{"id":31354,"date":"2024-01-27T22:06:53","date_gmt":"2024-01-28T06:06:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=31354"},"modified":"2024-01-27T22:06:53","modified_gmt":"2024-01-28T06:06:53","slug":"as-layoffs-batter-l-a-times-california-lawmaker-renews-push-to-force-google-facebook-to-pay-for-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2024\/01\/27\/as-layoffs-batter-l-a-times-california-lawmaker-renews-push-to-force-google-facebook-to-pay-for-news\/","title":{"rendered":"As layoffs batter L.A. Times, California lawmaker renews push to force Google, Facebook to pay for news"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>By&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfchronicle.com\/author\/sophia-bollag\/\">Sophia Bollag<\/a>Updated&nbsp;Jan 23, 2024 8:36 p.m.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"640\" src=\"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/image-50.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-31356\" srcset=\"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/image-50.png 960w, https:\/\/occupysf.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/image-50-300x200.png 300w, https:\/\/occupysf.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/image-50-150x100.png 150w, https:\/\/occupysf.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/image-50-768x512.png 768w, https:\/\/occupysf.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/image-50-225x150.png 225w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"8\" height=\"5\" src=\"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/image-40.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-31355\" title=\"Article Image\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Los Angeles Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong advocated for lawmakers to pass a policy&nbsp;to force social media platforms to pay for news as his paper laid off 115 journalists, representing more than a fifth of its newsroom.Damian Dovarganes\/Associated Press<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>SACRAMENTO&nbsp;\u2014 Mass layoffs at the Los Angeles Times on Tuesday and steep cuts at other news organizations are spurring renewed interest in a California bill that would force Google, Facebook and other large platforms to pay journalists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The bill stalled in the Legislature last year amid stiff opposition from the tech companies it targeted, but its author, Assembly Member Buffy Wicks, plans to try again this year to push it through. The bill is still alive and is a \u201ctop priority\u201d for Wicks this year, said Erin Ivie, a spokesperson for the Oakland Democrat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Opinion<\/strong>:\u00a0<a class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sfchronicle.com\/opinion\/openforum\/article\/la-times-layoffs-journalism-18625739.php\">What the mass L.A. Times layoffs just told us about the future of journalism<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Los Angeles Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong advocated for lawmakers to pass such a policy as his paper laid off&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/entertainment-arts\/business\/story\/2024-01-23\/latimes-layoffs-115-newsroom-soon-shiong\" class=\"\">115 journalists, representing more than a fifth of its newsroom<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s devastating that our lawmakers in the United States have not figured this out yet,\u201d Soon-Shiong wrote in a statement. \u201cAll we are asking for is the opportunity for our newspaper and hardworking journalists to be fairly compensated, and for the L.A. Times to have a fair chance to become a self-sustaining institution.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rep. Mark DeSaulnier, D-Antioch, has spearheaded efforts to pass similar legislation at the federal level, as well as a bill to make it easier for newsrooms to operate as nonprofits. He recalled that there were always at least two local reporters around for every Concord City Council meeting when he served as a member, and rows of reporters at the back of the state Senate and Assembly when he was a state lawmaker. Newsrooms have since shrunk considerably, with local government reporters routinely having to cover many large cities and counties at once. Few California papers still employ Sacramento correspondents to cover the state Capitol.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Local newsrooms deter corruption by politicians and are essential to keeping voters informed, DeSaulnier said. But it will be difficult to pass any relief for them in Congress. Though his efforts to help local newsrooms have garnered bipartisan support, they\u2019ve also won opposition from lawmakers from both parties who have been personally upset about local papers\u2019 coverage of their own work, he said. And passing anything at all is a challenge in Washington, given the deeply polarized makeup of Congress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s not an appetite for much of anything in Congress right now, it\u2019s so dysfunctional,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Efforts to help local newsrooms have had more success in the California Legislature. In 2022, lawmakers and Gov. Gavin Newsom approved&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfchronicle.com\/politics\/article\/A-tipping-point-in-protecting-our-17428705.php\" class=\"\">$25 million over five years for local reporting grants<\/a>&nbsp;administered through the School of Journalism at UC Berkeley.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The first cohort of 40 early career journalists&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/fellowships.journalism.berkeley.edu\/cafellows\/fellows\/fellows2023\/\" class=\"\">started their two-year fellowships<\/a>&nbsp;at newsrooms across California in September, including one at the Los Angeles Times. Their work so far has included stories about how&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/inewsource.org\/2023\/11\/06\/lithium-california-white-gold-electric-salton-sea-imperial-valley\/\" class=\"\">lithium mining in the Imperial Valley<\/a>&nbsp;could affect residents,<a href=\"https:\/\/www.kalw.org\/2023-12-05\/dont-want-to-call-the-cops-in-oakland-you-can-call-macro\" class=\"\">&nbsp;policing alternatives in Oakland<\/a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.fresnobee.com\/site-services\/newsletters\/fresno-education-lab\/article279379634.html\" class=\"\">weapons screening systems in Central Valley schools<\/a>. The fellows are paid entirely through the state grant and make $60,000 or $65,000 per year, depending on their education and experience level, project director Christa Scharfenberg said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The state funding was slated to also cover two additional cohorts of two-year fellows, but&nbsp;Scharfenberg said UC leadership has told her the funding is on the chopping block as Newsom and lawmakers&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfchronicle.com\/politics\/article\/newsom-2024-budget-18596574.php\" class=\"\">grapple with a major state budget deficit<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Prior to publication, California Department of Finance spokesperson H.D. Palmer confirmed that the funding could be part of $350 million in proposed cuts to \u201clegislative requests\u201d that had not yet been specified by Newsom. After publication, Palmer contacted the Chronicle saying that he had checked with staff in the department who said the governor was not explicitly calling for the funding to be cut. Budget negotiations are ongoing, and the projected deficit \u2014 and, by extension, the proposed cuts \u2014 could shrink or grow between now and June when the final budget is due.