Journalism Competition & Preservation Act

US news organizations could receive $11 billion windfall if JCPA passes

March 12, 2024 - Chances are “pretty good” that Google's precedent-setting decision in December to compensate Canadian news sites $100 million for the use of their content could translate into billions of dollars in payouts to local news sites in the U.S. So says Conan Gallaty, chairman and CEO of the Tampa Bay Times and Times Publishing Co, who predicts that U.S. news organizations could receive an $11 billion windfall a year if the bill passes.

California Senate Judiciary Committee to hold informational hearing on importance of journalism

Today (Dec. 5), the California Senate Judiciary Committee will hold an Informational Hearing on “The Importance of Journalism in the Digital Age.” Senator Tom Umberg is holding the Hearing to give California legislators the opportunity to learn more about the state of journalism in the state, the challenges local newsrooms face and potential solutions, and how the California Journalism Preservation Act (CJPA, AB 886) in particular can help support a vibrant free press.

Canadian news publishers reach deal with Google for payment for news

November 29, 2023 - The News/Media Alliance applauds the Canadian government for today’s deal with Google for its payment for the use of valuable news content on its Search platform. The amount negotiated is reported to be $100 million per year, down from the $172 million called for by the Canadian government.

News/Media Alliance hosts ‘Support Journalism’ Fly-In to advocate for importance of quality journalism

Eighty-four participants representing news publishers in 25 states across the country will meet with Senators and Representatives on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., Sept. 27 as part of a Support Journalism Fly-In hosted by the News/Media Alliance, a nonprofit trade association representing more than 2,000 print and digital news and magazine publishers in the U.S. The Fly-In is being held to advocate for the importance of quality journalistic and creative content and the need for legislative action in the United States.

News publishers declare global principles for bargaining with Big Tech

Journalists and scholars gathered for two days in South Africa to hammer out details of fair compensation from Big Tech.

Congress, before tackling AI, save local journalism

"The tech industry’s shiny new thing, artificial intelligence, is suddenly an urgent priority in Congress. ... But before going too deep into tomorrow’s tech, perhaps they ought to handle unfinished business with today’s. Namely, addressing severe harm to the news industry that’s resulted from their laissez faire approach to Big Tech over the last two decades." — Brier Dudley, The Seattle Times

News/Media Alliance applauds Senate Judiciary for passing bipartisan Journalism Competition and Preservation Act (JCPA)

The Senate Judiciary Committee has favorably voted 14-7 for the bipartisan Journalism Competition and Preservation Act (JCPA) (S. 1094), which would allow digital journalism providers to collectively negotiate with Google and Facebook for fair compensation for use of their valuable content.

News/Media Alliance applauds California State Assembly for passing California Journalism Preservation Act

June 1, 2023 - The California Journalism Preservation Act (CJPA, AB 886) passed out of the California State Assembly today in a floor vote of 46-6.

Big Tech threat to local journalism still exists

In the 117th Congress, the JCPA garnered 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.
JCPA

Danielle Coffey: Call on Congress to save local news

Danielle Coffey: "Google and Facebook's complete dominance of the digital advertising market also has allowed them to dictate terms, cut side deals and charge exorbitant ad fees — up to 70% of every advertising dollar. As a result of Big Tech’s corporate cronyism, local reporting is being cut off in communities across the nation and rural communities in particular, resulting in an increase in political polarization and corruption."

Congress drops media bargaining bill amid Facebook, industry blowback

Facebook threatened to block news in the U.S. over the measure, which was under consideration as part of a defense package.

JCPA added to defense funding bill

Lawmakers have added a measure to Congress' must-pass defense funding bill that would force Big Tech firms like Google and Meta to pay hundreds of local news outlets for their content, sources tell Axios.

Statement: Meta threatens to remove news from Facebook if JCPA is passed

In response to Meta’s statement on Monday that it would consider removing news from Facebook if the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act — a bill that would require the dominant tech platforms to fairly compensate news publishers for use of their content — is passed in the U.S., the News/Media Alliance issued this statement ...

Pro-journalism legislation faces a make-or-break session

The JCPA has a shot at passage in lame-duck Congress, advocates say.

Klobuchar pulls vote on bipartisan tech bill, says agreement ‘blown up’ by Cruz amendment

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minnesota) asked to pull a committee vote on a bill aimed at giving news outlets the ability to negotiate collectively with tech platforms after she said an adopted amendment offered by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) impeded the bipartisan agreement senators reached ahead of the Thursday meeting.

Statement: Senate Judiciary Committee markup of the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act

Today the Senate Judiciary Committee began markup of the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act (JCPA) (S. 673 and H.R. 1735), a bipartisan bill that would allow local news publishers to come together to collectively negotiate with Google and Facebook for fair compensation for use of their content.

Journalism Competition and Preservation Act held over until future meeting of the Senate Judiciary Committee

Following debate and the introduction of amendments, the Journalism Preservation and Competition Act was held over until a future meeting of the Senate Judiciary Committee. A recording of the markup proceedings can be viewed here (beginning at the 49:07 mark).

Watch for additional coverage coming soon.

