Oregon bill could impact local newspapers — Have your say
SALEM — Oregon lawmakers are asking for the public's input on a bill that could have big impacts on local newspapers, and tech giants like Google and Facebook.
The Oregon Journalism Protection Act would require large online platforms, such as Google, to either pay newspapers for making money off online news articles or contribute to a statewide civic media fund aimed at strengthening local news.
'When newsrooms close, Oregonians lose,' said the bill's author, Senator Khanh Pham, D-Portland. 'This bill creates a lasting solution for Oregon's local news crisis that will protect journalism jobs, spur start ups in news deserts, and better inform Oregonians. Local journalism is vital to a healthy democracy, keeping our communities connected and engaged, and holding powerful entities to account.'
Newsrooms across Oregon have faced dire financial challenges for years, as advertising revenue has shifted massively to digital platforms, especially Google and Facebook, leaving newspapers without the revenue needed to stay open.
Proponents say the bill would rebalance the online ads market and reinvest in Oregon's local journalism.
Representatives from several media outlets, including reporters and publishers from the Carpenter Media Group, attended the bill's first hearing on Wednesday.
'Local news media is the heartbeat of our small towns in Oregon,' said Senator Dick Anderson, R-Lincoln City. '…They help connect family-owned restaurants, hardware stores, and fishermen in the community where they serve. But as Big Tech swallows up all the ad dollars, these local media companies are fighting to stay afloat.'
Under the bill, platforms make direct payments to qualifying news sites and donate to a newly established Oregon Civic Information Consortium, which would issue grants to newsrooms. Platforms would also be required to publish annual transparency reports detailing which news articles they promoted and how compensation was distributed.
'I miss my local newspaper,' said Senator Sarah Gelser Blouin, D-Corvallis. 'We still have a paper that is printed, but it is just filled with words from other places, from people that don't live in the town that I live in…Our local papers are critical to civic engagement, to building community, to helping people have a sense of place, of understanding what makes their community unique, and helping them understand how they can make a difference in that community.'
Members of the public can submit written testimony until 1 p.m. on Friday.
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