Google's Multimillion-Dollar Deal with California News Outlets Sparks Controversy

Google agreed to pay millions for California news. Journalists call it a bad deal

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- Google will soon give California millions of dollars to help pay for local journalism jobs in a first-in-the-nation deal, but journalists and other media industry experts are calling it a disappointing agreement that mostly benefits the tech giant. The agreement, which was hashed out behind closed doors and announced this week, will direct tens of millions of public and private dollars to keep local news organizations afloat. Critics say it's a textbook political maneuver by tech giants to avoid a fee under what could have been groundbreaking legislation. California lawmakers agreed to kill a bill requiring tech to support news outlets they profit from in exchange for Google's financial commitment. By shelving the bill, the state effectively gave up on an avenue that could have required Google and social media platforms to make ongoing payments to publishers for linking news content, said Victor Pickard, professor of media policy and political economy at the University of Pennsylvania. California also left behind a much bigger amount of funding that could have been secured under the legislation, he said. "Google got off easy," Pickard said. Google said the deal will help both journalism and the artificial intelligence sector in California. "This public-private partnership builds on our long history of working with journalism and the local news ecosystem in our home state, while developing a national center of excellence on AI policy," Kent Walker, president of global affairs and chief legal officer for Google's parent company Alphabet, said in a statement. State governments across the U.S. have been working to help boost struggling news organizations. The U.S. newspaper industry has been in a long decline, with traditional business models collapsing and advertising revenues drying up in the digital era. As news organizations move from primarily print to mostly digital, they have increasingly relied on Google and Facebook to distribute its content. While publishers saw their advertising revenues nosedive significantly in the last few decades, Google's search engine has become the hub of a digital advertisement empire that generates more than $200 billion annually. The Los Angeles Times was losing up to $40 million a year, the newspaper's owner said in justifying a layoff of more than 100 people earlier this year. More than 2,500 newspapers have closed since 2005, and about 200 counties across the U.S. do not have any local news outlets, according to a report from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism. California and New Mexico are funding local news fellowship programs. New York this year became the first state to offer a tax credit program for news outlets to hire and retain journalists. Illinois is considering a bill similar to the one that died in California. Here's a closer look into the deal California made with Google this week: What does the deal entail? The deal, totaling $250 million, will provide money to two efforts: funding for journalism initiatives and a new AI research program. The agreement only guarantees funding for a period of five years. Roughly $110 million will come from Google and $70 million from the state budget to boost journalism jobs. The fund will be managed by UC Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism. Google will also kick in $70 million to fund the AI research program, which would build tools to help solve "real world problems," said Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, who brokered the deal. The deal is not a tax, which is a stark departure from a bill Wicks authored that would have imposed a "link tax" requiring companies like Google, Facebook and Microsoft to pay a certain percentage of advertising revenue to media companies for linking to their content. The bill was modelled after a policy passed in Canada that requires Google to pay roughly $74 million per year to fund journalism. Why are tech companies agreeing to this now? Tech companies spent the last two years fighting Wicks' bill, launching expensive opposition campaigns and running ads attacking the legislation. Google threatened in April to temporarily block news websites from some California users' search results. The bill had continued to advance with bipartisan support -- until this week. Wicks told The Associated Press on Thursday that she saw no path forward for her bill and that the funding secured through the deal "is better than zero." "This represents politics is the art of the possible," she said. Industry experts see the deal as a playbook move Google has used across the world to avoid regulations. "Google cannot exit from news because they need it," said Anya Schiffrin, a Columbia University professor who studies global media and co-authors a working paper on how much Google and Meta owes to news publishers. "So what they are doing is using a whole lot of different tactics to kill bills that will require them to compensate publishers fairly." She estimates that Google owes $1.4 billion per year to California publishers. Why do journalists and labor unions oppose the agreement? The Media Guild of the West, a union representing journalists in Southern California, Nevada and Texas, said journalists were locked out of the conversation. The union was a champion of Wicks' bill but wasn't included in the negotiations with Google. "The future of journalism should not be decided in backroom deals," a letter by the union sent to lawmakers reads. "The Legislature embarked on an effort to regulate monopolies and failed terribly. Now we question whether the state has done more harm than good." The agreement results in a much smaller amount of funding compared to what Google gives to newsrooms in Canada and goes against the goal to rebalance Google's dominance over local news organizations, according to a letter from the union to Wicks earlier this week. Others also questioned why the deal included funding to build new AI tools. They see it as another way for tech companies to eventual replace them. Wicks' original bill doesn't include AI provisions. The deal has the support of some journalism groups, including California News Publishers Association, Local Independent Online News Publishers and California Black Media. What's next? The agreement is scheduled to take effect next year, starting with $100 million to kickstart the efforts. Wicks said details of the agreement are still being ironed out. California Gov. Gavin Newsom has promised to include the journalism funding in his January budget, Wicks said, but concerns from other Democratic leaders could throw a wrench in the plan.

Google agreed to pay millions for California news. Journalists call it a bad deal

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Google will soon give California millions of dollars to help pay for local journalism jobs in a first-in-the-nation deal, but journalists and other media industry experts are calling it a disappointing agreement that mostly benefits the tech giant. The agreement, which was hashed out behind closed doors and announced this week, will direct tens of millions of public and private dollars to keep local news organizations afloat. Critics say it's a textbook political maneuver by tech giants to avoid a fee under what could have been groundbreaking legislation. California lawmakers agreed to kill a bill requiring tech to support news outlets they profit from in exchange for Google's financial commitment. By shelving the bill, the state effectively gave up on an avenue that could have required Google and social media platforms to make ongoing payments to publishers for linking news content, said Victor Pickard, professor of media policy and political economy at the University of Pennsylvania. California also left behind a much bigger amount of funding that could have been secured under the legislation, he said. "Google got off easy," Pickard said. Google said the deal will help both journalism and the artificial intelligence sector in California. "This public-private partnership builds on our long history of working with journalism and the local news ecosystem in our home state, while developing a national center of excellence on AI policy," Kent Walker, president of global affairs and chief legal officer for Google's parent company Alphabet, said in a statement. State governments across the U.S. have been working to help boost struggling news organizations. The U.S. newspaper industry has been in a long decline, with traditional business models collapsing and advertising revenues drying up in the digital era. As news organizations move from primarily print to mostly digital, they have increasingly relied on Google and Facebook to distribute its content. While publishers saw their advertising revenues nosedive significantly in the last few decades, Google's search engine has become the hub of a digital advertisement empire that generates more than $200 billion annually. The Los Angeles Times was losing up to $40 million a year, the newspaper's owner said in justifying a layoff of more than 100 people earlier this year. More than 2,500 newspapers have closed since 2005, and about 200 counties across the U.S. do not have any local news outlets, according to a report from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism. California and New Mexico are funding local news fellowship programs. New York this year became the first state to offer a tax credit program for news outlets to hire and retain journalists. Illinois is considering a bill similar to the one that died in California. Here's a closer look into the deal California made with Google this week: The deal, totaling $250 million, will provide money to two efforts: funding for journalism initiatives and a new AI research program. The agreement only guarantees funding for a period of five years. Roughly $110 million will come from Google and $70 million from the state budget to boost journalism jobs. The fund will be managed by UC Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism. Google will also kick in $70 million to fund the AI research program, which would build tools to help solve "real world problems," said Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, who brokered the deal. The deal is not a tax, which is a stark departure from a bill Wicks authored that would have imposed a "link tax" requiring companies like Google, Facebook and Microsoft to pay a certain percentage of advertising revenue to media companies for linking to their content. The bill was modelled after a policy passed in Canada that requires Google to pay roughly $74 million per year to fund journalism. Tech companies spent the last two years fighting Wicks' bill, launching expensive opposition campaigns and running ads attacking the legislation. Google threatened in April to temporarily block news websites from some California users' search results. The bill had continued to advance with bipartisan support -- until this week. Wicks told The Associated Press on Thursday that she saw no path forward for her bill and that the funding secured through the deal "is better than zero." "This represents politics is the art of the possible," she said. Industry experts see the deal as a playbook move Google has used across the world to avoid regulations. "Google cannot exit from news because they need it," said Anya Schiffrin, a Columbia University professor who studies global media and co-authors a working paper on how much Google and Meta owes to news publishers. "So what they are doing is using a whole lot of different tactics to kill bills that will require them to compensate publishers fairly." She estimates that Google owes $1.4 billion per year to California publishers. The Media Guild of the West, a union representing journalists in Southern California, Nevada and Texas, said journalists were locked out of the conversation. The union was a champion of Wicks' bill but wasn't included in the negotiations with Google. "The future of journalism should not be decided in backroom deals," a letter by the union sent to lawmakers reads. "The Legislature embarked on an effort to regulate monopolies and failed terribly. Now we question whether the state has done more harm than good." The agreement results in a much smaller amount of funding compared to what Google gives to newsrooms in Canada and goes against the goal to rebalance Google's dominance over local news organizations, according to a letter from the union to Wicks earlier this week. Others also questioned why the deal included funding to build new AI tools. They see it as another way for tech companies to eventual replace them. Wicks' original bill doesn't include AI provisions. The deal has the support of some journalism groups, including California News Publishers Association, Local Independent Online News Publishers and California Black Media. The agreement is scheduled to take effect next year, starting with $100 million to kickstart the efforts. Wicks said details of the agreement are still being ironed out. California Gov. Gavin Newsom has promised to include the journalism funding in his January budget, Wicks said, but concerns from other Democratic leaders could throw a wrench in the plan.

