The article discusses the recent agreement between Google and the state of California to fund journalism. Here are some key points:
Background: The Los Angeles Times, one of the largest metro daily newspapers in the US, cut 20% of its newsroom staff in January, one of the largest cuts in the paper’s 142-year history.
Decline of Journalism: Many factors have contributed to the decline of journalism, including slow-growing ad budgets, inflation, and changes in consumer behavior. People are increasingly getting their news from social media, which has reduced publisher traffic and led to a loss of advertising revenue for broadcasters.
Big Tech’s Role: Big Tech companies like Google and Meta have captured an increasing share of ad dollars at the expense of publishers. Approximately 60% of global ad spend is now funneled towards Big Tech companies.
Google’s Past Behavior: In opposition to efforts to fund journalism through fees levied on their platforms, Google has historically played hardball. The company threatened to block news websites from some California users’ search results in 2021 and shut down Google News in Spain after the country passed a law that allowed publishers to charge for aggregation of their content.
Google’s New Approach: In this case, Google has made arrangements with publishers through its program launched in 2020 called Google News Showcase. The company claims it’s committed over $1 billion to journalism since 2020 and has around 180 publications in the program.
California’s Efforts: California had been trying to pass a bill that would have required tech companies like Google to pay fees for using news content on their platforms. However, Google resisted this effort and instead negotiated with publishers directly through its Google News Showcase program.
Overall, the article suggests that while Big Tech companies like Google have historically resisted efforts to fund journalism, they are now making attempts to address the issue through programs like Google News Showcase.
