California government deal would spend $240 million on journalism

(The Center Square) - California government officials and Big Tech are nearing an agreement to jointly provide at least $242.5 million in funding for journalism, including local and ethnic outlets. The agreement, first reported on by KCRA , would put an end to bills that would require tech companies to pay newsrooms a portion of their search and display revenue.

Under the California Journalism Preservation Act, which this agreement would stop from advancing, social media companies and search engines would be required to pay a share of their advertising revenue to news organizations based on how much organizations’ content shows up in social media feeds or search results. As protest, Google stopped showing local California news organizations in its search results to some California users.

The new deal would see the California government pitch in $70 million and Google put up $172.5 million towards newsrooms.

“In the latest draft of the framework, there is also a provision that 12% would go to “underserved” and “local” news outlets,” wrote Steve Waldman and Anna Brugman of Rebuild Local News. “It’s a bit hard to know what that means, but based on what we’re hearing, it’s likely that means members of California’s ethnic press and outlets with fewer than five employees.”

Media Guild West, which represents California journalists, has come out in opposition to the deal.

“This isn’t regulation. It’s ratification of Google’s monopoly over our newsrooms,” wrote Media Guild West President Matt Pearce in a bulletin to his members. “News executives don’t speak for journalists.”

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has come out in support of the deal, saying in a statement,” This agreement represents a major breakthrough in ensuring the survival of newsrooms and bolstering local journalism across California — leveraging substantial tech industry resources without imposing new taxes on Californians.”

The $70 million in state money comes at a tough time to find available government funds as the state barely closed a $47 billion budget deficit this year.