Congress addresses the local news crisis

Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI), chair of the subcommittee, introduced legislation Wednesday that would allow news publishers and broadcasters to bargain as a group with Google and Facebook for linking to their content. The Journalism Competition and Preservation Act, or JPCA, also would give a four-year exemption from antitrust rules so news organizations large and small can work together.

Schleuss said he supports the new bill but would like to see more news worker job protections.

“Google and Facebook benefit from the stories produced by journalists and they use the traffic they get to sell ads, capturing a majority of the digital ad revenue,” Schleuss said. “The companies should pay their fair share when benefiting from the sharing of news content.”

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