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The San Francisco Chronicle is not currently hosting a fellow through the program, although it has applied to host one in the next round.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Wicks\u2019 bill,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/leginfo.legislature.ca.gov\/faces\/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB886\" class=\"\">AB886<\/a>, passed the Assembly last year but&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfchronicle.com\/politics\/article\/facebook-journalism-bill-18189263.php\" class=\"\">stalled in the Senate Judiciary Committee<\/a>&nbsp;over the summer. Wicks announced at the time that she and Sen. Tom Umberg, the Santa Ana Democrat who chairs the committee, planned to revive it this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cGetting this policy right is more important than getting it quick,\u201d Wicks said in a statement at the time. \u201cMy priority is making sure this bill does exactly, and only, what it intends: to support our free press and the democracy sustained by it, to make sure publications get paid what they are owed, and to hold our nation\u2019s largest and wealthiest tech companies accountable for repurposing content that\u2019s not theirs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ivie said Tuesday that Wicks and Umberg are actively discussing the bill. It faces a summer deadline to pass and would need to also win approval from Gov. Gavin Newsom to become law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The bill would make tech companies like Facebook, Google and Microsoft pay a \u201cjournalism usage fee\u201d to news organizations. The fees would be calculated as a percentage of ad revenue and would be set based on an arbitration agreement between digital news publishers and large digital platforms.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Supporters of the bill argue that social media platforms benefit financially from news articles posted to their websites, which help them attract and retain visitors. The platforms are not paying the journalists who produce the content, however, effectively starving news organizations of advertising revenue generated by their own work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The San Francisco Chronicle is among the news organizations that support the bill, along with the California Broadcasters Association, the California News Publishers Association, many other trade and labor organizations representing journalists, and individual news organizations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Companies targeted by the bill aggressively attacked the bill last year. Facebook\u2019s parent company, Meta,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfchronicle.com\/politics\/article\/meta-facebook-california-bill-18128532.php\" class=\"\">threatened to pull news from its platforms<\/a>&nbsp;if the bill passed. A tech-financed group launched a campaign to kill the bill by pointing out that&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfchronicle.com\/politics\/article\/california-facebook-bill-18164672.php\" class=\"\">it would help fund Fox News<\/a>, a bitter pill in the Democrat-dominated California Legislature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Los Angeles Times reported that&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/california\/story\/2023-12-19\/why-googles-lobbying-in-california-skyrocketed-this-year\" class=\"\">Google spent $1.2 million on an ad blitz<\/a>&nbsp;to kill the bill. The company funneled the money through another group, complicating the task of tracking the money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Queenie Wong, the reporter who wrote the story, announced Tuesday&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/QWongSJ\/status\/1749840195531440596\" class=\"\">she was among the journalists who lost their jobs<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Reach Sophia Bollag: sophia.bollag@sfchronicle.com; Twitter: @SophiaBollag<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jan 23, 2024|Updated&nbsp;Jan 23, 2024 8:36 p.m.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>By\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfchronicle.com\/author\/sophia-bollag\/\">Sophia Bollag<\/a><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SophiaBollag\" target=\"_blank\"><\/a><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SFChronicle\/\" target=\"_blank\"><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sophia Bollag joined the San Francisco Chronicle as a politics reporter in 2022. She has covered state government from Sacramento since 2016 and has worked at The Sacramento Bee, The Associated Press and the Los Angeles Times. She grew up in the East Bay and graduated from Northwestern University, where she studied journalism and literature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She can be reached at&nbsp;<a href=\"mailto:Sophia.Bollag@sfchronicle.com\">Sophia.Bollag@sfchronicle.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By&nbsp;Sophia BollagUpdated&nbsp;Jan 23, 2024 8:36 p.m. SACRAMENTO&nbsp;\u2014 Mass layoffs at the Los Angeles Times on Tuesday and steep cuts at other news organizations are spurring renewed interest in a California bill that would force Google, Facebook and other large platforms to pay journalists. The bill stalled in the Legislature last&#8230; <a class=\"continue-reading-link\" href=\"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2024\/01\/27\/as-layoffs-batter-l-a-times-california-lawmaker-renews-push-to-force-google-facebook-to-pay-for-news\/\"> Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr; <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31354"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31354"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31354\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31357,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31354\/revisions\/31357"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31354"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31354"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31354"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}