Google agreed to pay millions for California news. Journalists call it a bad deal

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- Google will soon give California millions of dollars to help pay for local journalism jobs in a first-in-the-nation deal, but journalists and other media industry experts are calling it a disappointing agreement that mostly benefits the tech giant. The agreement, which was hashed out behind closed doors and announced this week, will direct tens of millions of public and private dollars to keep local news organizations afloat. Critics say it's a textbook political maneuver by tech giants to avoid a fee under what could have been groundbreaking legislation. California lawmakers agreed to kill a bill requiring tech to support news outlets they profit from in exchange for Google's financial commitment. By shelving the bill, the state effectively gave up on an avenue that could have required Google and social media platforms to make ongoing payments to publishers for linking news content, said Victor Pickard, professor of media policy and political economy at the University of Pennsylvania. California also left behind a much bigger amount of funding that could have been secured under the legislation, he said. "Google got off easy," Pickard said. Google said the deal will help both journalism and the artificial intelligence sector in California. "This public-private partnership builds on our long history of working with journalism and the local news ecosystem in our home state, while developing a national center of excellence on AI policy," Kent Walker, president of global affairs and chief legal officer for Google's parent company Alphabet, said in a statement. State governments across the U.S. have been working to help boost struggling news organizations. The U.S. newspaper industry has been in a long decline, with traditional business models collapsing and advertising revenues drying up in the digital era. As news organizations move from primarily print to mostly digital, they have increasingly relied on Google and Facebook to distribute its content. While publishers saw their advertising revenues nosedive significantly in the last few decades, Google's search engine has become the hub of a digital advertisement empire that generates more than $200 billion annually. The Los Angeles Times was losing up to $40 million a year, the newspaper's owner said in justifying a layoff of more than 100 people earlier this year. More than 2,500 newspapers have closed since 2005, and about 200 counties across the U.S. do not have any local news outlets, according to a report from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism. California and New Mexico are funding local news fellowship programs. New York this year became the first state to offer a tax credit program for news outlets to hire and retain journalists. Illinois is considering a bill similar to the one that died in California. Here's a closer look into the deal California made with Google this week: The deal, totaling $250 million, will provide money to two efforts: funding for journalism initiatives and a new AI research program. The agreement only guarantees funding for a period of five years. Roughly $110 million will come from Google and $70 million from the state budget to boost journalism jobs. The fund will be managed by UC Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism. Google will also kick in $70 million to fund the AI research program, which would build tools to help solve "real world problems," said Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, who brokered the deal. The deal is not a tax, which is a stark departure from a bill Wicks authored that would have imposed a "link tax" requiring companies like Google, Facebook and Microsoft to pay a certain percentage of advertising revenue to media companies for linking to their content. The bill was modelled after a policy passed in Canada that requires Google to pay roughly $74 million per year to fund journalism. Tech companies spent the last two years fighting Wicks' bill, launching expensive opposition campaigns and running ads attacking the legislation. Google threatened in April to temporarily block news websites from some California users' search results. The bill had continued to advance with bipartisan support -- until this week. Wicks told The Associated Press on Thursday that she saw no path forward for her bill and that the funding secured through the deal "is better than zero." "This represents politics is the art of the possible," she said. Industry experts see the deal as a playbook move Google has used across the world to avoid regulations. "Google cannot exit from news because they need it," said Anya Schiffrin, a Columbia University professor who studies global media and co-authors a working paper on how much Google and Meta owes to news publishers. "So what they are doing is using a whole lot of different tactics to kill bills that will require them to compensate publishers fairly." She estimates that Google owes $1.4 billion per year to California publishers. The Media Guild of the West, a union representing journalists in Southern California, Nevada and Texas, said journalists were locked out of the conversation. The union was a champion of Wicks' bill but wasn't included in the negotiations with Google. "The future of journalism should not be decided in backroom deals," a letter by the union sent to lawmakers reads. "The Legislature embarked on an effort to regulate monopolies and failed terribly. Now we question whether the state has done more harm than good." The agreement results in a much smaller amount of funding compared to what Google gives to newsrooms in Canada and goes against the goal to rebalance Google's dominance over local news organizations, according to a letter from the union to Wicks earlier this week. Others also questioned why the deal included funding to build new AI tools. They see it as another way for tech companies to eventual replace them. Wicks' original bill doesn't include AI provisions. The deal has the support of some journalism groups, including California News Publishers Association, Local Independent Online News Publishers and California Black Media. The agreement is scheduled to take effect next year, starting with $100 million to kickstart the efforts. Wicks said details of the agreement are still being ironed out. California Gov. Gavin Newsom has promised to include the journalism funding in his January budget, Wicks said, but concerns from other Democratic leaders could throw a wrench in the plan.

Google Agreed to Pay Millions for California News. Journalists Call It a Bad Deal

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- Google will soon give California millions of dollars to help pay for local journalism jobs in a first-in-the-nation deal, but journalists and other media industry experts are calling it a disappointing agreement that mostly benefits the tech giant. The agreement, which was hashed out behind closed doors and announced this week, will direct tens of millions of public and private dollars to keep local news organizations afloat. Critics say it's a textbook political maneuver by tech giants to avoid a fee under what could have been groundbreaking legislation. California lawmakers agreed to kill a bill requiring tech to support news outlets they profit from in exchange for Google's financial commitment. By shelving the bill, the state effectively gave up on an avenue that could have required Google and social media platforms to make ongoing payments to publishers for linking news content, said Victor Pickard, professor of media policy and political economy at the University of Pennsylvania. California also left behind a much bigger amount of funding that could have been secured under the legislation, he said. "Google got off easy," Pickard said. Google said the deal will help both journalism and the artificial intelligence sector in California. "This public-private partnership builds on our long history of working with journalism and the local news ecosystem in our home state, while developing a national center of excellence on AI policy," Kent Walker, president of global affairs and chief legal officer for Google's parent company Alphabet, said in a statement. State governments across the U.S. have been working to help boost struggling news organizations. The U.S. newspaper industry has been in a long decline, with traditional business models collapsing and advertising revenues drying up in the digital era. As news organizations move from primarily print to mostly digital, they have increasingly relied on Google and Facebook to distribute its content. While publishers saw their advertising revenues nosedive significantly in the last few decades, Google's search engine has become the hub of a digital advertisement empire that generates more than $200 billion annually. The Los Angeles Times was losing up to $40 million a year, the newspaper's owner said in justifying a layoff of more than 100 people earlier this year. More than 2,500 newspapers have closed since 2005, and about 200 counties across the U.S. do not have any local news outlets, according to a report from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism. California and New Mexico are funding local news fellowship programs. New York this year became the first state to offer a tax credit program for news outlets to hire and retain journalists. Illinois is considering a bill similar to the one that died in California. Here's a closer look into the deal California made with Google this week: What does the deal entail? The deal, totaling $250 million, will provide money to two efforts: funding for journalism initiatives and a new AI research program. The agreement only guarantees funding for a period of five years. Roughly $110 million will come from Google and $70 million from the state budget to boost journalism jobs. The fund will be managed by UC Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism. Google will also kick in $70 million to fund the AI research program, which would build tools to help solve "real world problems," said Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, who brokered the deal. The deal is not a tax, which is a stark departure from a bill Wicks authored that would have imposed a "link tax" requiring companies like Google, Facebook and Microsoft to pay a certain percentage of advertising revenue to media companies for linking to their content. The bill was modelled after a policy passed in Canada that requires Google to pay roughly $74 million per year to fund journalism. Why are tech companies agreeing to this now? Tech companies spent the last two years fighting Wicks' bill, launching expensive opposition campaigns and running ads attacking the legislation. Google threatened in April to temporarily block news websites from some California users' search results. The bill had continued to advance with bipartisan support -- until this week. Wicks told The Associated Press on Thursday that she saw no path forward for her bill and that the funding secured through the deal "is better than zero." "This represents politics is the art of the possible," she said. Industry experts see the deal as a playbook move Google has used across the world to avoid regulations. "Google cannot exit from news because they need it," said Anya Schiffrin, a Columbia University professor who studies global media and co-authors a working paper on how much Google and Meta owes to news publishers. "So what they are doing is using a whole lot of different tactics to kill bills that will require them to compensate publishers fairly." She estimates that Google owes $1.4 billion per year to California publishers. Why do journalists and labor unions oppose the agreement? The Media Guild of the West, a union representing journalists in Southern California, Nevada and Texas, said journalists were locked out of the conversation. The union was a champion of Wicks' bill but wasn't included in the negotiations with Google. "The future of journalism should not be decided in backroom deals," a letter by the union sent to lawmakers reads. "The Legislature embarked on an effort to regulate monopolies and failed terribly. Now we question whether the state has done more harm than good." The agreement results in a much smaller amount of funding compared to what Google gives to newsrooms in Canada and goes against the goal to rebalance Google's dominance over local news organizations, according to a letter from the union to Wicks earlier this week. Others also questioned why the deal included funding to build new AI tools. They see it as another way for tech companies to eventual replace them. Wicks' original bill doesn't include AI provisions. The deal has the support of some journalism groups, including California News Publishers Association, Local Independent Online News Publishers and California Black Media. What's next? The agreement is scheduled to take effect next year, starting with $100 million to kickstart the efforts. Wicks said details of the agreement are still being ironed out. California Gov. Gavin Newsom has promised to include the journalism funding in his January budget, Wicks said, but concerns from other Democratic leaders could throw a wrench in the plan. Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Google agrees to first-in-the-nation deal to fund California newsrooms, but journalists are calling it a disaster

