Report issued by ranking member of Senate committee calls local journalism 'irreplaceable'

Posted

Local journalism is "essential for healthy communities, competitive marketplaces, and a thriving democracy," states a 67-page report issued by Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), the ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation.  The report was released in advance of the committee's hearing this week on the impact of Big Tech platforms on local news and consumer privacy.

View the full report here:  "Local Journalism: America's Most Trusted News Sources Threatened."

"Unfortunately," the introduction to the report says, "the local news industry is being decimated in the digital age. This is due both to the rapid proliferation of online news content as well as unfair market practices by some of the world’s largest technology companies that reuse local news’ content, data, customers, and advertisers. While the value of local journalism as a trusted brand is starting to shine through to advertisers, the economic downturn due to the COVID-19 pandemic is endangering what is left of local journalism.

"Addressing these unfair business practices and local news’ adoption of a new business model will take time. If Americans are to continue receiving the benefits of local journalism — transparency, fact-checking, professional editing, and high-quality and timely reporting that promotes vibrant, cohesive, and diverse communities — local news needs help to survive the current economic storm."

America's Newspapers CEO Dean Ridings expressed his appreciation to Senator Cantwell for the support she has shown the newspaper industry. Ridings said: “The report states that 'Local news is irreplaceable because other sources do not have the economic incentive or capability to credibly report on local issues.'"

"Newspapers are truly an indispensable part of every healthy community," he said. "I appreciate Sen. Cantwell’s goal of seeking broad support from Congress.  Her leadership, along with the more than 70 bipartisan cosponsors of H.R. 7640 (the Local Journalism Sustainability Act), can and should translate into relief for newspapers in the next Congress."

Charles Hill Morris Jr., regional manager of Morris Multimedia and chair of America's Newspapers' Legislative Committee, said the work that the committee is doing, in partnership with the News Media Alliance is critical.  It is important, he said, for the industry to speak with one voice, "using every avenue to sustain the great journalism that newspapers are known for."

He said, "We’ve been thrilled with the bipartisan response to H.R. 7640, which currently has 76 cosponsors," adding that the committee "hopes to get that well over 100, which will help to provide us some relief in the near future."

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey testified Wednesday before the Senate committee, with some committee members focusing on Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which shields online platforms from liability for the content they publish.

View the first portion of the hearing in this C-Span video.

Here's a sampling of newspaper editorials and guest editorials published after this week's hearing:

The Dallas Morning News (Rudolph Bush, deputy editorial page editor) — "The antitrust suit against Google is getting a lot of attention now. But until the government reforms the law known as Section 230 that disconnects social media companies from liability for what is published on their sites, we will not get true reform." Read this opinion column

The Deseret News (Aubrey Eyre, opinion writer) — "The hearing was evidence that trust in Big Tech and in the government are at an all-time low for a reason. And the questions of 'How to determine the lines between free speech and censorship online?' and 'Who should be determining those lines?' unfortunately are no clearer than they were before the hearing began. But what was made clear is that our elected officials know next to nothing about how Big Tech and even big business really function. And the calm collected responses of Zuckerberg, Dorsey and Picha are evidence that, not only are they better equipped to handle the debates about Big Tech’s future, but also they know the government can’t, or at least won’t, do much to restrict them until they learn to stop squabbling and gain a better understanding of what they’re up against.

"Yesterday proved that if we want to protect the future of free speech and equality online, we need government representatives who are willing to better educate themselves about Big Tech and are willing to reach across the aisle to address the real issues head on."  Read this opinion column

Guest editorial in the Orlando Sentinel (Ronjini Joshua, a California-based author, speaker and founder of The Silver Telegram, a tech-focused communications firm) — "More and more, social-media platforms look like they are media outlets that differ from their traditional competitors only in so far as they don’t have a wage bill for professional journalists, but rather have huge op-ed and letters sections, in the form of users' posts. ... It is about time that those firms were treated like the media outlets they have become, as well as being upfront about their political orientations and editorial biases." Read this opinion column

America's Newspapers encourages additional members to share their editorials with us.

Big Tech, social media, H.R. 7640, Local Journalism Sustainability Act