Safe Harbor Bill will stop Facebook and Google from harming local news publishers | Editorial – The Tennessean

Editors of the USA TODAY Network Tennessee Published 5:29 p.m. CT May 10, 2021

Microsoft's President Brad Smith tells Congress it endorses the Journalism Competition and Protection Act (JCPA), that would give news organizations the ability to negotiate collectively, with Microsoft and other tech giants. (March 12) AP Domestic

The system is stacked against news publishers. Google and Facebook pay to license music and many types of content, but they have refused to fairly compensate the creators of critical journalism.

Quality local journalism is essential to creating an informed and engaged public and protecting a thriving democracy.

Over the last year, the publications of the USA TODAY Network Tennessee have published public service journalism covering the coal ash clean up in East Tennessee, the tornadoes that decimated Middle Tennessee, and West Tennessee stories including the Jackson Generals baseball team saga and theByhalia pipelinesaga in Memphis.

Our journalists are your neighbors, fellow shoppers and congregants, and volunteerswhoare dedicated to covering the communities they live, play and work in.

Local journalism, however, has suffered because of large technology company'sdominant practices for years.

Google and Facebook use and benefit from our news content and audiences, but they dont return value to news publishers.

Thats why were asking Congress to support the"Journalism Competition and Preservation Act," a bipartisan measure introduced in the U.S. Senate and U.S. Housein March.

Journalists watch the final Presidential Debate held at Belmont University on Thursday, Oct. 22, 2020, in Nashville, Tenn.(Photo: George Walker IV / The Tennessean)

Over the past 14 months, local journalism has been more important than ever.

From COVID-19s devastating blows to cities and towns of all sizes, to the reignited social justice movement and the explosive 2020 U.S. presidential election and its tumultuous aftermath, people turn to news publishers to keep them informed about the changes happening around the worldand in their own backyards.

News has been more in-demand than at any other time in recent history. But the local news publishers providing this invaluable information are struggling in an online environment dominated by a few big tech platforms.

The tech platforms have been allowed to get bigger and bigger, exerting their power and influence in ways that stifle competition and eat into news publishers revenue.

The term Big Media is thrown around but, as of 2018, Google and Facebook had nearly four times as much revenue as the entirety of the U.S. news media (TV, print and digital). And in the three years since, Google and Facebook have grown tremendously.

Those two companies alone currently attract about 80 percent of digital ad spending and 45 percent of all ad spending in the United States.

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The system is stacked against news publishers. Google and Facebook pay to license music and many types of content, but they refuseto fairly compensate the creators ofjournalism.

Because of this, in the last two years, at least 300 news publicationshave closed, with more than 6,000 journalists laid off. A few of the big, national news outlets may be doing okay, but local news publishers, who provide the information that sustains communities, are getting pushed out.

If we dont find a solution for local journalism soon, there wont be any left.

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We have already seen what happened in Australia earlier this year when Facebook removed news in response to proposed legislation requiringthe companyto pay publishers for their content.

In just two days, the void where news once appeared was quickly filled with misinformation and fake news.

We cannot afford to learn what a world without quality journalism would look like.

Fortunately, Facebook reinstated news and the legislation passed in Australia. Now, the rest of the world is moving toward a new and more equitable compensation system for publishers.

After all, social media platforms compensate music publishers and other creators. Its past time for them to compensate those who deliver real local journalism.

The government cannot regulate news under the First Amendment, but Facebook and Google are de facto regulators, deciding what content people see and when.

They have undervalued quality news content and, as a result, the information ecosystem has become increasingly confusing and unhealthy.

We have the solution that will give all forms of news media a decent shot at getting a fair return for their work and checking the power of government and Big Tech.

Local news publishers just want the ability to band together to fight for their future. Ironically, however, current antitrust laws actually protect Big Tech from publishers taking any organized action.

To help resolve this crisis, we are asking our members of CongressSen. Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty, and Reps. Diana Harshbarger, Tim Burchett, Chuck Fleischmann, Scott DesJarlais, Jim Cooper, John Rose, Mark Green, David Kustoff and Steve Cohento support the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act (also known as the Safe Harbor Bill).

The Safe Harbor Billwould give news publishers the ability to seek fair compensation for use of their content, and which would allow them to continue to invest in the critical newsgathering and reporting on which Americans depend.

With the passage of this bill, all news publishers, especially small local publishers, would finally be able to ask the tech platforms for the compensation they need, and deserve.

We applaud those members of Congress across the country and on both sides of the aisle who have already shown their commitment to local journalism by co-sponsoring the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act.

But we need support from every member of Congress.

We hope our congressional representatives will agree that quality reportingfor our community and the future of all local journalism is worth fighting for and will co-sponsor the Safe Harbor Bill today.

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The editors of the USA TODAY Network Tennessee adapted and endorsed this editorial from the News Media Alliance.

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Safe Harbor Bill will stop Facebook and Google from harming local news publishers | Editorial - The Tennessean