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We are very pleased that Senate Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has signed on as the latest co-sponsor and highest ranking official on the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act (S. 1700). This bill would provide a limited safe harbor for news publishers to collectively negotiate with Facebook and Google for better business arrangements.
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.
Upon hearing the news of McConnell’s co-sponsorship of the bill, House Antitrust Chairman David Cicilline (D-RI), one of the two original co-sponsors of the House bill (H.R. 2054) introduced in April 2019, stated, “I’m glad to see Senator McConnell’s support for the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act. I look forward to this bill being taken up in both chambers this year and sent to the President’s desk to become law.”
The Alliance applauds Senator McConnell for his leadership in support of local news publishers across the country and we look forward to news publishers having the collective ability to ask the platforms for fair compensation for use of their content in the near future.
David Chavern is former President & CEO of the News/Media Alliance. Chavern has 30 years of experience in executive strategic and operational roles. Prior to the Alliance, he completed a decade-long tenure at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
