Washington – News publishers today renewed pressure on 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 in their Capitol Hill offices as part of a lobbying campaign for bills that could level the playing field with platforms like Google and Facebook.
Newspaper, magazine and digital content publishers want Congress to pass bipartisan bill Competition and Preservation of Journalism Act and several other bills that would help protect the content produced by their journalists.
The Journalism Competition and Preservation Act would give news organizations a temporary antitrust exemption to negotiate fair compensation with platforms like Facebook and Google.
Technology platforms account for up to 70% of digital advertising 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 tech companies for digital advertising revenue.
Separately, news publishers have called on members of Congress to pass a bill to protect their content from artificial intelligence systems that scrape content without permission or payment.
Publishers are also seeking tax credits through the Community News and Small Business Support Acta 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 that advertise in local newspapers and broadcast media.
Businesses that could benefit from the legislation include Moving forward locallywho 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 off because of the work our local journalists and editors do,” Kennedy said. “Voters are informed; the powerful are held accountable. It’s time for Congress to protect their work from digital theft and provide fair compensation to the tech companies that profit so greatly from this unfair competition.”
Newspaper editors representing 36 states met with members of the House and Senate, including Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.
The News/Media Alliance honored Sens. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Ct., Tuesday night for their contributions to preserving quality local journalism. The two senators were honored at the Support Journalism Awards ceremony in Washington.
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