AG sends letter to senators supporting federal bill to save local journalism
By Brett Davis
The Center Square
Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson has sent a letter to two U.S. senators in support of proposed bipartisan federal legislation meant to level the playing field for local news in terms of negotiations with Big Tech platforms.
Introduced by U.S. Sens. John Kennedy, R-Louisiana, and Amy Klobuchar, D-Minnesota, the “Journalism Competition and Preservation Act of 2023” would waive antitrust laws to allow local news organizations to negotiate collectively with tech giants such as Facebook and Google to receive more compensation for their content.
“Local news outlets are critical resources for our states and communities, and are vital for a healthy democracy,” states the Tuesday letter, which is also signed by 10 other state attorneys general. “This includes regional journalism, as well as journalism by and for Black, Indigenous, and people of color, including ethnic media organizations. These organizations are critical to our communities as they have the greatest capacity to identify, investigate, and report on issues that directly affect them.”
The letter goes on to note that “local newspapers are responsible for half of our country’s original reporting, although they only account for one-quarter of media outlets. In many rural communities, local news organizations provide the only information and updates about issues affecting their community.”
Local news, according to the letter, “has become critical to rebuilding trust” at a time of distrust of the media in general.
The letter referenced some statistics to back up its claim, including a Pew Research Center study that found newsroom employment at newspapers fell by approximately 40,000 between 2008 and 2020, as well as Northwestern University’s Medill School finding that since 2005 the country has lost more than 25% of its newspapers – 2,500 –and is on pace to lose a third by 2025.
Mentioned in the letter is Washington state’s Senate Bill 5199 that was passed and signed into law this legislative session. SB 5199 provides a tax break for newspaper publishers. Specifically, it reduces the business and occupation tax rate to 0% for newspaper publishing and for news websites that are successors to newspapers that were published prior to Jan. 1, 2008. The tax break is effective for 10 years, beginning on Jan. 1, 2024.
“This legislation passed with nearly unanimous support, and will save jobs and protect a critical community service,” the letter claims. “However, this is just one step in taking the necessary actions to protect newsrooms across our country. Federal action is needed.”
Bruce Pinkleton, dean and professor at Washington State University’s Edward R. Murrow College of Communication, had mixed feelings about the JCPA.
“Speaking only for myself, I’m always concerned about taxpayer support for journalism and the potential real or imagined effects it may create on news coverage,” he told The Center Square in an email. “Absent specific situations or conditions, I think nearly everyone favors strong, independent journalism, and I have yet to find anyone who is uninterested in the truth.
"Having said this, some people suddenly become less interested in the truth when it reflects poorly on them preferring to label truthful journalism as hyperbole, fiction, or part of a conspiracy or personal vendetta," he added. "The internet and digital media give everyone a large platform to share their opinions and accusations, and I suspect this will be a continuing challenge of journalism regardless of the funding model."
Local news is in trouble and needs help, Pinkleton noted.
“Our current conditions in newsrooms and resulting local communities who have no sources of local news require extraordinary responses,” he said. “For this reason, I’m strongly supportive of a variety of approaches to boost local journalism, and I suspect some approaches will work better in specific communities and conditions.”
The JCPA was originally introduced in both houses during the last Congress but never became law.
During a February 2022 hearing on the JCPA before the Senate Subcommittee on Competition, Policy, Antitrust & Consumer Rights, Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, expressed concerns the bill, if passed, would lead to the creation of a media “cartel.”
“We’re not talking about an arguably pro-competitive type of competitor collaboration on some sort of run of the mill joint venture,” he said. “This would be competitors themselves colluding with the approval of law against a common business partner in order to fix problems they’re facing.”