Klobuchar, Kennedy, Cicilline, Buck, Durbin, Nadler release updated bipartisan journalism bill

August 22, 2022 - Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minnesota), Senator John Kennedy (R-Louisiana), Representative David Cicilline (D-Rhode Island), Representative Ken Buck (R-Colorado), and Senate and House Judiciary Committee Chairs Dick Durbin (D-Illinois) and Jerrold Nadler (D-New York) released a revised and expanded version of the bipartisan Journalism Competition and Preservation Act to address dominant online platforms’ power over news organizations. The bill removes legal obstacles to news organizations’ ability to negotiate collectively and secure fair terms from gatekeeper platforms that regularly access news content without paying for its value. The legislation also allows news publishers to demand arbitration if they reach an impasse in those negotiations. The revised bill can be found HERE. Read more about the updated bipartisan bill HERE.
Battling Big Tech's advertising monopoly

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Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colorado: "Ensuring our free press has the financial strength to operate and fulfill its role as an unimpeded publisher of information is critical to keeping the marketplace of ideas open."
There have been claims made that the JCPA will lead to job losses based on the notion that newspapers will “cut them to under 1,500 employees” to be eligible.
The internet that Silicon Valley promised us was supposed to be a haven for new ideas, robust free speech and a free flow of information. Instead, the internet we got is dominated by a handful of Big Tech companies that wield unprecedented power over nearly every aspect of our lives.  
As the JCPA is making progress in Congress, it is a good time to evaluate the success of Australia’s Code.
Here is a look at how the JCPA would work and its prospects.
Support for the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act (JCPA) spans the globe, with letters and statements endorsing the bill coming in from groups in Australia, Canada, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as from multi-national organizations.
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Google and Facebook are threatening local news. The JCPA can save it.

This editorial is being made available to all newspapers for reprint. Or, adapt it and make it your own with information from your local market.

July 17, 2022 - Among the antitrust bills Congress is considering this year, the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act (JCPA) is the only one that provides a direct check against Google and Facebook’s anticompetitive tactics that put local papers at risk. 

Ironically, Big Tech is protected by U.S. antitrust laws, which prevent local papers from negotiating as a group. The JCPA would provide a temporary, limited antitrust safe harbor for small, local news publishers to collectively negotiate with Facebook and Google for fair compensation for the use of their content. It’s narrowly tailored to ensure that coordination by news publishers is only in the interest of protecting trustworthy, quality journalism.

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August 18, 2022 - The audience for news is growing fast, with media organizations reaching approximately 136 million U.S. adults each week. Yet at the same time, revenue generated by U.S. news publications has dropped 58% since 2005. Between 2004 and 2018, newspaper newsroom employment dropped by almost half, according to the Pew Research Center. How can news organizations be losing money when traffic to news sites is increasing? Simple: The people producing this news aren’t being paid for it.
Klobuchar holds Senate hearing to highlight Big Tech’s harm to local news outlets
Klobuchar: 'We need to step in to level the playing field.'

Press Release (Feb. 2, 2022) | U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minnesota)

At Wednesday's Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Competition Policy, Antitrust, and Consumer Rights hearing on journalism, competition and the effects of market power on a free press, U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minnesota), chairwoman of the subcommittee, highlighted how dominant online platforms’ advertising practices harm local news outlets.

“These Big Tech companies are not friends to journalism. They are raking in ad dollars while taking news content, feeding it to their users, and refusing to offer fair compensation,” Klobuchar said in her opening statement. “What does Big Tech’s dominance over the news mean for Americans? Less revenue for local news, fewer journalists to do in-depth high quality reporting, more exposure to misinformation and fewer reliable sources…That’s why we need to step in to level the playing field.”

Last March, Klobuchar, Senator John Kennedy (R-Louisiana), Representative David Cicilline (D-Rhode Island), and Representative Ken Buck (R-New York) introduced bipartisan, bicameral legislation to level the negotiating playing field by allowing news publishers and broadcasters to band together to negotiate with digital platforms on the terms on which their news content can be accessed. The Journalism Competition and Preservation Act would enable news organizations to negotiate terms that would provide fair compensation for news content, while protecting and preserving Americans’ right to access quality news.

Last May, Klobuchar and Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) and Michael Bennet (D-Colorado) introduced legislation to create a committee to study the state of local journalism and offer recommendations to Congress on the actions it can take to support local news organizations.

Last July, Klobuchar and Senators Maria Cantwell (D-Washington), Mark Kelly (D-Arizona), and Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) introduced the Local Journalism Sustainability Act to help financially support local news organizations through tax credits to incentivize hiring more journalists, subscriptions and advertising from local small businesses.

The full transcript of Klobuchar’s opening is  available HERE.

Feb. 7, 2022 (Dallas Morning News) - Everyone knows that "reaching an audience without using Google and Facebook is an impossible task these days," the editorial board of The Dallas Morning News wrote. "That is why we are supporting the bipartisan Journalism Competition and Preservation Act now before Congress."
Feb. 7, 2022 (Chicago Tribune) - If passed, the JCPA would allow news publishers to collectively negotiate — under the authority of a federal arbiter — with social media companies, namely Meta (Facebook) and Alphabet (Google), over how news is distributed online.
Feb. 4, 2022 (AJC) - In this editorial, the editorial board of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution called on Congress — and Georgia’s congressional delegation — to vote to pass the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act. "The time for that is now — and passage should come without further delay."
Feb. 4, 2022 (The Post and Courier, Charleston, South Carolina) - Big Tech’s unfair advertising practices continue to damage the local journalism that Americans rely on for important reliable information about their communities. That means lost revenue for news outlets, less local reporting and the spread of more misinformation, which distorts our civic discourse and harms our democracy.
Feb. 2, 2022 (Brier Dudley, The Seattle Times) - One of the key bills to help save local news is being revised in Congress to strengthen it and be sure it benefits small outlets as well as large ones. As part of that process, the Senate Judiciary competition subcommittee today held a feisty hearing on why the policy is needed and what's at stake. It's title: "Breaking the News – Journalism, Competition, and the Effects of Market Power on a Free Press."
View Video of Senate Hearing

 

Download this Fact Sheet from the News Media Alliance
While causing harm to all news publishers, tech platforms disproportionately harm publications owned by and targeting non-white Americans.