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The
measure would allow news broadcasters and publishers with fewer
than 1,500 full-time workers to jointly negotiate ad rates --
many of which face financial struggles. One of the biggest of
the companies placing online ads for advertisers is Google.
News organizations have complained for years they are not
sufficiently compensated for readers that their content
attracts.
The bill was also introduced in the last Congress but failed to
become law.
The bill was introduced by Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar,
chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee's antitrust
subcommittee, along with Senator John Kennedy, a Republican.
The News/Media Alliance, a media trade association, praised the
bill it says will protect and sustain local journalism.
"Emerging technologies such as AI are making it even more clear
the need for compensation when content creators may soon see
even less return than what they receive today," the group said.
Google did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for
comment on the proposal.
Previously, Google said that its ad revenue and licensing fees
provides needed revenue to news organizations, and that its
search engine sends readers to publishers' websites billions of
times per month.
While in December, Facebook parent Meta Platforms threatened to
remove news if Congress had approved the journalism competition
measure.
Other co-sponsors include Democratic Senators Dick Durbin,
Richard Blumenthal, Sheldon Whitehouse, Joe Manchin and Cory
Booker along with Republican Senators Steve Daines, Bill
Cassidy, Lindsey Graham, Susan Collins, Cynthia Lummis, and
Roger Wicker.
(Reporting by Diane Bartz; additional reporting by David
Shepardson; Editing by Aurora Ellis)
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