On Friday, The Washington Post published it’s weekly Five Myths column, which featured News Media Alliance President & CEO David Chavern dispelling five myths about the news business.
The past nine months have been uniquely trying for us all; yet as we enter the holiday season, I am reminded of all that we have to be thankful for – yes, even in 2020. It may not be the year we envisioned back on January 1, but there have been some bright, shining moments for the news industry and for the Alliance in this strange, dark year.
The News Media Alliance commends Senate Commerce Committee Ranking Member Maria Cantwell (D-WA) for the release of her report, “Local Journalism: The Threat to America’s Most Trusted News Source,” outlining how changes in the information marketplace and the dominance of online platforms pose an existential threat to local news publishers
In response to the lawsuit filed today by the Department of Justice (DOJ) accusing Google of antitrust violations related to its search and advertising services, Alliance President and CEO, David Chavern, stated, “It is good that the DOJ is starting the process, but ‘search distribution’ issues are a small subset of the many issues presented by Google dominance. News publishers are particularly harmed by Google’s control of ad tech – and that doesn’t appear to be covered at all by the DOJ’s action today.
Today, Representatives Cheri Bustos (D-IL) and Robert Aderholt (R-AL) sent a letter to U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) requesting that it conduct a comprehensive review of current government agency expenditures on advertising and to examine how federal agencies could place more advertising with local news publishers and broadcast stations.
House Antitrust Chairman David Cicilline (D-RI) and the House Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial, and Administrative Law have released their long-awaited report on the anticompetitive behavior of the big tech platforms.
The Supreme Court today announced that it will hear petitions filed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and a group of industry stakeholders (including the News Media Alliance) seeking to reinstate the FCC’s steps to modernize the country’s media ownership rules, including the repeal of a 1970s-era rule that prohibits common ownership of a newspaper and a television or radio station in the same market.
On September 13, David Chavern joined the Journal-isms™ Roundtable as a guest speaker on furthering diversity and inclusion in the news industry.
Facebook’s threat to block real journalism from its properties is simply an attempt to bully the Australian government and legislature. It is also a clear attempted exercise of their massive, anticompetitive market power.
The News Media Alliance commends the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) for the release of the Draft News Media Bargaining Code, aimed at rectifying the imbalance of power between news publishers and digital platforms.