Google struck a first-in-the-nation deal with California lawmakers on Wednesday to fund newsrooms in the state and end proposed legislation that would have forced technology giants to pay news organizations for distributing their content. But the agreement was immediately met with fierce criticism from journalist unions, who called the deal "disastrous." The plan calls for a $250 million commitment over five years from Google and the state, a majority of which would fund California newsrooms, and launch an artificial intelligence "accelerator" designed to support journalists' work. The deal ends a high-profile bill, dubbed the California Journalism Preservation Act by state assemblymember Buffy Wicks, that would have forced technology companies, including Google (GOOGL) and Meta (META), to pay news companies to distribute their content online. The bill, which was modeled after similar laws implemented in Australia and Canada, would have funded local news organizations that have seen their business models collapse amid the rise of big tech platforms. "As technology and innovation advance, it is critical that California continues to champion the vital role of journalism in our democracy," Wicks said in a statement. "This partnership represents a cross-sector commitment to supporting a free and vibrant press, empowering local news outlets up and down the state to continue in their essential work. This is just the beginning. I remain committed to finding even more ways to support journalism in our state for years to come." California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who had not publicly weighed in on the bill, also hailed the deal, calling it "a major breakthrough in ensuring the survival of newsrooms and bolstering local journalism across California -- leveraging substantial tech industry resources without imposing new taxes on Californians." News publishers have struggled mightily in recent years, shedding thousands of jobs and prompting the closure of some outlets altogether as advertising dollars and audiences have rapidly shifted away from traditional publications. Ironically, the deal announced Wednesday also championed a so-called "National AI Innovation Accelerator," adding funding for developing artificial intelligence, which journalists have warned poses a danger to the future of their industry and threatens to further stir distrust in news reporting. The deal was supported by the California News Publishers Association, which represents hundreds of news outlets, Google's parent company and OpenAI. But it was sharply criticized by unions representing the state's journalists, which had supported Wicks' bill to fund newsrooms but were not involved with the deal. "The future of journalism should not be decided in backroom deals," the Media Guild of the West, The NewsGuild-CWA and others said in a joint statement. "The Legislature embarked on an effort to regulate monopolies and failed terribly. Now we question whether the state has done more harm than good. California's journalists and news workers OPPOSE this disastrous deal with Google and condemn the news executives who consented to it in our names." The deal also faced blowback from other Democrats in the California legislature, including state Sen. Steve Glazer, who had proposed a bill of his own to provide tax credits for employing full-time journalists. "Despite the good intentions of the parties involved, this proposal does not provide sufficient resources to bring independent news gathering in California out of its death spiral," Glazer said Wednesday during a press conference. "Google's offer is completely inadequate and massively short of matching their settlement agreement in Canada in supporting on-the-ground local news reporting." California State Senate Pro Tempore Mike McGuire also criticized the deal, saying in a statement, "Newsrooms have been hollowed out across this state while tech platforms have seen multi-billion dollar profits. We have concerns that this proposal lacks sufficient funding for newspapers and local media, and doesn't fully address the inequities facing the industry." The deal comes months after Google elected to block news content in California over the proposed law from Wicks, drawing swift backlash from news outlets in the state. The News/Media Alliance, which represents US newspapers and online publications, said it had sent letters to the Department of Justice, Federal Trade Commission and the California Attorney General to request an investigation into whether Google broke any laws by limiting access to the news outlets. Google previously threatened to take similar action in Canada ahead of the country's new law requiring digital platforms to compensate news publishers for their work, but eventually backed down and agreed to pay publishers for their news content. Under Canada's Online News Act, Google will pay $74 million per year into a fund that will be distributed to publishers.

Google agreed to pay millions for California news, but journalists call it a bad deal

Google will soon give California millions of dollars to help pay for local journalism jobs in a first-in-the-nation deal, but journalists and other media industry experts are calling it a disappointing agreement that mostly benefits the tech giant. The agreement, which was hashed out behind closed doors and announced this week, will direct tens of millions of public and private dollars to keep local news organisations afloat. Critics say it's a textbook political maneuver by tech giants to avoid a fee under what could have been groundbreaking legislation. California lawmakers agreed to kill a bill requiring tech to support news outlets they profit from in exchange for Google's financial commitment. By shelving the bill, the state effectively gave up on an avenue that could have required Google and social media platforms to make ongoing payments to publishers for linking news content, said Victor Pickard, professor of media policy and political economy at the University of Pennsylvania. California also left behind a much bigger amount of funding that could have been secured under the legislation, he said. "Google got off easy," Pickard said. Google said the deal will help both journalism and the artificial intelligence sector in California. Google antitrust ruling may pose $20 billion risk for Apple (Unravel the complexities of our digital world on The Interface podcast, where business leaders and scientists share insights that shape tomorrow's innovation. The Interface is also available on YouTube, Apple Podcasts and Spotify.) "This public-private partnership builds on our long history of working with journalism and the local news ecosystem in our home state, while developing a national center of excellence on AI policy," Kent Walker, president of global affairs and chief legal officer for Google's parent company Alphabet, said in a statement. State governments across the U.S. have been working to help boost struggling news organisations. The U.S. newspaper industry has been in a long decline, with traditional business models collapsing and advertising revenues drying up in the digital era. As news organisations move from primarily print to mostly digital, they have increasingly relied on Google and Facebook to distribute its content. While publishers saw their advertising revenues nosedive significantly in the last few decades, Google's search engine has become the hub of a digital advertisement empire that generates more than $200 billion annually. The Los Angeles Times was losing up to $40 million a year, the newspaper's owner said in justifying a layoff of more than 100 people earlier this year. More than 2,500 newspapers have closed since 2005, and about 200 counties across the U.S. do not have any local news outlets, according to a report from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism. California and New Mexico are funding local news fellowship programs. New York this year became the first state to offer a tax credit program for news outlets to hire and retain journalists. Illinois is considering a bill similar to the one that died in California. Here's a closer look into the deal California made with Google this week: British regulators to examine Big Tech's digital wallets The deal, totaling $250 million, will provide money to two efforts: funding for journalism initiatives and a new AI research program. The agreement only guarantees funding for a period of five years. Roughly $110 million will come from Google and $70 million from the state budget to boost journalism jobs. The fund will be managed by UC Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism. Google will also kick in $70 million to fund the AI research program, which would build tools to help solve "real world problems," said Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, who brokered the deal. The deal is not a tax, which is a stark departure from a bill Wicks authored that would have imposed a "link tax" requiring companies like Google, Facebook and Microsoft to pay a certain percentage of advertising revenue to media companies for linking to their content. The bill was modelled after a policy passed in Canada that requires Google to pay roughly $74 million per year to fund journalism. Tech companies spent the last two years fighting Wicks' bill, launching expensive opposition campaigns and running ads attacking the legislation. Google threatened in April to temporarily block news websites from some California users' search results. The bill had continued to advance with bipartisan support -- until this week. Wicks told The Associated Press on Thursday that she saw no path forward for her bill and that the funding secured through the deal "is better than zero." "This represents politics is the art of the possible," she said. Industry experts see the deal as a playbook move Google has used across the world to avoid regulations. "Google cannot exit from news because they need it," said Anya Schiffrin, a Columbia University professor who studies global media and co-authors a working paper on how much Google and Meta owes to news publishers. "So what they are doing is using a whole lot of different tactics to kill bills that will require them to compensate publishers fairly." She estimates that Google owes $1.4 billion per year to California publishers. What is the Google 'monopoly' antitrust case and how does it affect consumers? The Media Guild of the West, a union representing journalists in Southern California, Arizona and Texas, said journalists were locked out of the conversation. The union was a champion of Wicks' bill but wasn't included in the negotiations with Google. "The future of journalism should not be decided in backroom deals," a letter by the union sent to lawmakers reads. "The Legislature embarked on an effort to regulate monopolies and failed terribly. Now we question whether the state has done more harm than good." The agreement results in a much smaller amount of funding compared to what Google gives to newsrooms in Canada and goes against the goal to rebalance Google's dominance over local news organisations, according to a letter from the union to Wicks earlier this week. Others also questioned why the deal included funding to build new AI tools. They see it as another way for tech companies to eventual replace them. Wicks' original bill doesn't include AI provisions. The deal has the support of some journalism groups, including California News Publishers Association, Local Independent Online News Publishers and California Black Media. The agreement is scheduled to take effect next year, starting with $100 million to kickstart the efforts. Wicks said details of the agreement are still being ironed out. California Gov. Gavin Newsom has promised to include the journalism funding in his January budget, Wicks said, but concerns from other Democratic leaders could throw a wrench in the plan. Read Comments

