Latest news with #SenateBill686
Yahoo
02-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
David vs. Goliath: Oregon bill offers lifeline for journalism — and Democracy
The Oregonian/Oregonlive co-authored this op-ed with the Lake Oswego Review, The Chronicle in Springfield and The Columbia Gorge News, with the endorsement of the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association and several dozen news organizations from across the state. Have you ever worked on a group project and then had someone else take full credit for your contributions? It's fundamentally unfair, isn't it? And for Oregon news organizations, the pain is felt in the pocketbook. Newspapers are businesses, and everyone knows our revenue model has changed radically as readers migrated to Big Tech platforms online. But Google and Facebook have used our work to fuel their growth, without compensating us. In an era where information is abundant but trust is scarce, local journalism remains one of the last bastions of accountability, transparency, and civic connection. Yet, across Oregon, newsrooms are shrinking, reporters are vanishing, and communities are losing access to the reliable information they need to make informed decisions. Senate Bill 686 offers a bold and necessary first step towards a solution. This legislation would require dominant tech platforms — like Google and Meta — to compensate Oregon news organizations for using the content they scrape from our websites to drive traffic and profits. These platforms have used local reporting to generate significant profits for years, yet they return little to nothing to the journalists and publishers who produce it. SB686 would help correct that imbalance. This is not a tax. It's not a subsidy. It's compensation for value taken in the form of direct payment to news organizations using formal arbitration or a research-backed fund to set benchmarks. Platforms scrape and summarize journalism, keeping users on their sites and siphoning away the revenue that once supported local reporting, and this problem has only gotten worse with the advent of artificial intelligence. The result? Fewer reporters, fewer investigations, and fewer watchdogs in our communities. SB686 is modeled after other successful efforts. It ensures that 90% of the funds collected go directly to publishers, with the remaining 10% supporting innovation and equity in Oregon's media ecosystem. It's a plan that supports both large and small outlets, urban and rural, print and digital. And it creates a platform for additional investment in reporting across the entire state. Critics claim this bill threatens free speech or innovation. But legal experts — including a former Oregon Supreme Court justice — have affirmed its constitutionality. And innovation doesn't mean exploitation. It's time for Big Tech to innovate responsibly and pay fairly. Now, Big Tech is launching a fear campaign, threatening to throttle information in retaliation. This bill has broad support from journalists, publishers, labor unions, broadcasters, academics, and civic leaders — including Governor Tina Kotek. At the end of the day, this isn't just about journalism. It's about democracy. When local news disappears, civic engagement declines, corruption increases, and polarization deepens. SB686 is a chance to reverse that trend — to invest in the infrastructure of truth, trust, and community. Typically fiercely competitive, news organizations around the state have united in support of this bill to publish this editorial. We urge all Oregonians to contact their state legislators to voice their support for SB686. Let's stand up for local news, for fair play, and for a future where every Oregonian has access to the information they need to thrive. Not sure who your legislator is? Check here: News organizations that endorsed this letter: 47, Argus Observer (Ontario), Beaverton Valley Times/Tigard-Tualatin Times, Bend Bulletin, Canby Herald-Pioneer, Cannon Beach Gazette, Central Oregonian (Prineville), The Chronicle (Springfield), Columbia Gorge News, Cottage Grove Sentinel, Curry Coastal Pilot (Brookings), The Daily Astorian, East Oregonian, Estacada News, Eugene Register Guard, Forest Grove News-Times, Grants Pass Daily Courier, Herald and News, Hillsboro Tribune, The Gresham Outlook, Lake Oswego Review, Lakeview Examiner, Lincoln City Leader, The Madras Pioneer, The Newberg Graphic, The New Era (Sweet Home), The News-Register (McMinnville), The News-Review (Roseburg), North Coast Citizen, Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association, The Oregonian, Polk Co. Itemizer Observer (Dallas), Redmond Spokesman, Rogue Valley Times (Medford), The Sandy Post, South County Spotlight (Scappoose), Seaside Signal, Siuslaw News (Florence), Tillamook Headllight Herald, West Linn Tidings, Wilsonville Spokesman, Woodburn Independent, The World (Coos Bay). This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Oregon SB 686 would require Big Tech to pay for news
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Doing more good: why Oregon needs to rebuild its civic information infrastructure
