Journalists across California support the California Journalism Preservation Act

Media unions representing staff and freelance journalists at commercial and nonprofit news outlets across California submitted a support letter Monday for the California Journalism Preservation Act (AB 886, Wicks) in advance of the bill’s July 11th hearing in front of the California Senate Judiciary Committee.

The CJPA would require massive tech platforms that control the digital advertising market to pay a usage fee to qualifying news outlets in exchange for profiting from our journalism, in an amount to be determined through negotiation or third-party arbitration.

“While versions of this type of platform-publisher legislation have been introduced around the world, the CJPA goes the farthest in ensuring funds actually support journalists and our work,” says the letter, which is joined by the California Labor Federation and Communications Workers of America District 9.

At least 70% of fees generated by CJPA must be spent on payroll for journalists and essential support staff. Outlets that wish to receive these funds must disclose to their employees how they plan to comply with the statute’s payroll requirements and publish an annual transparency report disclosing how the funds were actually spent, which would allow policymakers and the public to assess this legislation’s real-world impact and make adjustments as necessary.

“We are strong believers in transparency and accountability, and this bill will give journalists, policymakers and the public the tools we need to ensure that newsroom owners of all types adhere to the bill’s intent to put newsrooms before boardrooms,” the letter says.

Rank-and-file Media Guild of the West members voted unanimously to support the bill in an April 4 resolution.

Read the CJPA support letter here.

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Media Guild of the West, The NewsGuild-CWA Local 39213, was founded in 2019 and represents unionized journalists and media workers at the Los Angeles Times, Arizona Republic, Phoenix New Times, Desert Sun, Austin American-Statesman, Dallas Morning News, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, and Southern California News Group.