California's $250M Journalism Deal with Google Raises Concerns

Google signs a deal to support local journalism in California after the US state proposed legislation to protect news publishers from being exploited by tech giants. However, journalists are protesting against it for striking down the California legislation. MediaNama investigates how other countries like Canada, Australia, France, Spain, the UK and India stand on this matter. Google will contribute to funding newsrooms in California as it agreed to a partnership with the state government, news publishers, and tech companies. This public-private partnership will release up to $250 million over five years. While $110 million will be spent on journalism initiatives, $70 million on AI workforce support. The partnership will also fund a national-level "AI Accelerator." While some state government employees are hailing this deal as a "breakthrough" that will help "bolster" local journalism, journalist unions are deeply concerned about the future. Reports suggest that this deal strikes down proposed legislation called the California Journalism Preservation Act (CJPA), aimed at protecting news publishers and journalists from the domination of tech companies. The legislation required Big Tech companies to pay news media outlets based in California for posting and using their content. As expected, Google vehemently opposed this "link tax." As the legislation advanced, the company even experimented with blocking links from California-based outlets from appearing in search results in April this year. Many journalist unions who supported the legislation earlier are now protesting against the new deal. In a joint statement, the unions said that they opposed this "secretive", "disastrous" deal. As per the unions, "the future of journalism should not be decided in backroom deals." Furthermore, they called out the publisher associations who were celebrating the deal. According to the unions, the vagueness of the abovementioned accelerator program could "very well destroy journalism." We are left almost without words. The publishers who claim to represent our industry are celebrating an opaque deal involving taxpayer funds, a vague AI accelerator project that could very well destroy journalism jobs, and minimal financial commitments from Google to return the wealth this monopoly has stolen from our newsrooms. -- Joint Statement Earlier in June 2023, the Canadian government passed the Online News Act which required companies like Google and Meta to pay the media houses whose news pieces they linked out and used snippets of on their respective platforms. Meta eventually stopped featuring news on Facebook and Instagram in Canada from both Canadian publishers and international publishers. Meanwhile, Google resorted to negotiations with the Canadian government which led to the Exemption Regulations of the Online News Act. This exemption outlined that tech companies could be exempted from the mandatory bargaining process if they entered into agreements with news publishers. Ultimately in June 2024, Google signed an agreement with the Canadian Journalism Collective (CJC). It's a non-profit organisation which distributes funds allocated under the Online News Act. Under the agreement, Google would make annual payments of 100 million Canadian Dollars to the news publishers.

Google and California Strike Historic Deal to Fund Newsrooms Amid Controversy

In a groundbreaking move, Google has inked a first-of-its-kind agreement with California officials to provide significant funding for local newsrooms and put an end to proposed legislation that would have required tech giants to compensate news organizations for distributing their content. According to CNN, the deal, announced on Wednesday, marks a major shift in how news funding is approached but has sparked strong criticism from journalist unions. The agreement entails a joint investment of $250 million over the next five years. Google will contribute up to $15 million in the initial year, with California matching that amount with a $30 million investment. In subsequent years, the state's annual contribution will decrease to $10 million, while Google will continue to invest a minimum of $20 million annually into the journalism fund and related programs. This financial commitment is set to support newsrooms across the state and includes the launch of an artificial intelligence "accelerator" aimed at enhancing journalistic work. This deal effectively shelves the California Journalism Preservation Act, a high-profile bill introduced by state assemblymember Buffy Wicks. The legislation sought to compel tech companies, including Google and Meta, to pay news organizations for the use of their content online. Modeled after similar measures in Australia and Canada, the bill aimed to bolster funding for local news outlets struggling in the face of declining revenues and shifting advertising dollars. Related: Google Faces Revived Lawsuit Over Chrome User Data Collection Buffy Wicks praised the agreement in a statement, highlighting its potential to reinforce journalism's role in democracy. "This partnership represents a cross-sector commitment to supporting a free and vibrant press," Wicks said. California Governor Gavin Newsom also endorsed the deal, describing it as a "major breakthrough" that leverages tech industry resources without imposing new taxes on Californians. Despite the official support, the deal has been met with sharp criticism from journalist unions. The unions, which had supported the now-shelved bill, argue that the agreement is detrimental to the future of journalism and express concerns over the introduction of the National AI Innovation Accelerator. Critics argue that the involvement of AI in journalism could further undermine trust in news reporting and threaten the industry's stability.

'Bad deal': Journalists on Google's agreement to pay millions for California news

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Google will soon give California millions of dollars to help pay for local journalism jobs in a first-in-the-nation deal, but journalists and other media industry experts are calling it a disappointing agreement that mostly benefits the tech giant. The agreement, which was hashed out behind closed doors and announced this week, will direct tens of millions of public and private dollars to keep local news organizations afloat. Critics say it's a textbook political maneuver by tech giants to avoid a fee under what could have been groundbreaking legislation. California lawmakers agreed to kill a bill requiring tech to support news outlets they profit from in exchange for Google's financial commitment. By shelving the bill, the state effectively gave up on an avenue that could have required Google and social media platforms to make ongoing payments to publishers for linking news content, said Victor Pickard, professor of media policy and political economy at the University of Pennsylvania. California also left behind a much bigger amount of funding that could have been secured under the legislation, he said. "Google got off easy," Pickard said. Google said the deal will help both journalism and the artificial intelligence sector in California. "This public-private partnership builds on our long history of working with journalism and the local news ecosystem in our home state, while developing a national center of excellence on AI policy," Kent Walker, president of global affairs and chief legal officer for Google's parent company Alphabet, said in a statement. State governments across the US have been working to help boost struggling news organisations. The US newspaper industry has been in a long decline, with traditional business models collapsing and advertising revenues drying up in the digital era. As news organisations move from primarily print to mostly digital, they have increasingly relied on Google and Facebook to distribute its content. While publishers saw their advertising revenues nosedive significantly in the last few decades, Google's search engine has become the hub of a digital advertisement empire that generates more than USD200 billion annually. The Los Angeles Times was losing up to USD40 million a year, the newspaper's owner said in justifying a layoff of more than 100 people earlier this year. More than 2,500 newspapers have closed since 2005, and about 200 counties across the US do not have any local news outlets, according to a report from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism. California and New Mexico are funding local news fellowship programmes. New York this year became the first state to offer a tax credit programme for news outlets to hire and retain journalists. Illinois is considering a bill similar to the one that died in California. Here's a closer look into the deal California made with Google this week: What does the deal entail? The deal, totaling USD250 million, will provide money to two efforts: funding for journalism initiatives and a new AI research programme. The agreement only guarantees funding for a period of five years. Roughly USD110 million will come from Google and USD70 million from the state budget to boost journalism jobs. The fund will be managed by UC Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism. Google will also kick in USD70 million to fund the AI research programme, which would build tools to help solve "real world problems," said Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, who brokered the deal. The deal is not a tax, which is a stark departure from a bill Wicks authored that would have imposed a "link tax" requiring companies like Google, Facebook and Microsoft to pay a certain percentage of advertising revenue to media companies for linking to their content. The bill was modelled after a policy passed in Canada that requires Google to pay roughly USD74 million per year to fund journalism. Why are tech companies agreeing to this now? Tech companies spent the last two years fighting Wicks' bill, launching expensive opposition campaigns and running ads attacking the legislation. Google threatened in April to temporarily block news websites from some California users' search results. The bill had continued to advance with bipartisan support - until this week. Wicks told The Associated Press on Thursday that she saw no path forward for her bill and that the funding secured through the deal "is better than zero". "This represents politics is the art of the possible," she said. Industry experts see the deal as a playbook move Google has used across the world to avoid regulations. "Google cannot exit from news because they need it," said Anya Schiffrin, a Columbia University professor who studies global media and co-authors a working paper on how much Google and Meta owes to news publishers. "So what they are doing is using a whole lot of different tactics to kill bills that will require them to compensate publishers fairly." She estimates that Google owes USD1.4 billion per year to California publishers. Why do journalists and labor unions oppose the agreement? The Media Guild of the West, a union representing journalists in Southern California, Arizona and Texas, said journalists were locked out of the conversation. The union was a champion of Wicks' bill but wasn't included in the negotiations with Google. "The future of journalism should not be decided in backroom deals," a letter by the union sent to lawmakers reads. "The Legislature embarked on an effort to regulate monopolies and failed terribly. Now we question whether the state has done more harm than good." The agreement results in a much smaller amount of funding compared to what Google gives to newsrooms in Canada and goes against the goal to rebalance Google's dominance over local news organisations, according to a letter from the union to Wicks earlier this week. Others also questioned why the deal included funding to build new AI tools. They see it as another way for tech companies to eventual replace them. Wicks' original bill doesn't include AI provisions. The deal has the support of some journalism groups, including California News Publishers Association, Local Independent Online News Publishers and California Black Media. What's next? The agreement is scheduled to take effect next year, starting with USD100 million to kickstart the efforts. Wicks said details of the agreement are still being ironed out. California Governor Gavin Newsom has promised to include the journalism funding in his January budget, Wicks said, but concerns from other Democratic leaders could throw a wrench in the plan.

