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This week, Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-NY) introduced the Community News and Small Business Support Act (H.R.4756) to the U.S. House of Representatives with co-sponsor Suzan DelBene (D-WA). At its core, the bill lays out a five-year plan to provide payroll tax credits to local/community news outlets, expressly to hire and retain local news reporters across the country. Small businesses (with fewer than 50 employees) that advertise in local newspapers, digital news sites, on local radio or with local TV stations are also eligible for tax credits.

A great new bill has been introduced in the House of Representatives to strengthen local news — important not just for its substance but its champion. The Community News and Small Business Support Act (HR 4756) attempts to address a horrifying phenomenon: local news is disappearing from thousands of communities across the country. Two newspapers are closing each week, on average. There’s been a 57% drop in newsroom employees since 2004. Thousands of towns have no local news source or “ghost newspapers” barely covering the area.
In this episode of "E&P Reports," we look at the last few weeks in the life of Canadian news publishing through the eyes of Paul Deegan, president and CEO of the country’s largest industry trade organization, News Media Canada. Deegan unpacks the similarities and differences between Canada and the U.S. in national advocacy of Big Tech compensation legislation. He also discusses the battles that are now going on between Google /Facebook and the Canadian government as the digital platforms threaten to remove news content within the country, and Ottawa fights back by pulling ad dollars from the platforms.
Google announced via its blog on Thursday that it will be “removing links to Canadian news from Search, News, and Discover products and will no longer be able to operate Google News Showcase in Canada.” Kent Walker, President of Global Affairs, Google & Alphabet, made this announcement.
Danielle Coffey’s first few weeks leading the News/Media Alliance (NMA) were anything but "business as usual." In her first 25 days as CEO, she and her team are addressing some of the most critical issues and advocacy facing news media's future, including Gannett’s recent antitrust filing against Google; Canada's final passage of the their Journalism Compensation Bill and how this may impact the U.S. Congress passing similar legislation.
Latest Industry News

US v. Google is one of the most important antitrust trials in decades, but Judge Amit Mehta has kept most of it out of the public view. That needs to change, argues a new motion from The New York Times.

A Canadian news industry body on Thursday lent support to some of Google's concerns about a new law that aims to make large internet companies share advertising revenue with news publishers in the country.
The tech giant’s ongoing antitrust trial raises the possibility of the federal government, Apple, or both giving Google its first meaningful search competition in decades.
Satya Nadella, the chief executive of Microsoft, is the government’s biggest-name witness in its landmark antitrust case against Google.
Bill C-18, the Online News Act, received Royal Assent on June 22. Here’s a Q&A to help explain what C-18 is, where things stand, and what the next steps are.
An expert for the prosecution testified that as creatures of habit, humans would rather stick with a default setting then do even the simplest steps to change something.
Here’s a primer on the case with more background, what to expect and the potential impact.
Google has exploited its dominance of the internet search market to lock out competitors and smother innovation, the Department of Justice charged Tuesday at the opening of the biggest U.S. antitrust trial in a quarter century.
The U.S. government is taking aim at what has been an indomitable empire: Google’s ubiquitous search engine that has become the internet’s main gateway.
Related Resources & Documents

Information on the Journalism Competition & Preservation Act (JCPA), which would allow news publishers to collectively negotiate with the tech platforms for fair compensation for use of their content.

The Community News & Small Business Support Act delivers on this promise with content-neutral tax credits, sunsetting in five years, for (1) hometown news organizations to employ community-based local journalists and (2) small businesses for marketing themselves with their local media organizations. National news outlets are not eligible for these tax credits. Find out more about the Community News & Small Business Act here.

Rebuild Local News helped develop and strongly supports the Community News and Small Business Support Act (H.R. 4765), introduced by Reps. Claudia Tenney, a Republican from New York, and Suzan DelBene, a Democrat from Washington. Here are numerous resource links and information about this important legislation.

From investigative reports to breaking news and weather coverage, broadcasters invest significant resources to keep Americans informed. Local radio and TV stations provide a lifeline for our communities, but the dominance of Big Tech platforms is threatening the future of local journalism. The NAB is providing news and resources to help you support this important advocacy.

The actual text of S. 1094, the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act of 2023 filed by Sen. Klobuchar, Amy [D-MN] on March 30, 2023. On June 15th, 2023 her Committee on the Judiciary, ordered that S. 1094 was to be "reported without amendment favorably."

In January of 2023 the U.S. Department of Justice issued this online press release, with links to related resources about their antitrust suit against Google for monopolizing multiple digital advertising technology products in violation of Sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act.

As of April 2023, nine additional states joined the U.S. justice department’s suit against google for monopolizing digital advertising technologies, in violation of Sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act. The Antitrust Division and the state Attorneys General filed this amended complaint in the Eastern District of Virginia.

Canada's largest industry association: News Media Canada, posts ongoing content related to the recent passage of Senate Bill C-18, a law requiring Google and Meta to pay media outlets for news content that they share or otherwise repurpose on their platforms.

Gannett Inc, the largest newspaper publisher by total circulation in the country has sued Google over allegations that the company is violating antitrust law in controlling tools used to buy and sell ads. This is a copy of the actual complaint filed.

In 2021 antitrust litigation against Google was filed in the state of Texas by over 200 U.S. newspaper publishing companies. One of the major law firms involved in the case produced this extensive FAQ document about the lawsuit.

