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Also published in America’s Newspapers’ e-newsletter here. 

Following the re-introduction of the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act (H.R. 1735 / S. 673) (JCPA) in 2021, the News/Media Alliance and its allies worked to advocate for the bill’s passage during the 117th Congress. The JCPA would allow small and local news publishers to come together to collectively negotiate with Google and Facebook for fair compensation for use of their content. News publishers, magazines and broadcasters currently do not have the ability to negotiate deals on their own, as the dominant tech platforms capture the majority of U.S. digital ad revenue, leaving little to reinvest in the production of high-quality journalism.

The Senate Judiciary Committee’s subcommittee on antitrust hosted a hearing for the JCPA in February of 2022, allowing for substantive conversation on the legislation, and garnering further interest from Congressional leaders. The Alliance and its allies followed up on this hearing by meeting with Congressional staffers and organizing grassroots outreach, resulting in over 2,000 touchpoints on Capitol Hill over the summer. These efforts led to a successful Senate Judiciary Committee markup on September 22, where the JCPA was reported favorably to the Senate floor with a committee vote of 15-7.

Policymakers are motivated to stand up for the vital public institution of journalism and push back against anticompetitive business practices. A thriving press performs a critical role in building and engaging local communities and holding government officials accountable. There is broad agreement in the U.S. – on both sides of the aisle, not only on the Hill but among members the public – that action is needed to protect local journalism. An April 2022 poll of 1,000 U.S. adults conducted by Schoen Cooperman Research for the News/Media Alliance found that 70 percent of Americans support Congress passing the JCPA.

In December, nine leading media and journalism organizations, including the Alliance, Americas Newspapers, National Newspaper Association, the American Economic Liberties Project, and others sent a joint letter to Congressional leaders calling on the Congress to pass the JCPA before the end of 2022. The groups underscored the importance of passing the JCPA as the best solution to ensuring news publishers are compensated fairly for use of their content by the dominant tech platforms.

Over the past few years, Australia and the European Union have witnessed the benefits of their recently enacted laws to protect journalism. The Australian model, which requires the dominant tech platforms to pay publishers for use of their original content, has prompted other countries including Canada, India and the UK to take steps towards adopting similar laws. The results in Australia have been transformative for journalism. As a result of its News Media Bargaining Code adopted in 2021, estimates suggest that the total compensation received by news publishers so far – $140 million, which translates to billions in the U.S. – would cover around 20% of the costs of Australian journalists’ salaries. In addition, Australian newspapers are recruiting more journalists, with journalism professors noting an oversupply of available positions for their students. This is despite the fact that no platform has yet been “designated” under the Code – an official determination requiring the designated platform to negotiate with eligible publishers. The mere threat of designation has resulted in successful negotiations between news publishers and the platforms and provides evidence of the value of an Australian-style model for other countries to follow.

The Alliance and its allies successfully advocated for inclusion of the JCPA in the NDAA in December, only to have it removed after Meta threatened to remove news from its platform and Republicans reversed support and demanded a “clean” bill. Threats like Meta made were attempted before the Australian government passed its Code – they were unsuccessful, and news publishers ultimately got paid. As the tech platforms compensate news publishers around the world, it demonstrates the demand and economic value for news.

In the 117th Congress, the JCPA garnered bipartisan support with 75 co-sponsors in the House and 15 in the Senate. The Alliance continues to hold conversations with the JCPA’s Congressional champions, who intend to reintroduce the bill in the 118th Congress. The congressional champions are eager to move the bill, mobilized after the momentum gained at the end of last year. The abuse of dominance by the tech platforms and threat to local journalism still exists, and leaders in Congress are still committed to fixing that problem. The Alliance remains dedicated to ensuring quality journalism prevails and intend to work alongside our allies to ensure a legislative solution moves forward in this Congress.

The post Big Tech Threat to Local Journalism Still Exists, Congress Committed to Fixing That Problem Through JCPA appeared first on News/Media Alliance.

After incorporating several amendments, the Committee ultimately voted to report the JCPA out favorably and send the bill to the Senate floor.