Easy way out? Google faces backlash over $250M deal for California newsrooms (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) (GOOGL) entered into a first-of-its-kind deal with California lawmakers to allocate up to $250M over the next five years to support local newsrooms in the state. This program seeks to support journalism in the face of a sharp decrease in readership and revenue for traditional media, while simultaneously enabling Google (GOOG) to evade a state regulation that would have required it to pay publishers for links to their content. Critics argue that the agreement does not sufficiently address the challenges faced by the industry and could entrench Google's (GOOG) dominance over newsrooms. The Media Guild of the West, a union representing journalists in Southern California, Arizona and Texas said the journalists were locked out of the conversation. They also expressed concerns about the potential risks associated with the AI initiatives. "The future of journalism should not be decided in backroom deals," a letter by the union to lawmakers read. "The Legislature embarked on an effort to regulate monopolies and failed terribly. Now we question whether the state has done more harm than good." A little over $110M from Google (GOOG) and $70M from the state budget will be used to increase employment in journalism. The Graduate School of Journalism at UC Berkeley will oversee the fund. Assembly member Buffy Wicks, who mediated the agreement, stated that Google (GOOG) will also contribute $70M to support the AI research initiative. The agreement is scheduled to take effect next year, starting with $100M to kickstart the efforts.

Google avoids "link tax" bill with deal to fund California journalism and AI

Critics say Google got off easy as it agrees to pay $55 million into news fund. Google has agreed to fund local journalism and work on artificial intelligence in California as part of a deal that would reportedly result in lawmakers shelving a proposal to require Google to pay news outlets for distributing their content. But the deal's state financing requires legislative approval as part of California's annual budget process and is drawing criticism from some lawmakers and a union for journalists. Governor Gavin Newsom is on board, saying that the "agreement represents a major breakthrough in ensuring the survival of newsrooms and bolstering local journalism across California -- leveraging substantial tech industry resources without imposing new taxes on Californians." The deal "will provide nearly $250 million in public and private funding over the next five years, with the majority of funding going to newsrooms," said an announcement by Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, a Democrat. A "News Transformation Fund" would be created with funding from the state and Google and be administered by the UC Berkeley School of Journalism. The state would contribute $30 million the first year and $10 million in each of the next four years, according to a summary provided to Ars by Wicks' office. Google would contribute $55 million to the news fund over five years, consisting of $15 million the first year and $10 million in each of the next four years. The funds would be distributed to news organizations based on how many journalists they employ. Google also agreed to provide $62.5 million over five years for a "National AI Innovation Accelerator." Wicks' office said the accelerator "will be administered in collaboration with a private nonprofit, and will provide organizations across industries and communities -- from journalism, to the environment, to racial equity and beyond -- with financial resources and other support to experiment with AI to assist them in their work." The "nearly $250 million" figure quoted by Wicks' office includes a commitment from Google to continue funding the company's existing journalism programs with $10 million annually for five years. Union calls deal a "shakedown" The Media Guild of the West union slammed the deal as a "shakedown" in a statement issued yesterday. The agreement is disappointing partly because it came "after two years of advocacy for strong antimonopoly action to start turning around the decline of local newsrooms," the group said. "The publishers who claim to represent our industry are celebrating an opaque deal involving taxpayer funds, a vague AI accelerator project that could very well destroy journalism jobs, and minimal financial commitments from Google to return the wealth this monopoly has stolen from our newsrooms," the union said. "Not a single organization representing journalists and news workers agreed to this undemocratic and secretive deal with one of the businesses destroying our industry." Perhaps explaining why journalism and AI funding are part of the same agreement, Wicks' office said the AI accelerator will "complement the work of the Journalism Fund by creating new tools to help journalists access and analyze public information." Google recently testified against pending legislation submitted by Wicks, known as the California Journalism Preservation Act. Google said the bill would "break the foundational principles of the open Internet, forcing platforms to pay publishers for sending valuable free traffic to them, which they choose to receive." Google has called the bill a "link tax." Alphabet Chief Legal Officer Kent Walker praised the deal yesterday as "a collaborative framework to accelerate AI innovation and support local and national businesses and non-profit organizations." State funding faces opposition in Senate Democratic State Senator Steve Glazer, who proposed a different bill aiming to fund local journalism, issued a statement criticizing the deal. "Google's offer is completely inadequate and massively short of matching their settlement agreement in Canada in supporting on-the-ground local news reporting," he said. Glazer questioned why only Google was involved in the deal announcement, and not other tech companies. "There is a stark absence in this announcement of any support for journalism from Meta and Amazon," Glazer said. "These platforms have captured the intimate data from Californians without paying for it. Their use of that data in advertising is the harm to news outlets that this agreement should mitigate." Senate President Pro Tempore Mike McGuire "questioned legislative support for the state's share of the deal," The New York Times wrote. "We have concerns that this proposal lacks sufficient funding for newspapers and local media, and doesn't fully address the inequities facing the industry," McGuire, a Democrat, was quoted as saying. McGuire said the state Senate is "pursuing a global solution that would hold all of these companies accountable." Wicks' announcement of the deal quoted several supporters in the publishing industry. "This is a first step toward what we hope will become a comprehensive program to sustain local news in the long term, and we will push to see it grow in future years," the California News Publishers Association said. There was also a supportive quote from OpenAI Chief Strategy Officer Jason Kwon: "A strong press is a key pillar of democracy, and we're proud to be part of this partnership to utilize AI in support of local journalism across California. This initiative builds on our longstanding work to help newsrooms and journalists around the world leverage AI to improve workflows, better connect users to quality content, and help news organizations shape the future of this emerging technology." OpenAI is contributing technology to the agreement, but not any money, the summary from Wicks' office said.

California, Google's paltry $250M million deal to fund newsroom...

