California and Google’s small $250 million editorial funding deal called ‘disastrous’ by critics

A controversial deal between Google and California lawmakers to fund local newsrooms has drawn scathing comments from critics with a key journalists’ union slamming the deal as a shakeup that would be disastrous for the industry.

Billed as a first-in-the-nation partnership to help publishers with money and save jobs, the deal allows Google and other Big Tech firms to escape legislation meant to fix the problem, such as a bill that would require them to pay a portion of advertising revenue to the media.

The deal sparked outrage from West Media Sports and state Democrats, who argued that a trade group of local news publishers, California Assemblywoman Buffy Wicks, Gov. Gavin Newsom and others who brokered the deal had left Google and allies his to leave.

California journalists and news workers oppose this disastrous deal with Google and condemn the news executives who accepted it on our behalf, The Media Guild of the West said in a statement.

Publishers who claim to represent our industry are celebrating a shady deal involving taxpayer funds, an obscure AI accelerator project that could very well destroy journalism jobs, and minimal financial commitments from Google to return the fortunes that this monopoly stole from our newsrooms, the union. added.

The deal includes nearly $250 million in funding over five years with $110 million coming from Google, $70 million from state taxpayers and the final $70 million from private donors to fund a so-called nonprofit AI accelerator to develop tools for newsrooms, Politico reported.

Newsom described the agreement as a major step forward in ensuring the survival of newsrooms, while Wicks said it represents a cross-sector commitment to support a free and vibrant press.

The California News Publishers Association said the agreement is a first step toward what we hope will become a comprehensive program to support local news over the long term, and we will strive to see it grow in the coming years.

Some California Democrats broke ranks to criticize the partnership. State Sen. Steve Glazer described Google’s offer as completely inappropriate and said it seriously undermines our work toward a long-term solution.

Glazer noted that Meta, which last year threatened to remove news articles for Facebook and Instagram users from California if the legislation passed, was not included in the deal.

Elsewhere, State Senate President Pro Tempore Mike McGuire highlighted concerns that the proposal lacks sufficient funding for local newspapers and media and does not fully address the inequities facing the industry.

Wicks’ press release announcing the partnership refers to parent Google Alphabet and OpenAI as participants. The extent of OpenAI’s involvement was not immediately clear.

Meta and OpenAI did not immediately return requests for comment.

This public-private partnership builds on our long history of working with journalism and the local news ecosystem in our home state while developing a national center of excellence in AI policy, Alphabet president of global affairs Kent said in a statement. Walker.

Google had aggressively lobbied against state legislation aimed at providing compensation to publishers at one point going so far as to block some California news links within its search engine.

The company earned $307 billion from digital advertising last year alone. Earlier this month, a federal judge ruled that Google is a monopolist that illegally dominates the Internet search market.

The News Media Alliance, a nonprofit organization that represents more than 2,200 publishers, including The Post, said the agreement reinforces the need for federal legislation and possible court remedies to address this broken market.

Google is a dominant monopoly that reaps significant revenue from aggregating and repackaging quality news content, depriving publishers of the opportunity to monetize their content and reinvest in journalists, the CEO of the News Media Alliance said in a statement. , Danielle Coffey.