JCPA Supporters

"Millions of people around the United States access news and information from digital platforms every single day. The platforms rely on quality publishers to fill their feeds and search results to provide factual information and to stop the spread of dis-and-misinformation. To ensure a fair playing field, The Lenfest Institute for Journalism believes news publishers should be able to negotiate fairly with companies that depend on their journalism."

The Lenfest Institute for Journalism

“Facebook and Google love us for our local content. But they are not contributing to the cost of gathering our intensely local and interesting news, and publishers do not receive any compensation when our material travels out over these mega-giant networks. This bill would give newspapers the ability to work as an industry for fairness in the digital environment. We hope Congress will move quickly to pass the legislation.”

Andrew Johnson
Publisher, Dodge County (WI) Pionier and President, National Newspaper Association

“News media have struggled for several years with the impact social media has had on the distribution of our content. While providing our members with the potential to reach more readers, the opacity surrounding the inner workings of major platforms means we are never able to truly maximize that potential. We are at a competitive disadvantage, beholden to the platforms and their rules. This bill will help us level the playing field.”

Nancy Barnes
President, American Society of News Editors (ASNE)

“The journalism industry has a tenuous relationship with major content platforms such as Google and Facebook. We need them to distribute our content but we are also beholden to the rules they set, with no ability to meaningfully negotiate policies or practices which will actually benefit our members. This bill is necessary to ensuring we control how our content is distributed; it therefore benefits not only AAN members but our readers.”

Molly Willmott
President, Association of Alternative Newsmedia (AAM)

“While the proposed 'Journalism Competition and Preservation Act' will not solve all the challenges facing news organizations, Guild leadership believes it will give news content creators more control over the price of their content and enable them to wield more influence in terms of content access and distribution with news aggregators like Google and Facebook. This should give news outlets more latitude in building and maintaining robust newsrooms of experienced and talented journalists, supporting jobs and ensuring Americans continued access to the accurate, quality news and information necessary in a democratic society.”

The Authors Guild

“It is heartening to see bipartisan support for legislation responding to this crisis, and the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act offers an important opportunity for news outlets to negotiate a more equitable arrangement with the tech giants.”

PEN America

“With print editions continuing to migrate to digital-only subscriptions, and consumers’ preference for content on-the-go, we need to build a media ecosystem that works for all parties involved. One where big tech can continue to flourish, but also one where media companies can increase data sharing, revenue, and monetization efforts. The key is for platforms to understand they need to work with publishers to create an engaging user experience and a strong business model. And the first step towards collaboration is through the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act.”

Yaron Galai
CEO and Co-Founder, Outbrain

“Members of Congress are realizing the urgency and importance of this issue, especially for local news publishers. Communities will go unserved and uncovered if the current trajectory continues. News publishers need greater leverage in negotiations with the dominant intermediary platforms that distribute and monetize quality journalism with little return for those who produce it.”

Rich Macke
Publisher, Star-Herald

“At the heart of this bill is helping newspapers survive amid shrinking circulations and massive layoffs. Google and Facebook now control the news kingdom. They’ve pitted themselves against newspapers in a David-and-Goliath battle in which newspapers don’t have a stone to throw much less a slingshot to put it in. The readers are the true losers as newsrooms empty out across this country. Google and Facebook aren’t just companies. They’re countries. We can’t allow them to bully newspapers out of business.”

John Neely Kennedy
Senator (R-LA)

“Without honest and trusted journalists reporting around the world and here at home, what is out of sight truly becomes out of mind — but we’re seeing more and more independent and local news outlets close as ‘fake news’ rises. It’s more important than ever that we protect the free press and establish an even playing field for negotiation with online platforms. Our bipartisan legislation will improve the quality and accessibility of reporting and ensure that journalists are able to continue their critical work.”

Amy Klobuchar
Senator (D-MN)

“This bipartisan legislation will even the playing field, strengthen competition, and give news outlets the tools they need to negotiate for equitable treatment with our nation’s largest online platforms. Local journalism plays a vital role in keeping communities informed and holding public officials accountable, and this bill will help newspapers continue those important efforts.”

Cory Booker
Senator (D-NJ)

“Local news faces an uphill battle. Papers are being bought up by hedge funds and the focus has had to shift from quality local content to profit maximization to save the news organizations we have left. In this digital world, where content is being shared for free on social media while the platform makes a profit, it’s only fair to let news organizations share in ad revenues.”