More Big Tech Compensation/ Antitrust Industry News

Court allows Google to seek dismissal of some Gannett antitrust claims

Google has been given a green light to seek dismissal of certain claims in the antitrust suit filed against it  by Gannett in June. 

AFP sues Musk’s X over copyright

The AFP news agency launched a copyright case in France on Wednesday against social media giant Twitter, recently rebranded X, part of a global struggle to get tech firms to pay for news.

Meta permanently ending news availability on its platforms in Canada

Social media giant Meta says it has officially begun ending news availability on its platforms in Canada starting Tuesday, Aug. 1.

California news turmoil shows need for legislation, sustainability

As if on cue, layoffs and disruption rocked two California dailies right after state legislators tabled a measure to help sustain local newspapers.

News publishers declare global principles for bargaining with Big Tech

Journalists and scholars gathered for two days in South Africa to hammer out details of fair compensation from Big Tech.

Opinion | Facebook and Google want to kill this California bill. Here’s why they’re wrong

Assembly Bill 886 (in California) has drawn powerful opposition from tech giants such as Meta and Google because it could provide momentum in the U.S. and around the world for directing some advertising proceeds back to the actual creators of the news content that appears on the tech companies’ sites.

Q&A: Canadian minister on standing up to Google and Meta, and saving local news

Pablo Rodriguez, Minister of Canadian Heritage, has advice for other countries considering policies to save local journalism. “I would say just do it,” he said. “I think everyone understands the importance of local journalism, and I think people care.”

California bill to make tech platforms pay for journalism delayed to 2024

A proposal to make online platforms like Meta and Google pay news outlets for linking to their content will be delayed until 2024, the bill’s author announced Friday. 

Who pays the price for the news media's essential political role?

"On the face of it, the issue is money. In what has been seen in Canada as a profit-driven industry, the purpose of the (Online News Act), in concept at least, is to somehow return ad revenue tech companies swiped from Canadian news businesses. But to many who study the purpose and function of news in Canada, that focus is too narrow." — Don Pittis, CBC News

California’s social media news bill could reshape online landscape

A bill before state lawmakers that supporters say could dramatically alter the economics of California journalism had its beginnings more than 8,000 miles away.

Canadian government to stop ads on Facebook, but sees path to settle dispute

OTTAWA, July 5 (Reuters) - The Canadian government will stop buying ads on Facebook and Instagram amid a dispute over a new law on paying online news publishers that the Meta-owned (META.O) platforms have opposed, Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez said on Wednesday.

Global reaction to Google and Meta threat to take down news in Canada

The following is a joint statement from the Danish Media Association, Digital Content Next, the Estonian Association of Newsmedia Enterprises, the European Newspaper Publishers’ Association, …

Quebecor to pull ads from Facebook, Instagram after news access halted

Telecom and media firm Quebecor said on Wednesday it will pull its ads from Facebook and Instagram following Meta Platforms' decision to stop access to news on both social media platforms in Canada …
Opinion

Column: California and Canada absolutely must call Google’s and Facebook’s bluff on news

In June, Canada passed a law that will require major tech platforms such as Google and Facebook to pay a small fee when they host news on their platforms, to compensate the journalistic outlets that …

Google set to remove news links in Canada over online news law

Meta made a similar announcement last week, saying that it will remove news from its social media platforms Facebook and Instagram before the law comes into force. It is also ending existing deals with local publishers.

Opinion | Free Press roundup: Canada fallout, another try for press shield law

Facebook parent Meta is following through on threats to block news from its platforms in Canada, for now at least. The company threatened to block news if Canada passed a law requiring tech giants to fairly compensate news publishers for online content. It did this temporarily in Australia in 2021 when a similar law was being finalized.

Canada’s Online News Act may let Meta and Google decide the winners and losers in the media industry

An Australian research team that wanted to understand how Google and Meta were able to have such different responses to the Australian code examined policy documents and interviewed news media executives about their experience of negotiating with the platforms. The author of this article says: "What we found wasn’t all good news for journalism."

If the U.S. wants to boost journalism, it should learn from Canada’s mistakes

A new report from the University of North Carolina’s Center on Technology Policy — Rescuing Local News Through Tax Credits: A review of policy in the U.S. and Canada — looks at where the Canadians succeeded, where the policies fell short of their intention to boost quality journalism, and where the U.S. might improve upon the proposals.

Explainer: Why are Facebook and Instagram ending news access in Canada?

Both Meta and Google  had warned they would  withdraw access  to news articles on their platforms in Canada if the legislation is passed into law without amendments.

Congress, before tackling AI, save local journalism

"The tech industry’s shiny new thing, artificial intelligence, is suddenly an urgent priority in Congress. ... But before going too deep into tomorrow’s tech, perhaps they ought to handle unfinished business with today’s. Namely, addressing severe harm to the news industry that’s resulted from their laissez faire approach to Big Tech over the last two decades." — Brier Dudley, The Seattle Times

Canada will require Google and Meta to pay media outlets for news under bill set to become law

Canada’s Senate on Thursday passed a bill that will require Google and Meta to pay media outlets for news content that they share or otherwise repurpose on their platforms.

Gannett files federal lawsuit against Google

Gannett Co., Inc., today filed a federal lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York against Google for monopolization of advertising technology markets and deceptive commercial practices. The lawsuit seeks to restore competition in the digital advertising marketplace and end Google’s monopoly, which will encourage investment in newsrooms and news content throughout the country.

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