California’s news industry is shrinking while misinformation spreads. Here’s what the numbers tell us
8 months, 1 week ago

California’s news industry is shrinking while misinformation spreads. Here’s what the numbers tell us

LA Times  

As the world turned digital, people were quick to drop their Sunday papers and pick up their smartphones for news. The share of Americans using social media for news increased from 27% in 2013 to 48% in 2024, according to the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism’s Digital News Report 2024. Sunday circulation for some of the largest newspapers in California, including the Los Angeles Times, Orange County Register and San Diego Union-Tribune, has dropped at least 30% since 2015. “Jobs are shrinking, and local coverage is disappearing.” The San Francisco Bay area saw the largest drop in journalism employment per 1,000 jobs in the state since 2009, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data. “I’m surprised there’s not more.” As social media and search engines dominate the advertising business that once fueled the journalism industry, many California news outlets that have stuck to old business models are watching money go down the drain, Kahn said.

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History of this topic

AI? New jobs? California’s local news deal with Google leaves lots of unanswered questions
6 months, 1 week ago

AI? New jobs? California’s local news deal with Google leaves lots of unanswered questions

LA Times  

A woman walks by the Above the Fold newsstand on Thursday in Los Angeles. “It was very hard to pass this legislation in Google’s backyard,” said Julie Makinen, chair of the California News Publishers Assn., the bill’s lead sponsor. California Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, said: “My goal was to get resources into the hands of publications as quickly as we could, …

Editorial: Can California save local news? The future of community, democracy is at stake
8 months ago

Editorial: Can California save local news? The future of community, democracy is at stake

LA Times  

An empty news rack that used to sell Spanish-language newspaper Excelsior remains on Bristol Street in Santa Ana. And while there have been online startups, public media and philanthropic- and university-backed news organizations doing important local reporting, those outlets have also struggled in an information ecosystem that is controlled by major tech platforms. Among the most promising proposals is the …

California is trying to force Big Tech to pay for news. What can we learn from Australia and Canada?
8 months, 1 week ago

California is trying to force Big Tech to pay for news. What can we learn from Australia and Canada?

LA Times  

A man carries a copy of the Sydney Morning Herald in 2012. If the News Media Bargaining Code became law, Google Australia Managing Director Mel Silva said in a Senate hearing, the company would have “no real choice” but to stop making Google Search available in Australia. Rod Sims, an economist and former chair of the Australian Competition and Consumer …

Will Google strike a deal with California news outlets to fund journalism?
9 months ago

Will Google strike a deal with California news outlets to fund journalism?

LA Times  

Google would have to pay California news outlets under legislation being considered in Sacramento. California news publishers and Big Tech companies appear to be inching toward compromise on a controversial bill that would require Google and huge social media platforms to pay news outlets for the articles they distribute. However, he said, the demise of journalism harms democracy: “Thus, we …

Many California voters get their info from social media, even if they don’t trust it, poll shows
9 months, 1 week ago

Many California voters get their info from social media, even if they don’t trust it, poll shows

LA Times  

In California, where a ballot often contains pages of candidates and initiatives, most voters rely on the state-provided guide for election information, a new poll has found. But with so much at stake, Californians UC Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies found that 58% of voters turn to the official voter guides, 40% to newspapers or magazines, 39% to search engines …

Column: News business needs help in California. Is government the answer?
10 months, 1 week ago

Column: News business needs help in California. Is government the answer?

LA Times  

Ink specialist David Oma works at the Los Angeles Times Olympic printing plant in February. There’s state legislation brewing that would force the largest internet platforms — like Google — to kick in money to help save journalism. Basically, the big internet platforms gobble up news outlets’ products and work without paying for it and build their own ad programs …

Editorial: Google’s hardball tactics against California news outlets show why it should be regulated
11 months, 1 week ago

Editorial: Google’s hardball tactics against California news outlets show why it should be regulated

LA Times  

Whatever happened to Google’s “Don’t be evil” motto? The latest example is a campaign in California to demonstrate just how easily the company could crush news outlets if state lawmakers dare to pass a law requiring that tech companies, such as Google, share advertising revenue with the journalists who produce much of the content on their platforms. Specifically, Google could …

California commits to teaching ‘media literacy’ in public classrooms
1 year, 4 months ago