“We applaud Senators Klobuchar, Kennedy, Durbin and Grassley for their support of the JCPA and their dedication to sustaining quality journalism. Today’s markup and vote was a major step towards getting small and local news publishers the fair compensation they deserve for their content,” said News/Media Alliance President & CEO David Chavern. “We thank Chairman Nadler, Chairman Cicilline, and Ranking Member Buck for their support for local journalism and call on Chairman Nadler to bring the bill before the House Judiciary Committee for a vote next week, likely the last opportunity to move the JCPA out of Committee before the midterm elections.”

The Alliance thanks the many co-sponsors of the bill for their leadership in pursuing this legislation and for their commitment to sustaining quality journalism.

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The post Statement: News/Media Alliance Applauds Senate Markup of Journalism Competition & Preservation Act (JCPA), Calls on House to Mark-Up Bill Next Week appeared first on News/Media Alliance.

Claims made by the opposition are wholly unfounded and are not supported by the text of the legislation. The Myths and Facts around these claims are important to honest and productive discourse. Jobs will be created; news outlets will publicly disclose funds received and how it is spent; there is no payment required for links of any sort; and extreme content already exists and is currently paid for by Google and Facebook with no public transparency, while traditional local newspapers are being left behind. According to an article just published by The Wall Street Journal, marketplace arrangements are not the answer. The JCPA will lead to open and vetted compensation for news outlets for the fair market value the platforms receive.

The JCPA has broad support, not only in Congress where it has strong support in both the House and the Senate (on both sides of the aisle – including 79 total co-sponsors), but also from 215 consumer interest groups, unions, conservatives, advocacy groups and third-party organizations that have shown support for the JCPA by sending letters of support to the bill sponsors. In addition, nearly 24,000 individuals have 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 recent poll of 1,000 U.S. adults conducted by Schoen Cooperman Research for the News/Media Alliance, 70 percent of Americans said they support Congress passing the JCPA.

The Alliance thanks the many co-sponsors of the bill for their leadership in pursuing this legislation and for their commitment to sustaining quality journalism.

“For too long, the tech platforms have used – and profited from – news content without paying the creators of that content, which has done serious damage to high-quality journalism. This is our chance to fix the source of that damage, with meaningful legislation that will level the playing field and flow revenue back to the original creators,” said News/Media Alliance President & CEO David Chavern. “We applaud Chairwoman Klobuchar, Senator Kennedy, Chairman Cicilline, and Ranking Member Buck for their ardent commitment to journalism and steadfast support of the JCPA, and we look forward to the Senate Judiciary Committee’s markup leading to a vote and passage of this critical legislation for local news publishers across our country.”

The markup proceedings can be viewed live here.

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

The post Statement: News/Media Alliance Applauds Bipartisan Journalism Competition and Preservation Act (JCPA), to be Voted On at Senate Markup Tomorrow appeared first on News/Media Alliance.

“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.

The JCPA would allow local news publishers to come together to collectively negotiate with the Big Tech platforms, such as Google and Facebook, for fair compensation for use of their content. Currently, small and local 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 local publishers with little to reinvest in the production of high-quality journalism.

News/Media Alliance President & CEO David Chavern said, “We applaud Chairwoman Klobuchar, Senator Kennedy, Chairman Cicilline, and Ranking Member Buck for their leadership in progressing the JCPA and for their hard work and dedication to fighting for the future of local journalism through pursuing fair and just compensation for news publishers. The time to act is now.”

The JCPA has broad support, not only in Congress where it has strong support in both the House and the Senate (on both sides of the aisle – including 79 total co-sponsors), but also from 215 consumer interest groups, unions, conservatives, advocacy groups and third-party organizations that have shown support for the JCPA by sending letters of support to the bill sponsors. In addition, nearly 24,000 individuals have 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 recent poll of 1,000 U.S. adults conducted by Schoen Cooperman Research for the News/Media Alliance, 70 percent of Americans said they support Congress passing the JCPA.

The Alliance thanks the many co-sponsors of the bill for their leadership in pursuing this legislation and for their commitment to sustaining quality journalism.

View the joint House and Senate press release on the release of the bill text here.

Click here to view a full list of third-party support organizations and bill co-sponsors.

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

The post Statement: News/Media Alliance Applauds Text Release of Journalism Competition & Preservation Act, Forthcoming Markup in Senate appeared first on News/Media Alliance.