A controversial deal between Google and California lawmakers to fund local newsrooms has drawn scathing reviews from critics - with one key journalists' union blasting the arrangement as a "shakedown" that would be "disastrous" for the industry. Billed as a "first-in-the-nation partnership" to help cash-strapped publishers and save jobs, the deal allows Google and other Big Tech firms to escape legislation aimed at fixing the problem - such as a bill that would have required them to pay a share of ad revenue to news outlets. The arrangement prompted outrage from the Media Guild of the West and state Democrats who argued that a local news publishers trade group, California Assemblywoman Buffy Wicks, Gov. Gavin Newsom and others who brokered the deal had let Google and its allies off the hook. "California's journalists and news workers oppose this disastrous deal with Google and condemn the news executives who consented to it in our names," The Media Guild of the West said in a statement. "The publishers who claim to represent our industry are celebrating an opaque deal involving taxpayer funds, a vague AI accelerator project that could very well destroy journalism jobs, and minimal financial commitments from Google to return the wealth this monopoly has stolen from our newsrooms," the union added. The deal includes nearly $250 million in funding over five years - with $110 million coming from Google, $70 million from state taxpayers and the final $70 million from private donors to fund a so-called "AI accelerator" nonprofit to develop tools for newsrooms, Politico reported. Newsom described the deal as "a major breakthrough in ensuring the survival of newsrooms," while Wicks said it "represents a cross-sector commitment to supporting a free and vibrant press." The California News Publishers Association said the deal is a "first step toward what we hope will become a comprehensive program to sustain local news in the long term, and we will push to see it grow in future years." Some California Democrats broke ranks to criticize the partnership. State Sen. Steve Glazer described Google's offer as "completely inadequate" and said it "seriously undercuts our work toward a long-term solution." Glazer noted that Meta - which threatened last year to remove news articles for California's Facebook and Instagram users if legislation was passed - were not involved in the deal. Elsewhere, State Senate President Pro Tempore Mike McGuire highlighted "concerns that this proposal lacks sufficient funding for newspapers and local media, and doesn't fully address the inequities facing the industry." Wicks' press release announcing the partnership referenced Google parent Alphabet and OpenAI as participants. The extent of OpenAI's involvement was not immediately clear. Meta and OpenAI did not immediately return requests for comment. "This public-private partnership builds on our long history of working with journalism and the local news ecosystem in our home state, while developing a national center of excellence on AI policy," Alphabet president of global affairs Kent Walker said in a statement. Google had lobbied aggressively against state legislation aimed to securing compensation for publishers - at one point going as far as to block some news links in California within its search engine. The company made $307 billion from digital advertising last year alone. Earlier this month, a federal judge ruled that Google is a "monopolist" that illegally dominates the online search market. News Media Alliance - a nonprofit that represents more than 2,200 publishers, including The Post - said the deal "reinforces the need for federal legislation and potential court remedies to address this broken marketplace." "Google is a dominant monopoly that reaps significant revenue off scraping and repackaging quality news content, depriving publishers of the opportunity to monetize their content and reinvest in journalists," News Media Alliance CEO Danielle Coffey said in a statement.

Google, lawmakers reach deal to support California newsrooms

Google and California lawmakers have reached an agreement to provide state newsrooms with millions of dollars in funding over the next five years, putting an end to a battle between the Golden State and the tech giant about compensating the news industry. The initiative will bring in nearly $250 million in funding, $180 million of which will go toward California newsrooms and $62.5 million of which will go toward a new artificial intelligence (AI) program, according to details provided by California assemblymember Buffy Wicks' office. "This agreement represents a major breakthrough in ensuring the survival of newsrooms and bolstering local journalism across California -- leveraging substantial tech industry resources without imposing new taxes on Californians," California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) said in a statement. The state will contribute $30 million to a newly created journalism fund in its first year and $10 million for each of the next four years, while Google will provide $15 million in the first year and $10 million in each of the following years. The tech giant will give another $10 million a year to its existing journalism programs, like Google Showcase and Google News Initiative, and up to $5 million a year toward AI for journalism. ChatGPT maker OpenAI is contributing its technology. The agreement also creates a National AI Accelerator, to which Google will contribute $10 million a year. It will provide another $2.5 million to fund AI research. "California lawmakers have worked with the tech and news sectors to develop a collaborative framework to accelerate AI innovation and support local and national businesses and non-profit organizations," Kent Walker, president of global affairs and chief legal officer for Google's parent company Alphabet, said in a statement. "This public-private partnership builds on our long history of working with journalism and the local news ecosystem in our home state, while developing a national center of excellence on AI policy," he continued. The agreement replaces a controversial state bill that would have required major tech companies to pay news providers for their content. However, it is already drawing scrutiny from the industry. "After two years of advocacy for strong antimonopoly action to start turning around the decline of local newsrooms, we are left almost without words," Media Guild of the West said in a statement. "The publishers who claim to represent our industry are celebrating an opaque deal involving taxpayer funds, a vague AI accelerator project that could very well destroy journalism jobs, and minimal financial commitments from Google to return the wealth this monopoly has stolen from our newsrooms," it continued. "Not a single organization representing journalists and news workers agreed to this undemocratic and secretive deal with one of the businesses destroying our industry," it added.

Google inks controversial deal with California's lawmakers to fund local news - SiliconANGLE

Google inks controversial deal with California's lawmakers to fund local news Google LLC and the state of California have agreed to a deal that will mean the tech giant will commit $172.5 million to fund local journalism over the next five years while some of the money will be set aside for AI development in the state. The deal comes after months of dispute between lawmakers and the tech giant. The state had originally wanted Google and other major tech players such as Meta Platforms Inc. to pay news publishers for linking to their websites. This fell under the "California Journalism Preservation Act," legislation similar to what developed after Australia demanded Meta pay for Australian news. On top of Google's largesse, $70 million in California's taxes will go toward the initiative, but solely toward an AI-centered non-profit that is yet to be established. Politico reports that about $55 million will be directed toward a nonprofit public charity at UC Berkeley's journalism school, and "existing journalism programs" will get about $50 million. "California lawmakers have worked with the tech and news sectors to develop a collaborative framework to accelerate AI innovation and support local and national businesses and nonprofit organizations," said Alphabet's President of Global Affairs, Kent Walker. "This public-private partnership builds on our long history of working with journalism and the local news ecosystem in our home state while developing a national center of excellence on AI policy." It all seems a bit vague and it's hard to see how local journalism will benefit from Google's charitable gesture of throwing some crumbs around. The Media Guild of the West, which supports journalism in California, Arizona, and Texas, called the deal "a ratification of Google's monopoly power over our newsrooms." The guild said the "paltry" sum Google has offered is more an olive branch to "avoid legislation by the state" with much of the cash going toward what it called "a vague AI accelerator project." The non-profit advocacy arm of the Free Press, Free Press Action, was similarly displeased, saying the funding was "far too meager" and "the commitment to localism and diversity far too inadequate." State Sen. Steve Glazer, author of a bill to revive local journalism, said the deal, "seriously undercuts our work toward a long-term solution to rescue independent journalism" and won't have any effect on the "death spiral" of the state's local journalism. It seems the funding for now might have only deepened the feud between Big Tech and small journalism. The latter has indeed been decimated in California over the last 20 years, and it seems unlikely the downward trajectory is going to change.

Google and California strike controversial news funding deal

One representative body of journalists in California, Media Guild of the West, criticised the funding deal's AI focus and said it is 'left almost without words'. Google has struck a deal with lawmakers in California that will see the search giant pay millions of dollars to newsrooms across the state, including a controversial provision for AI resources. According to Politico, the first-of-its-kind deal will see Google and the state of California jointly contribute around $250m to support local newsrooms over five years through the so-called News Transformation Fund housed at University of California, Berkeley. Google will pay $110m for journalism initiatives while the state will chip in another $70m, the outlet reports, adding that an additional $70m in private funding will go towards the development of AI tools through a to-be-established nonprofit. "If you look at Canada, they passed that over a year ago, and publishers haven't received a penny from that yet," Buffy Wicks, an Oakland Democrat who led negotiations on the deal, told Politico. Last November, Google and Canada reached a deal that narrowly avoided shutting down online news from the country from appearing on the platform, after the search giant agreed to pay millions to news outlets in the country. Pascale St-Onge, minister of Canadian heritage, said at the time that the government of Canada and Google "found a path forward" for the implementation of the Online News Act, also known as C-18, that requires Big Tech to pay for news published on its platforms. "This will benefit the news sector and allow Google to continue to play an important role in giving Canadians access to reliable news content," she said. As per the deal, Google would contribute a total of CAD$100m in "financial support" to news businesses across Canada, including independent outlets and those from indigenous and official minority communities. The amount will be indexed to inflation. This came after Google joined Meta in refusing to pay news organisations for their content earlier this year after the Online News Act passed by the Canadian parliament last June. Asking big tech platforms to pay for news is gaining momentum the world over. Inspired by similar moves in Australia and Canada, Malaysia became one of the latest countries to consider legislation last September that will require the likes of Google and Meta to compensate news outlets. Australia became a pioneer in this space two years ago when it passed the News Media Bargaining Code, requiring Meta (then Facebook) and Google to strike commercial deals with news outlets for using their content. In the immediate aftermath of the law, Facebook blocked Australian news media content from appearing on its platform overnight, before eventually finding middle ground. Media Guild of the West, which represents journalists and news workers in California, said of the latest deal that after two years of advocacy for "strong anti-monopoly action to start turning around the decline of local newsrooms, we are left almost without words". "The publishers who claim to represent our industry are celebrating an opaque deal involving taxpayer funds, a vague AI accelerator project that could very well destroy journalism jobs, and minimal financial commitments from Google to return the wealth this monopoly has stolen from our newsrooms." Find out how emerging tech trends are transforming tomorrow with our new podcast, Future Human: The Series. Listen now on Spotify, on Apple or wherever you get your podcasts.