Mark DeSaulnier
Representative (D-CA)

“The free press is a cornerstone of our democracy. Journalists keep the public informed, root out corruption, and hold the powerful accountable. This bill will provide a much-needed lifeline to local publishers who have been crushed by Google and Facebook. It’s about time we take a stand on this issue.”

David Cicilline
Representative (D-RI)

“Community journalism holds a critical place in our democracy because it helps the American people understand and engage in civil society. Through our bipartisan legislation, we are opening the door for community newspapers to more fairly negotiate with large tech platforms that are operating in an increasingly anti-competitive space. This will help protect journalism, promote competition and allow communities to stay informed.”

Doug Collins
Representative (R-GA)

“Our bill uses the free market as a solution, providing a path for local newspapers to more fairly negotiate the value of their content with large tech platforms. Community journalism and reliable local news hold a critical place in our democracy, and I’m proud to be among the first supporters of this much-needed legislation.”

Joe Courtney
Representative (D-CT)

“The bill before Congress comes at a make-or-break moment for U.S. news companies — but also for their readers and viewers. If the unchallenged grip of companies such as Facebook and Google persists, quality journalism probably cannot.”

Chicago Tribune Editorial Board

“Some folks have advocated for direct government subsidies for news publishers. I personally don't believe that it's a good idea for the fourth estate to be on the government payroll. … I prefer a much less government-intensive solution: the Journalism Competition & Preservation Act, which wouldn't require the government to spend any tax dollars. The bill, with four Republican senators and three Democratic senators as co-sponsors, simply gives news publishers the ability to solve their own problems by giving them the right to work together to negotiate with Google and Facebook for a better deal for the use of their news content. … It is currently impossible for any individual publisher to stand up to the tech giants. Since Facebook and Google benefit disproportionately from free local news content, they should have to negotiate like any other company for that deal, and return more of the value back to the people who deliver it in the first place. News consumers will then have continued access to the full variety of media sources they prefer.”

Jason Chaffetz
Former Republican Congressman, Utah's Third Congressional District

“Local newspapers compete on an uneven field with internet giants. This bill would allow us to negotiate for more fairness.”

Dan Shea
Former Publisher, The Advocate, Current Chairman, Georges Media Group

“News organizations have been at the beck and call of these behemoths, to no avail. As a longtime news executive, I have been in the room too many times to count with Google, Facebook, YouTube, Snapchat and others as they have lectured us on exactly what we need to do to save our business. Virtually always, it's to bend our news practices — at our own expense — to their latest algorithm or experimental venture. ... That’s why Congress must pass the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act. It is in the interest of all of us who believe in a fair and unfettered press, no matter what your political affiliation, to ensure that the media survives financially. Let’s get to that essential place where the industry is secure and sustainable so that journalists can focus all of our attention and energy where it belongs: on our mission, as news professionals.”

Joanne Lipman
Former Editor-in-Chief, USA TODAY and Chief Content Officer, Gannett

“Many critics of the tech giants want antitrust enforcers to restrain them, or even break them up. But the companies’ stranglehold over digital-ad revenues could be addressed by relaxing antitrust laws for the media outlets that do business with them. Let them band together to bargain with the giants over ad rates and the like.”

National Review Editors

“We commend Chair David Cicilline and Rep. Doug Collins on the introduction of the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act. As our newspaper brethren have demonstrated, there are significant antitrust-related concerns for news publishers that directly affect the continued viability of local journalism.”

National Association of Broadcasters

“In the marketplace of ideas, big tech is going behind the counter and taking the product off the shelf and walking out the door without paying for it.”

Dave Yost (R)
Attorney General, State of Ohio

“Here’s why this patently unfair situation should concern you and your community: It now threatens the existence of some local newspapers, the source of news and information that underpins democracy and civic life itself. It’s long past time for Google and Facebook to do what newspapers and their subscribers do: Pay for the local news that benefits them so richly.”

Dean Ridings
President, America’s Newspapers

“The American newspaper actually deserves more than a government handout. It deserves a fighting chance. That’s what needs to appear in the next stimulus bill.”

Chandra Bozelko
Columnist, Prison Diaries

“If anything, the JCPA does not go far enough to liberalize coordination among newspaper publishers and other “news content creators” to benefit a healthy news ecosystem, although it would be a step in the right direction. … Allowing news outlets to capture a larger proportion of ad revenue would permit investment in quality reporting and investigation, with obvious consumer benefits and indeed, sorely needed social benefits in terms of democratic functioning.”

Professor Sanjukta Paul & Hal Singer