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.
Members of the News/Media Alliance staff have contributed to this post.
