WASHINGTON, D.C. — A coalition of bipartisan House of Representatives Members and Senators have reintroduced legislation allowing news publishers — including local radio and TV broadcasters — to collectively negotiate the terms on which their content may be distributed online.
It’s being billed as “a fight to save local news.” And, the NAB commends it.
It bears the name the “Journalism Competition and Preservation Act,” and Reps. David Cicilline and Ken Buck introduced it in the lower body of Congress.
In the upper body of Congress, Sens. Amy Klobuchar and John Kennedy were among those reintroducing the legislation.
Cicilline is the House Antitrust Subcommittee Chairman while Buck serves as the subcommittee’s ranking member.
The legislation, the Members of Congress say, will allow small news outlets to band together to negotiate with large online platforms like Google and Facebook.
“A strong, diverse, free press is critical for any successful democracy,” said Cicilline, who has introduced the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act in each of the last two Congresses. With a Senate titling to Democrats, perhaps it can become law now.
Cicilline continued, “Access to trustworthy local journalism helps inform the public, hold powerful people accountable, and root out corruption. This bill will give hardworking local reporters and publishers the helping hand they need right now, so they can continue to do their important work.”
Buck added, “One of the bedrock values of our country is a free press, but we have seen thousands of news organizations crushed by the monopolistic power of Big Tech. This bipartisan bill is an important start to remedying the results of Google, Facebook, and other’s anticompetitive conduct toward local news outlets, conservative media, and other news organizations.”
Specifically, The Journalism Competition and Preservation Act would establish a temporary, 48-month safe harbor that allows small news publishers to negotiate collectively with online platforms “to protect Americans’ access to trustworthy sources of news online.”
The legislators say the safe harbor is narrowly-tailored “to ensure that coordination by news publishers is only in the interest of promoting trust and quality journalism.”
The bill only allows coordination by news publishers if it (1) directly relates to the quality, accuracy, attribution or branding, or interoperability of news; (2) benefits the entire industry, rather than just a few publishers, and is non-discriminatory to other news publishers; and (3) is directly related to and reasonably necessary for these negotiations, instead of being used for other purposes.
But, who is the arbiter? That’s the potential flaw with the legislation, making Congress the judicial body of what is “fake news” or isn’t.
The intent of the legislation is nevertheless clear: Just because it’s on social media doesn’t mean it is real.
Nearly 90 percent of Americans now get news while on a smartphone, computer, or tablet, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted last year. That dwarfs the number of Americans who get news via television, radio, or print media.
Then, there is the “digital ad duopoly” of Facebook and Google, which the Members of Congress believe “has directly contributed to layoffs and consolidation in the news industry, particularly for local news.”
Websites for newspapers have been in existence for 25 years. But, newspapers have been failing since the early 1980s, with The Washington Star, The Bulletin in Philadelphia, The Miami News and the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner among the more high-profile failures of that decade.
That said, anything that can give broadcast media a boost is worthy of praise, in the eyes of NAB President/CEO and former Oregon Senator Gordon Smith.
In a statement, he said the NAB commends the Capitol Hill legislators for the latest attempt at getting the bill passed. “For too long, a handful of dominant tech platforms have unilaterally set policies impeding media outlets’ ability to reach audiences, attract advertisers and monetize their news content,” Smith said. “The Journalism Competition and Preservation Act would afford news producers the ability to negotiate a fair return for their local journalism that serves America’s communities. We look forward to working with stakeholders and members of Congress on passing this legislation into law.”
