- California will become the first U.S. state to set aside millions of dollars from taxpayer money and tech companies to help pay for journalism and artificial intelligence research under a new deal announced Wednesday.
- Under the first-of-its-kind agreement in the nation, the state and the tech company will jointly pay about $250 million over five years to support the California-based news organisation.
OUR TAKE
The news industry has been rapidly disappearing as traditional media companies struggle to make a profit in the digital age.This attempt by California has gone some way to stop the loss of journalism, and as an example, other states can try various ways to aid in the growth of journalism.
— Iydia Ding, BTW reporter
What happened
California will become the first state in the U.S. to set aside millions of dollars from taxpayer money and tech companies to help pay for journalism and artificial intelligence research under a new agreement announced Wednesday.
Under the first-of-its-kind agreement in the country, the state and tech companies will jointly pay about $250 million over five years to support California-based news organisations and create an artificial intelligence research programme. The programmes will launch in 2025 and raise $100 million in the first year, with most of the money going to news organisations, said Democratic Assemblyman Buffy Wicks, who brokered the deal.
California governor Gavin Newsom said in a statement, “This agreement represents a major breakthrough in ensuring the survival of newsrooms and strengthening local journalism in California – leveraging the vast resources of the tech industry without imposing new taxes on Californians. “This deal not only provides funding to support hundreds of new journalists, but it will help rebuild a strong and vibrant California news team for years to come, reinforcing journalism’s vital role in our democracy.”
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Why it’s important
California has lost more than 100 news organisations over the past decade, according to Weeks’ office, and the deal effectively marks the end of a year-long fight between the tech giant and lawmakers. The bill is modelled on a piece of Canadian legislation aimed at providing financial help to local news organisations, and a statement said the partnership represents a cross-sectoral commitment to supporting a free and vibrant press, enabling local news organisations across the state and up and down the country to continue their essential work, and that this is just the beginning.
California has tried different ways to stem the loss of journalism, which has been rapidly disappearing as traditional media companies struggle to turn a profit in the digital age. More than 2,500 newspapers have closed in the U.S. since 2005, according to Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism.
Wednesday’s agreement was backed by the California News Publishers Association, which represents more than 700 news organisations, Google parent company Alphabet and OpenAI. But journalists, including the Media Guild of the West, slammed the deal and said it would hurt news outlets in California.
