News/Media Alliance Statement on California Governor Newsom, Assemblymember Wicks Announcement with Google, Ensuring Tech Platform Pays for Journalism

Arlington, VA – Today, California Governor Gavin Newsom and Assemblymember Buffy Wicks (D-Oakland) announced a public-private partnership agreement with the state of California and Google to fund journalism. This is the first deal to be reached in the United States to compensate news publishers on a broad scale for use of their content online by the Big Tech platforms. Currently, creators of journalistic and creative content are not adequately compensated by the platforms for the use of their work that takes a tremendous investment to produce.

The California Journalism Preservation Act (CJPA, AB 886), which would require the Big Tech platforms to pay news publishers and broadcasters for their journalism, last week passed a key hurdle through California Senate Appropriations and was headed to the Senate floor. In lieu of legislation, Assemblymember Wicks (the CJPA’s author) and Governor Newsom have announced a partnership that would more quickly ensure news publishers receive fair payment for the use of their content.

“Google is a dominant monopoly that reaps significant revenue off scraping and repackaging quality news content, depriving publishers of the opportunity to monetize their content and reinvest in journalists,” said News/Media Alliance President & CEO Danielle Coffey. “Today’s announcement reinforces the need for federal legislation and potential court remedies to address this broken marketplace.”

The federal Journalism Competition & Preservation Act (JCPA, S. 1094), introduced by Senate Antitrust Chairwoman Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Senator John N. Kennedy (R-LA), would address this marketplace imbalance at the federal level and provide fair compensation to news publishers. The bill has strong bipartisan support and passed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee with a favorable vote in June 2023.

Meanwhile, on August 5, the Department of Justice (DOJ) ruled in its landmark case against Google, finding that Google has violated antitrust laws for its anticompetitive practices in search and advertising, including against news media companies. This monumental lawsuit is based on years of investigation and claims against the dominant monopoly. The decision finally recognizes that this behavior is unacceptable, and that Google must be held accountable, and competition restored to the marketplace.

Coffey added, “Assemblymember Wicks has shown incredible commitment to news publishers, and through her efforts has extracted concessions from one of the world’s largest tech giants. We also appreciate the California News Publishers Association for their commitment to the effort. We will work with other states and of course with Senators Klobuchar and Kennedy on passing the JCPA.”

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The News/Media Alliance is a nonprofit organization representing more than 2,200 news, magazine, and digital media organizations and their multiplatform businesses in the United States and globally. Alliance members include print and digital publishers of original journalism. Headquartered just outside Washington, D.C., the association focuses on ensuring the future of journalism through communication, research, advocacy, and innovation. Information about the News/Media Alliance can be found at www.newsmediaalliance.org.

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