Senate Judiciary Again Advances Journalism Fee Legislation
The Senate Judiciary Committee passed legislation for a second time Thursday that would allow news outlets to negotiate with the tech industry for compensation when platforms host news content (see 2306140042). Chairman Dick Durbin, D-Ill., told us a potential floor vote is a “long way” off, and ranking member Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said during the hearing he expects the bill will ultimately “go nowhere.”
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The Journalism Competition and Preservation Act passed 14-7, with California's Alex Padilla as the lone Democrat against. Republicans voting no: Texas’ John Cornyn, Utah’s Mike Lee, Missouri’s Josh Hawley, Arkansas’ Tom Cotton, North Carolina’s Thom Tillis and Tennessee’s Marsha Blackburn. The bill passed committee 15-7 last Congress.
One of the major concerns is the bill does nothing to guarantee the increased revenue is spent on newsroom positions and resources, said Padilla. He voted for the bill at the committee’s last markup because he hoped sponsors would work with him to fix this and other issues, he said. He noted a similar state bill advancing in California (see 2306010073) includes a provision that requires news publishers to invest 70% of the additional profits into hiring journalists. Sens. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga.; Peter Welch, D-Vt.; and Cory Booker, D-N.J., said they agreed with Padilla’s “valid concerns.”
Big Tech is “siphoning” billions in ad dollars from media outlets without paying any compensation for carrying news content, said Durbin. The market is clearly broken, said lead sponsor Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn. She noted a similar law in Australia resulted in about $140 million annually for Australian news outlets, and the Guardian recently added 50 staffers to its 100-person Australian newsroom.
The JCPA will align the media industry’s financial incentives with Big Tech and make the media paradoxically more dependent on Big Tech and less able to hold industry accountable, said Lee. He said he skipped offering amendments to the bill because he agrees with Graham the legislation isn’t going anywhere. He noted House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said the bill is “dead” in the House.
The people voting no probably have good reason for their opposition, said Graham, but he agreed with Klobuchar that “enough is enough.” He conceded this legislation might not be the best solution to a real problem. The better fix, Graham said, is to open tech platforms to legal consequences by pulling back Communications Decency Act Section 230. He also noted his plans to introduce legislation with Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., to create a new tech regulator. There may be disagreement on the need for a new regulator, said Durbin, but a hearing on Section 230 should be held to address an industry that thinks it’s “above the law.” Hawley agreed with Graham that opening the courthouse doors is the only way to make “real progress.”
Cotton raised concerns about the legislation encouraging media companies to “collude” with Big Tech and engage in widespread censorship of conservatives on social media. This bill is about “creative content” and whether society values creative content, said lead Republican sponsor John Kennedy of Louisiana. He said the bill has been improved over time, including through amended language from Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas.
Asked what needs to happen to get a Senate floor vote, Durbin told us that’s a “long way away from now. We have a lot of work to do before we can get the floor vote.”
NAB applauded committee passage. “For too long, local news outlets have been at the mercy of Big Tech behemoths that devalue broadcasters' critical community-focused journalism when it is accessed online,” CEO Curtis LeGeyt said. “This legislation will enable local media to negotiate for the fair market value of our news content.” News/Media Alliance CEO Danielle Coffey said the legislation “will give small and local publishers a seat at the table and channel critical revenue to them to help sustain the high-quality journalism Americans need and depend on.”
Twenty-five consumer advocacy and industry groups joined Thursday to oppose the legislation. The coalition included Public Knowledge, the Center for Democracy & Technology, Common Cause. Electronic Frontier Foundation, Fight for the Future, Free Press Action, American Civil Liberties Union and R Street Institute. PK Senior Policy Analyst Lisa Macpherson accused industry lobbyists and sponsors of trying to enrich “massive media corporations and powerful broadcasters at the expense of local news and journalists.” Questions about the JCPA’s “impact on content moderation, small and independent media, industry consolidation, and copyright law -- as well as the bill’s complete lack of accountability for ensuring the funds actually help support local journalists -- continue to go unaddressed,” she said. Re:Create said in a statement the JCPA “would reward Big Media and hedge funds for cutting jobs and reducing circulation -- without any accountability or transparency.”