Google Agrees to Shell Out $250M to Support Journalism -- But Not Everyone Is Thrilled

The tech giant has reached an agreement with lawmakers to help compensate local media outlets. Google (GOOGL) has struck a rare partnership with California to support journalism across the state. The first-in-the-nation agreement, announced yesterday (Aug. 21), will see the Big Tech player invest around $170 million over the next five years to strengthen a struggling local media landscape and aid in experimentation with A.I. However, the seemingly well-intentioned deal met controversy from media industry members. Sign Up For Our Daily Newsletter Sign Up Thank you for signing up! By clicking submit, you agree to our <a href="http://observermedia.com/terms">terms of service</a> and acknowledge we may use your information to send you emails, product samples, and promotions on this website and other properties. You can opt out anytime. See all of our newsletters The deal comes as lawmakers push for Big Tech companies to compensate news organizations. In recent decades, news organizations have suffered from dwindling ad revenue as advertisers and readers transition away from print to social media platforms and search engines. The journalism industry in the U.S. has lost nearly two-thirds of its reporters since 2005, according to a 2023 study from Northwestern University. Each week, two and a half local newspapers closed down, the study found. Under the new agreement, a total of $250 million in public and private funding will be funneled into initiatives encouraging the local sustainability of outlets. "This agreement represents a major breakthrough in ensuring the survival of newsrooms and bolstering local journalism across California -- leveraging substantial tech industry resources without imposing new taxes on Californians," said California Governor Gavin Newsom in a statement. In addition to continuing to dole out annual grants of $10 million to existing journalism programs it supports, Google will give $55 million over the next five years to a new fund that will be administered by the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of California, Berkeley. Known as the News Transformation Fund, it will distribute funding across California publications and emphasize underrepresented groups and news deserts. The search engine giant is also expected to pour $12.5 million each year into a new National A.I. Innovation Accelerator, a program that will be administered with a private nonprofit and provide resources to experiment with A.I. across a variety of industries. Both of the agreement's initiatives are expected to go live in 2025. "California lawmakers have worked with the tech and news sectors to develop a collaborative framework to accelerate A.I. innovation and support local and national businesses and non-profit organizations," said Kent Walker, chief legal officer for Google's parent company Alphabet (GOOGL), in a statement. A questionable approach to saving journalism Google has previously fought more comprehensive proposals in California urging Big Tech companies to support news outlets. In response to a proposed bill that would have seen Google forced to pay outlets for surfacing their content, the company earlier this year described the solution as the "wrong approach to supporting journalism" and one that would lead to "uncapped financial exposure," with the company even temporarily removing links to California news outlets from its search engine. Not everyone is pleased with the new agreement. The Media Guild of the West, which represents journalists across Southern California, described the partnership as an "undemocratic and secretive deal with one of the businesses destroying our industry" in a statement. In addition to taking issue with Google's financial commitment, it described the A.I. accelerator project as embracing an initiative "that could very well destroy journalism jobs." The threat of A.I. has been a key worry in recent years for news outlets concerned about its misuse of content and potential to replace jobs. A.I. companies have attempted to dissuade such fears by entering into partnerships with media companies, such as those struck between OpenAI and brands like Vogue, Time Magazine and The Wall Street Journal that see the startup compensate outlets in order to use their content in A.I. tools and to train models. Perplexity AI, an A.I.-powered search engine, also recently launched a revenue-sharing model that will offer publishing partners a portion of ad revenue when their material is used in its A.I. tool's responses.

Google deal to inject cash into California newsrooms

The tech giant and state lawmakers reached an agreement to provide California newsrooms with millions of dollars in funding over five years, ending a feud between Google and the Golden State about compensating the news industry. The initiative will bring in nearly $250 million in funding, $180 million of which will go toward California newsrooms and $62.5 million of which will go toward a new artificial intelligence (AI) program, according to details provided by California Assemblymember Buffy Wicks's (D) office. "This agreement represents a major breakthrough in ensuring the survival of newsrooms and bolstering local journalism across California -- leveraging substantial tech industry resources without imposing new taxes on Californians," California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) said in a statement. The state will contribute $30 million to a newly created journalism fund in its first year and $10 million for each of the next four years, while Google will provide $15 million in the first year and $10 million in each of the following years. The tech giant will give another $10 million a year to its existing journalism programs, like Google Showcase and Google News Initiative, and up to $5 million a year toward AI for journalism. ChatGPT maker OpenAI is contributing its technology. The agreement also creates a National AI Accelerator, to which Google will contribute $10 million a year. It will provide another $2.5 million to fund AI research. The agreement replaces a controversial state bill that would have required major tech companies to pay news providers for their content. However, it is already drawing scrutiny from the industry. "After two years of advocacy for strong antimonopoly action to start turning around the decline of local newsrooms, we are left almost without words," Media Guild of the West said in a statement. "The publishers who claim to represent our industry are celebrating an opaque deal involving taxpayer funds, a vague AI accelerator project that could very well destroy journalism jobs, and minimal financial commitments from Google to return the wealth this monopoly has stolen from our newsrooms," it continued.

Google to Pay California Journalists for Using Their Work in Search, AI

A standoff over online news between Google and other giant tech platforms and the state of California ended Wednesday with a deal to send a little of their combined money to journalists. Rep. Buffy Wicks (D-Oakland) announced Wednesday that Google's parent company, Alphabet, and OpenAI had signed an agreement that replaces a bill she introduced to compel large tech platforms to compensate news sites for using their work. Instead of the mandatory payments outlined under the California Journalism Preservation Act, AB 886, this partnership will combine "nearly $250 million in public and private funding over the next five years, with the majority of funding going to newsrooms," Wicks says. Most of that will go to a News Transformation Fund that UC Berkeley's School of Journalism will run. The announcement's only mention of Meta -- which objected to AB 886 enough to threaten to block all sharing of news links in California across its platforms -- is a link to Wicks's Facebook page. Erin Ivie, a spokesperson for Wicks, says Meta did not join the discussions that produced this deal. Introduced last year, AB 886 would have required for-profit platforms with at least 50 million US monthly active users to pay a share of their California advertising revenue to qualifying in-state newsrooms. Earlier versions of the measure would have set that fee based on how much platforms "link to, display, or present" those newsrooms' journalism. That led opponents to characterize the bill as a link tax, but the text now describes this fee as compensation for accessing news sites to crawl and index their content. Publications have traditionally been fine with that access because search and social sites can send them so many readers, but many are less enthusiastic about being crawled by AI operators. 'News Transformation Fund' Ivie provided a breakdown of the funding that shows Google providing at least $172.5 million over five years (for perspective, Alphabet reported $23.6 billion in profit over its latest quarter). The biggest share of this money will go to the News Transformation Fund: $15 million in the first year, then at least $10 million a year after that. California will supplement that with $30 million in the first year, then $10 million over each of the next four years. Google further pledges to maintain its existing journalism support, committing $10 million a year for its Google News Initiative and its Google News Showcase, which directly pays publications that sign up for that online newsstand. Google will also make a $5 million startup contribution and then provide $12.5 million annually for five years for a National AI Innovation Accelerator and other AI research, combined with unspecified tech support from OpenAI to help journalists better employ AI in their own work. (See how we employ AI to augment, not replace, human creativity at PCMag.) Google's role contrasts with Meta's recent treatment of journalism. The latter company has backed away from news in recent years, scrapping the journalism-support features it once offered and blocking news sharing in Canada after the government enacted a link-tax law there. Google also threatened to stop linking to Canadian news outlets but then struck a newsroom-subsidy deal with Canada's government similar to the California arrangement. Google, however, also faces a massive federal and state antitrust lawsuit alleging that the firm abused its power in the display-ads market to enrich itself at the expense of publishers and advertisers. The company also just lost a similar antitrust case governing its search and search-ads businesses. The News Media Alliance, an Arlington, Va., journalism trade group, cheered the agreement in a statement Wednesday that called for Congress to pass a federal equivalent of AB 886, the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act of 2023. "Google is a dominant monopoly that reaps significant revenue off scraping and repackaging quality news content, depriving publishers of the opportunity to monetize their content and reinvest in journalists," says President and CEO Danielle Coffey. "Today's announcement reinforces the need for federal legislation and potential court remedies to address this broken marketplace." Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) first introduced that bill in 2022 with a bipartisan cast of cosponsors, but it did not get a vote in that session and has yet to get one in this session. A trade union of California journalists was much less enthusiastic. The Media Guild of the West denounced the agreement as "an opaque deal involving taxpayer funds, a vague AI accelerator project that could very well destroy journalism jobs, and minimal financial commitments from Google to return the wealth this monopoly has stolen from our newsrooms."

