Support for the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act (JCPA) spans the globe, with letters and statements endorsing the bill coming in from groups in Australia, Canada, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as from multi-national organizations.
One and a half years ago, the Australian parliament adopted legislation creating the News Media Bargaining Code, a revolutionary measure aimed at protecting news publishers from the dominance of a few big online platforms. Now, as the JCPA is making progress in Congress, it is a good time to evaluate the success of Australia’s Code.
The News Media Alliance echoes the statement released Saturday by White House National Security Council spokesperson Emily Horne, condemning the shuttering of independent media in Russia and threats by the Russian government of prison sentences for journalists who report the truth about the war the country is carrying out in the Ukraine.
A coalition of more than 20 U.S. news organizations – along with trade associations including the News Media Alliance – sent letters to President Joe Biden and the House and Senate Majority and Minority leaders in Congress, seeking humanitarian assistance to provide safe passage out of Afghanistan for a modest number of Afghans who have been working with U.S. media as journalists, interpreters, and support staff to provide coverage of Afghanistan.
In early June, the French competition authority, Autorité de la concurrence, announced that Google had reached an agreement with the authority to settle an antitrust investigation regarding the tech giant’s anticompetitive behavior in the market for online advertising services.
In mid-March, Politico published a powerful piece of investigative reporting titled “How Washington fumbled the future,” detailing the Federal Trade Commission’s 2012 investigation into Google’s anticompetitive conduct and the agency’s failure to bring a case against Google.
Recent events continue to demonstrate that journalism and journalists are a necessary part of our democracy and critical to a well-functioning government and an informed electorate. There are many challenges for news media and journalists in today’s landscape. As members of the 117th Congress consider solutions to these challenges, the News Media for Open Government (NMOG) coalition calls on Congress to promote policies that bolster the First Amendment, the value of journalists, a free press, and a more transparent and open government.
The News Media for Open Government today sent a position paper to President-Elect Joseph Biden and Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris’s transition team, outlining policy objectives that support and strengthen openness in government and the right to a free and independent press.
The News Media Alliance today sent recommendations to President-Elect Joseph Biden and Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris’s transition team outlining policy positions on regulations and existing laws that deter investment and limit growth in the news media industry.
