Publishers push Congress to protect local news industry from Big Tech, AI

Washington – News publishers today renewed a push for Congress to pass legislation that would help news organizations receive compensation for content used by Big Tech companies and artificial intelligence applications.

More than 120 publishers and their representatives from local and national news organizations visited members of Congress at their Capitol Hill offices as part of a lobbying blitz for bills that could level the playing field with platforms like Google and Facebook.

The news, magazine and digital publishers want Congress to pass the bipartisan Journalism Competition and Preservation Act and several other bills that would help protect content produced by their journalists.

The Journalism Competition and Preservation Act would give news organizations a temporary anti-trust exemption to negotiate fair compensation with platforms like Facebook and Google.

The tech platforms take as much as 70% of the digital ad revenue generated in the United States, according to the News/Media Alliance, a trade group of more than 2,200 news, magazine and digital media organizations.

The legislation could boost local news organizations, which compete with the technology firms for digital ad revenue.

Separately, the news publishers asked members of Congress to pass a bill that protects their content from artificial intelligence systems that scrape content without authorization or payment.

The publishers are also seeking tax credits through the Community News and Small Business Support Act, a bipartisan bill introduced by Rep. Claudia Tenney, R-Cleveland, who represents parts of Central New York, and Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Wash.

The legislation would provide a refundable payroll tax credit for local newspapers, and a non-refundable tax credit for small businesses with fewer than 50 employees who advertise with local newspapers and broadcast outlets.

The companies that could benefit from the legislation include Advance Local, which operates al.com, Cleveland.com, lehighvalleylive.com, MassLive.com, MLive.com, NJ.com, OregonLive.com, PennLive.com, SILive.com, syracuse.com and other local digital news sites.

Tim Kennedy, regional president of Advance Local and president of Advance Media New York, which publishes syracuse.com and The Post-Standard, is among the news executives who traveled to Washington to meet with members of Congress.

“American cities and towns, like Syracuse, are better because of the work done by our local news reporters and editors,” Kennedy said. “The voters are informed; the powerful are held accountable. It is well past time for Congress to protect their work from digital theft and allow for fair compensation from the technology companies that benefit so richly from the tilted playing field.”

The news publishers, representing 36 states, met with members of the House and Senate, including Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.

The News/Media Alliance on Tuesday night recognized Sens. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Ct., for their contributions toward preserving quality local journalism. The two senators were honored at the Support Journalism Awards in Washington.

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