Google reaches a $250 million deal to skirt proposed journalism bill

The money will be split between two initiatives administered by the "News Transformation Fund" at UC Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism. According to Politico, $180 million is set for distribution to Californian news outlets (excluding broadcasters), while the remaining $70 million is earmarked for artificial intelligence resources to help "strengthen the workforce." The initiatives are expected to go live sometime in 2025. "The deal not only provides funding to support hundreds of new journalists but helps rebuild a robust and dynamic California press corps for years to come, reinforcing the vital role of journalism in our democracy," California Governor Gavin Newsom said in a statement. The California News Publishers Association also praised the agreement, calling it "a first step toward what we hope will become a comprehensive program to sustain local news in the long term."

Will Google's $250 million deal with California really help journalism?

Google, in a statement to Fast Company, said the agreement was a fair one. "California lawmakers have worked with the tech and news sectors to develop a collaborative framework to accelerate AI innovation and support local and national businesses and nonprofit organizations," said Kent Walker, president of global affairs for Alphabet. "This public-private partnership builds on our long history of working with journalism and the local news ecosystem in our home state, while developing a national center of excellence on AI policy." Does the legislature have to approve this agreement? No, since this was an agreement instead of a bill, it won't go before the legislation for a vote. That said, it does involve state funds, so the agreement will require a signoff by Governor Gavin Newsom. In a statement Wednesday, he indicated he would approve the spending. "This agreement represents a major breakthrough in ensuring the survival of newsrooms and bolstering local journalism across California -- leveraging substantial tech industry resources without imposing new taxes on Californians," Newsom said in a statement. "The deal not only provides funding to support hundreds of new journalists, but helps rebuild a robust and dynamic California press corps for years to come, reinforcing the vital role of journalism in our democracy."

Google strikes a deal with California lawmakers to fund local news

The agreement ends a long-running dispute that led to Google temporarily blocking news for some users in the state. Google has reached with California lawmakers to fund local news in the state after previously protesting a proposed law that would have required it to pay media outlets. Under the terms of the deal, Google will commit tens of millions of dollars to a fund supporting local news as well as an AI "accelerator program" in the state. The agreement ends a months-long dispute between lawmakers and Google over the California Journalism Preservation Act, a bill that would have required Google, Meta and other large platforms to pay California publishers in exchange for linking to their websites. Google strongly opposed the measure, which was similar to laws passed in Canada and Australia. Earlier this year, Google began a "" in the state that removed links to local news for some users in California. The company also halted some of its own spending on local news in the state. Now, under the new agreement, Google will direct "at least $55 million" to "a nonprofit public charity housed at UC Berkeley's journalism school," Politico . The university will distribute the fund, which also includes "at least $70 million" from the state of California. Google will also "commit $50 million over five years to unspecified 'existing journalism programs.'" The agreement also includes funding for a "National AI Innovation Accelerator." Details of that program are unclear, but Cal Matters that Google will dedicate "at least $17.5 million" to the effort, which will fund AI experiments for local businesses and other organizations, including newsrooms. That aspect of the deal, which is so far unique to Google's agreement in California, could end up being more controversial as it could exacerbate existing tensions between publishers and AI companies. In , Alphabet's President of Global Affairs, Kent Walker, credited the "thoughtful leadership" of California Governor Gavin Newsom and other state officials in reaching the agreement. "California lawmakers have worked with the tech and news sectors to develop a collaborative framework to accelerate AI innovation and support local and national businesses and nonprofit organizations," he said. "This public-private partnership builds on our long history of working with journalism and the local news ecosystem in our home state, while developing a national center of excellence on AI policy."

Google largely gets its way in California news deal | Brier Dudley

California legislators negotiated what should have been a groundbreaking deal to get tech giants to start paying for local news benefiting their platforms. The deal was announced just after my deadline so I'm going out on a limb here. But it needs to be said that this should not be the template for other states, and Congress, as they consider policies to help publishers get fairly paid. That's ultimately what's needed to save local journalism and make it a sustainable business online. Instead of establishing business relationships between tech platforms and publishers, so they can negotiate payments going forward, California's proposal morphed into a temporary grant program. The most involved tech company, Google, appears to have whittled the policy down and crafted something on its terms, similar to what it did last year in Canada. I suppose getting something is better than nothing, especially in a state full of ambitious politicians whose campaigns are supported by tech money. I also appreciate the work of legislators like Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, sponsor of the California Journalism Preservation Act. Wicks and others risked their jobs standing up to powerful hometown companies to help save local journalism. Her announcement quoted Gov. Gavin Newsom saying the deal is "a major breakthrough in ensuring the survival of newsrooms and bolstering local journalism across California." Wicks was more subdued. The deal "represents a cross-sector commitment to supporting a free and vibrant press, empowering local news outlets up and down the state to continue in their essential work," her quote said. "This is just the beginning. I remain committed to finding even more ways to support journalism in our state for years to come." Still, it's hard not to be disappointed. California's plan will provide a relatively small and temporary bandage, instead of the long-term cure that the CJPA and other policies aimed to provide. One study estimated Google owes at least $10 billion a year to U.S. news publishers for the value their work adds to its products. Under the deal, Wicks' CJPA and state Sen. Steve Glazer's proposed "data extraction transaction" tax are scrapped. In return for getting off the hook, Google is donating at least $130 million, according to an Aug. 19 draft. That includes $15 million in the first year, and $10 million the next four, for a new nonprofit at the University of California, Berkeley. The nonprofit will distribute funds to news outlets on a per-head basis. Google also committed to spending $10 million a year on its existing journalism grant programs, and providing $5 million for a program to help news organizations use AI technology. The state will contribute $70 million over five years and support the AI business development program. Altogether nearly $250 million is provided over five years. But the framework indicates Google will pay just $55 million to the fund for news outlets, beyond its existing grant program and an AI program from which it should benefit. Google and other platforms would also avoid having to negotiate deals with news organizations. That would have affirmed the value of their work and established payment arrangements that could be renewed and extended. Matt Pearce, Media Guild of the West president, also said it's a poor outcome. "The California legislature embarked on an antimonopoly expedition to pass the most ambitious plan to fund local journalism since the creation of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting," he said via email, "but now we're looking at an unenforceable public-private partnership where taxpayers are more on the hook for funding local newsrooms than a literal monopoly whose own contributions appear to be tax-deductible." For comparison, the policy Canada passed last year requires Google to pay around $74 million per year into a fund for publishers. Canada's population is roughly the size of California's and California's market is more important to the tech companies. Canada expected platforms to pay more. But they used threats, lobbying and division sowed within the news industry to get their way. That approach also helped weaken an Australian policy in 2021, but it still required platforms to negotiate payment with news organizations or face strict oversight. Google appears to learn from each country and state how to further weaken policies proposed to help save local journalism. It went further in Canada by working the policy implementation in its favor. The company shaped the nonprofit distributing funds to publishers. It's stacked with allies, including people who opposed the legislation. Each time Google gets a little more. It keeps pushing these policies farther from their original goal, which was to force tech giants to negotiate content deals with smaller publishers. Meanwhile Google has made content deals with some of the largest publishers, paying hundreds of millions to the likes of The New York Times. So it knows professional news brings value to its platforms. Barring strong policy, smaller outlets providing nearly all the local journalism informing U.S. voters don't get that opportunity. They are left vying for grants as their work is posted, consumed and shared on the platforms, which hasn't slowed the rate of failure for traditional outlets or digital news startups. Don't forget these policies were a response to unfair competition online. Google is now a convicted monopolist, for abusing its dominance of search and text ads, and is soon facing trial over its dominance of digital advertising technology. Policymakers were also informed by experiences in Europe, particularly France. There Google broke promises to pay publishers and was fined more than $500 million in 2021 and $272 million in March. I guess that's the price of doing business a certain way, and Google's getting a comparatively sweet deal in its home state.