A bill now advancing through Oregon's legislature has catalyzed a critical conversation about the future of journalism, an industry advocate says. (Julia Shumway/Oregon Capital Chronicle) Oregon stands at a pivotal moment in reimagining how we sustain local news and strengthen our civic life. Senate Bill 686, now advancing through the legislature, has catalyzed a critical conversation about the future of journalism, democracy, and public trust. Some have expressed concern about Senate Bill 686, which would require dominant tech platforms like Google and Meta to fairly compensate local news outlets for the content that helps make their platforms useful. The worry is that if the bill passes, companies like Meta could follow through on threats to block news links, potentially cutting off a significant channel for audience reach at a time when many outlets are already struggling. Rather than debate whether tech giants should be protected from public policy because they might retaliate, let's focus on what this framing overlooks: it narrows our collective vision for what Oregon's news and civic information ecosystem could become. It's not enough to avoid harm, not when communities across our nation already suffer from a lack of trusted, accessible information. This is a moment to do more good. Our 'Oregon Local News and Information Ecosystem' report lays out a vision for how we get there, through a collaborative, cross-sector model supported by what we call the 'three-legged stool:' public, private, and philanthropic sectors all working together. To do more good, we must recognize journalism not as a struggling industry, but as vital civic infrastructure. Just as roads and broadband connect people physically, journalism connects people socially and politically, helping them navigate crises, understand public policy, and participate in civic life. Oregon's civic information infrastructure is under strain. Newsroom closures, shrinking coverage in rural areas, and underinvestment in BIPOC and ethnic media have left many without access to essential information. Rebuilding it to a standard that The Civic Information Index outlines means acting across all three sectors. The public sector has a unique responsibility to rebalance the market and protect civic infrastructure, and SB 686 is Oregon's boldest attempt yet. The bill, introduced by Sen. Khanh Pham, requires dominant digital platforms like Google and Meta to compensate Oregon journalism outlets directly, intended to increase the number of journalists covering the state and contribute to an independent Oregon Civic Information Consortium, modeled after New Jersey's. That nonprofit body would then distribute grants to strengthen local news and civic information initiatives across the state, with specific provisions ensuring micro and startup publications and media projects in underserved communities, rural areas and ethnic media outlets are included. While some critics worry about unintended consequences, SB 686 is built with flexibility and equity. It has attracted national attention, spurred bipartisan dialogue, and inspired complementary ideas like consumer news tax credits. However, structural change of this kind requires bold public leadership through the lens of Oregon, where public media plays a significant role and hedge fund-owned outlets are less dominant than in other states. Inaction would let the current inequities and information gaps deepen further. The private sector, especially tech companies, has an outsized role in shaping information flows. Google and Meta heavily determine what news is seen, shared, or monetized, and have benefited from local journalism without proportionate reinvestment. When faced with legislation like SB 686, they've threatened to block news links, as Meta has already done in Canada. Yet in both Canada and California, Google has agreed to multi-million dollar settlements to support journalism through collective funding models. In Canada, it now contributes to the Canadian Journalism Collective, a consortium of 140+ outlets, under the country's Online News Act. These models show that when guided by clear policy and public pressure, even dominant platforms can participate in rebuilding civic infrastructure. While the tech giant's support of the news industry through its Google News Initiative is commendable, its growing influence on how news is distributed deserves scrutiny. AI-powered search summaries rely heavily on high-quality journalism but often bypass the original sources, reducing referral traffic and undermining publishers' sustainability. Tech companies must fairly compensate the journalists whose work powers these tools. Philanthropy forms the third leg of the stool, uniquely positioned to fund innovation, center equity, and reach places where market and policy solutions can't. At the Agora Journalism Center, we've advocated for creating a Press Forward Oregon Local Chapter, modeled after the national campaign to revitalize local news: Press Forward. A coordinated state-level initiative would offer regional foundations and grant-making bodies ways to align efforts, pool resources, and fund community-rooted solutions. Local funders already support health, education, the arts, and climate resilience, all of which depend on an informed public. The opportunity is to see civic information as part of that essential infrastructure. That means sustaining those serving local communities' information health and investing in what's possible, especially in communities long excluded from traditional coverage. Doing more good requires collective leadership. No one sector can fix Oregon's civic information crisis alone, but together, they can build something stronger, more inclusive, and more sustainable. This isn't about saving legacy institutions for nostalgia's sake. It's about rebuilding trust, re-centering local voices, and helping communities face everything from natural disasters to housing and mental health challenges with the information they need. The Agora Journalism Center and the broad and diverse supporters of SB 686 are ready to help make that vision real. The stool is ready to be built. The question is whether we will step up, not just to avoid harm, but to do more good for every Oregonian. Note: Oregon Capital Chronicle Editor Julia Shumway is board treasurer of the Greater Oregon Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, which supports the bill referenced in this column. She did not participate in the editing of this item. