FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE<\/p>\n
Arlington, VA \u2013 Today the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Competition Policy, Antitrust, and Consumer Rights will hold a hearing at 3:00 p.m. ET, \u201cBreaking the News \u2013 Journalism, Competition, and the Effects of Market Power on a Free Press<\/a><\/span>,\u201d on the impact of the dominant tech platforms, such as Facebook and Google, on the ability to sustain high-quality journalism and the need for legislation to ensure the platforms provide news publishers fair compensation for use of their online content.<\/p>\n Witnesses scheduled to testify at the hearing include Jennifer Bertetto, president & CEO of Trib Total Media in Greensburg, PA (written testimony here<\/a><\/span>); Hal Singer, economist and antitrust expert (written testimony here<\/a><\/span>); and Joel Oxley, senior vice president and general manager of WTOP and Federal News Radio.<\/p>\n Last March, Senate Antitrust Subcommittee Chair Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Senator John N. Kennedy (R-LA) reintroduced<\/a><\/span> the Journalism Competition & Preservation Act (JCPA) in the Senate<\/a><\/span>, which would provide a limited antitrust safe harbor for news publishers to collectively negotiate with the platforms for fair compensation for the use of their content. An identical bill was introduced concurrently in the House<\/a><\/span> by House Antitrust Chairman David Cicilline (D-RI) and Ranking Member Ken Buck (R-CO).<\/p>\n News Media Alliance President & CEO, David Chavern, stated, \u201cWe applaud the Senate Judiciary Committee for holding this hearing and recognizing the urgent need to address the local news crisis. We need trusted sources of journalism now more than ever. Currently, the dominant tech platforms set the rules, using news publishers\u2019 content without providing appropriate compensation, while taking the majority of digital advertising revenue in the U.S. This is revenue that news publishers need to reinvest in providing quality journalism. Now is the time to act, and we believe the Journalism Competition & Preservation Act is the solution that will help sustain high-quality journalism and therefore our civic society.\u201d<\/p>\n Current antitrust laws prohibit news publishers from taking collective action by negotiating with the large online platforms for fair compensation for all news publishers \u2013 large and small \u2013 across the board. This legislation would provide news publishers with a limited opportunity to negotiate together and to withhold content from the online platforms during the negotiations, while presenting a sensible, market-based solution to a major threat to the future of high-quality journalism.<\/p>\n Managing Director of Econ One, Hal Singer, said, \u201cThe reason Google scrapes, indexes and posts news publisher content for free is because it can. It\u2019s like some bully coming into your house and taking your lunch. As long as market forces are allowed to dictate the payments for accessing news publisher content, the access price will remain at zero, and news publishers will be deprived of billions of dollars per year of value created for the platforms.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhile Google and Facebook earn record profits year after year, their monopolistic behavior has led to downsized or shuttered newsrooms across America. Even with our restructuring and enhanced digital offerings, it was not enough to level the playing field,\u201d said Jennifer Bertetto, President and CEO of Trib Total Media. \u201cThe Journalism Competition and Preservation Act (JCPA) would allow news publishers \u2013 irrespective of size or political persuasion \u2013 to jointly negotiate with the platforms for fair compensation for the use of our content. The JCPA would give my company \u2013 a small, regionally-focused publisher \u2013 what we don\u2019t have today: a seat at the table.\u201d<\/p>\n ###<\/span><\/p>\n Media contact:<\/strong>
\nLindsey Loving
\nDirector, Communications
\nlindsey@newsmediaalliance.org<\/a><\/p>\n