California publishers: Deal with state is a start, but more needed from Big Tech

The California News Publishers Association responded to the announcement Wednesday of a public-private partnership involving tech companies and the state to help fund local news outlets, saying the initiative is a good start but stops short of an adequate share of the cost by highly profitable technology companies such as Google.

The partnership will establish a News Transformation Fund, administered by the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, aimed at distributing nearly $250 million over five years to support local news websites and print publications statewide. The deal also calls for establishing an “AI accelerator” program for news publishers, though the details of that have not yet been finalized.

A statement from the publishers association called the public-private partnership “a meaningful step toward supporting local journalism (that) … does not fully address the critical needs of California’s news industry.”

The agreement terminates a legislative effort led by Assemblywoman Buffy Wicks, D-Berkeley, that would have mandated the tech industry compensate publishers for the content carried on platforms such as Google News.

“We appreciate the effort to bring together resources from both the public and private sectors to support local journalism,” CNPA President and CEO Charles F. Champion II said in a statement. “However, we believe that the financial commitments from Google and other tech companies should have been more robust, given the substantial revenues they generate from the distribution of journalistic content.”

Google’s share will be $110 million and the state’s will be $70 million for newsrooms, Wicks told Politico. The AI component will invest $70 million in private funds to develop AI tools through a not-yet-established nonprofit entity.

“There were ambitious legislative efforts over the past two years to put local news in California on a stronger financial footing,” CNPA Chair Julie Makinen said in a statement. “We always knew that getting legislation passed, signed, and implemented would be an uphill battle. This is not what we had hoped for when we set out, but it is a start, and it will begin to provide some help to newsrooms across the state. More must be done, and we are committed to working on that.”

On artificial intelligence, Makinen said it “presents both opportunities and threats to the news industry. We would like to see this accelerator implemented quickly with significant access for California publishers and journalists to equip them with the know-how and tools to advance news gathering, connect with audiences more deeply, and improve their business while guarding against misinformation.”

The association also intends to focus on ways it can help local news outlets maximize the benefits of the AI initiative, especially publications in underserved communities.

“We will continue to work diligently within this framework while pushing for broader reforms that ensure a sustainable future for journalism,” Champion said. “This partnership is a beginning, not an end, and we remain dedicated to advocating for the resources and support necessary to maintain a free and vibrant press in California.”

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