California commits to teaching ‘media literacy’ in public classrooms

LA Times  

Beginning next year, California’s public school students will be required to take media literacy courses that will help them identify fake news posted online while also being able to tell the difference between legitimate news articles and paid advertising. The law was necessitated by young people’s growing reliance on the internet and social media platforms, such as TikTok, Instagram and …

California bill requiring Big Tech to pay for news placed on hold until 2024
1 year, 8 months ago

California bill requiring Big Tech to pay for news placed on hold until 2024

LA Times  

Assemblywoman Buffy Wicks speaks at a news conference at the Capitol in Sacramento in 2022. Wicks’ bill that would require digital advertising giants such as Facebook and Google to pay news outlets a “journalism usage fee” has been put on hold until 2024. A California bill that would force tech companies such as Facebook and Google to pay publishers for …

California bill requiring Big Tech to pay for news gains momentum
1 year, 9 months ago

California bill requiring Big Tech to pay for news gains momentum

Associated Press  

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A California bill that would force Big Tech companies to pay media outlets for posting and using their news content cleared another critical hurdle Thursday. The California Labor Federation joined in supporting the bill Thursday, saying the bill would protect journalism jobs by “leveling the playing field between publishers and social media websites.” Meta, which owns Facebook …

California bill advances, requiring Big Tech to pay for news
1 year, 10 months ago

California bill advances, requiring Big Tech to pay for news

The Independent  

Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. The bill, which cleared an important Assembly Judiciary Committee hearing Tuesday with bipartisan support, …

California bill advances, requiring Big Tech to pay for news
1 year, 10 months ago

California bill advances, requiring Big Tech to pay for news

Associated Press  

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Big Tech companies such as Google and Meta might soon have to pay media outlets for posting and using their news content under a proposed California measure attempting to save local journalism. Supporters of the bill said it would provide a “lifeline” to local news organizations that have seen their advertising revenues nosedive in the digital era. …

California bill would force Big Tech to pay for news content
2 years ago

California bill would force Big Tech to pay for news content

LA Times  

Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, shown in January, introduced a bill Monday that, if approved, would mandate that digital advertising giants pay news outlets a “journalism usage fee” when they sell advertising alongside new stories. The California Journalism Competition and Preservation Act, announced by Assemblymember Buffy Wicks on Monday, if approved, would direct digital advertising giants to pay news outlets a “journalism …

California becomes first state to make firms disclose social media policies
2 years, 6 months ago

California becomes first state to make firms disclose social media policies

LA Times  

Assemblyman Jesse Gabriel outlines his proposed measure to require that social media companies make public their policies for removing problem content and give detailed accounts of how and when they remove it. California will impose first-of-its-kind requirements on social media companies to publish their policies for removing disturbing content including hate speech, with details on how and when they remove …

Column: It is not just Trump. Blame California social media companies for D.C. riot too
4 years, 2 months ago

Column: It is not just Trump. Blame California social media companies for D.C. riot too

LA Times  

A pro-Trump crowd gathers Wednesday on the steps of the Capitol, where a mob stormed the building and halted a joint session of Congress. President Trump and his Republican enablers are at the top of the list, but several California social media companies aren’t too far behind them. Remember when former President Obama warned Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg that fake …

Australia takes on Facebook, Google in potential boost for media
4 years, 11 months ago

Australia takes on Facebook, Google in potential boost for media

Al Jazeera  

Media outlets back government decision to make tech giants pay for content, but some warn of unexpected consequences. “The Australian government has realised that voluntary codes don’t work when there is a bargaining power imbalance,” said Marcus Strom, president of the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance, a trade union of media professionals that has been calling for a levy on …

States try to combat election interference as Washington deadlocks
5 years, 6 months ago

States try to combat election interference as Washington deadlocks

LA Times  

With the White House and Congress paralyzed over how — or even whether — to act on intelligence agency warnings about foreign interference in U.S. elections, Maryland opted to take matters into its own hands. Three years after a presidential campaign in which foreign operatives used social media platforms to mislead and manipulate voters, the nation still can’t figure out …

Newspapers endure more cuts, hope for brighter future online
6 years, 8 months ago

Newspapers endure more cuts, hope for brighter future online

Associated Press  

U.S. newspapers are battered and broken, and this week’s layoffs at the New York Daily News serve as the latest blow. The remaining staff, the company said, will focus on breaking news involving “crime, civil justice and public responsibility.” The Pulitzer Prize-winning tabloid has been a fixture in New York for the last century. Jere Hester, news director at the …

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