatly benefit from news content. We need terms that will allow news publishers to continue to reinvest in quality journalism,” Chavern said.

Currently, the Duopoly captures 90 percent of all digital ad revenue growth and approximately 60 percent of total U.S. digital advertising. Like Kennedy and Klobuchar, the Alliance believes the solution to this problem is to provide a safe harbor for news publishers to allow them to come together to negotiate with the platforms on their overall behalf.

“At the heart of this bill is helping newspapers survive amid shrinking circulations and massive layoffs. Google and Facebook now control the news kingdom. They’ve pitted themselves against newspapers in a David-and-Goliath battle in which newspapers don’t have a stone to throw much less a slingshot to put it in. The readers are the true losers as newsrooms empty out across this country,” said Sen. Kennedy. “Google and Facebook aren’t just companies. They’re countries. We can’t allow them to bully newspapers out of business.”

Senator Klobuchar stated, “Without honest and trusted journalists reporting around the world and here at home, what is out of sight truly becomes out of mind—but we’re seeing more and more independent and local news outlets close as ‘fake news’ rises. It’s more important than ever that we protect the free press and establish an even playing field for negotiation with online platforms. Our bipartisan legislation will improve the quality and accessibility of reporting and ensure that journalists are able to continue their critical work.”

The Alliance applauds Senators Kennedy and Klobuchar for their for their leadership in support of local newspapers across the country and eagerly anticipates the ability for news publishers to finally be able to ask the platforms to acknowledge the immense value of their content.

For more information, view the Fact Sheet on Senator Kennedy’s website.

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Media contact:
Lindsey Loving
Manager, Communications
lindsey@newsmediaalliance.org
571.366.1009

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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