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Sourcing the news: Oregon bill opens discussion about paying for journalism
Oregon's media landscape continues to change, and not for the better. (Getty Images) No easy or obvious solution will resolve one of the top and less-acknowledged crises in America, the collapse of local and regional news reporting. Whether Oregon Senate Bill 686 passes or fails, it should at least open a discussion about improving the ability of Oregonians to get the information they need to govern themselves. The problem is obscured a little by the fact that most news outlets in the state haven't disappeared completely, and a few new ones (the Oregon Capital Chronicle, for one example) have arisen. Good journalism is still being done in the state, but much less comprehensively than two or three decades ago. But the newsgathering capacity is a sliver of what it was at the century's turn, the number of journalists in newsrooms way down. Broadcasters have seen serious cutbacks too. There's little coverage now of local city councils, county commissions, school boards and more. Local angles on the work of legislators and state and federal officials is nearly gone. The larger picture is of a balloon, once full, but now with its air mostly having run out. This would be only a business problem except that it means we're not getting the information about our government, our politics, our society, our problems and our successes as we did not long ago. That gap, and the rise of misinformation to massive levels, has become one of our great national crises. Enter SB 686, which intends to at least provide some help. It is not a totally new idea, being a variation on similar attempts in other places (California and Canada for two), to direct public assistance toward civic journalism. The operating idea comes from one of the (many) reasons for journalism's economic collapse, the use of locally-created news reports with little or no compensation in online media platforms — think here of Google and Facebook, with others as well. The idea is to force those platforms, which have been swimming in profits in recent years, to help pay for production of local news either through fees to the organizations, or by way of arbitration, or a contribution to a new Oregon Civic Information Consortium. The bill, which at this writing seems to be progressing steadily through the legislature, has understandably drawn lots of testimony. Critics, including the social media platforms, have raised legal questions about it, and the tech giants have suggested that Oregon news reports might be restricted or even banned on places like Facebook or Google. Other questions include how much money might be involved, and exactly how it would be spent. ($122 million has been one estimate noted, but that's not at all definitive.) Less discussed: What results Oregon news consumers might see, provided the bill passes and survives legal challenges. If any of the big platforms — from Facebook to Google — did decide to block Oregon news, that might send most Oregon news readers elsewhere, and maybe back in larger numbers to Oregon news sites. Many of Oregon's newspapers and broadcasters have highly active websites that could become a boon for those companies with an additional readership push. A shift away from the mega-platforms also might reshuffle access to news. National news has had aggregate sites like Drudge or Memeorandum for years, and many people have used them. Oregon has some lesser-known aggregators too, such as the right-leaning Oregon Watchdog, and these might become more popular, or a new generation of them might be developed. Suppose the platforms agreed to pay up? That's a realistic prospect; California and Canada, after launching legislative efforts that loosely resemble Oregon's, have extracted money from them for journalism. The platforms are understandably concerned about similar initiatives in 50 states and beyond, but the reality is they can easily afford it. How much good would it do? In some cases, newsrooms might be beefed up somewhat, and in other places where newsgathering has collapsed, it might be reinvigorated, at least somewhat. The upside looks good, and the downside risk doesn't seem large. Consider a small city in a small county whose newspaper has disappeared or has hardly any remaining presence. If two journalists were hired, with money for training and support, that could make a lot of difference, resulting in significant coverage of the area. The remaining questions would involve how to get people to check it out. Note: Oregon Capital Chronicle Editor Julia Shumway is board treasurer of the Greater Oregon Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, which supports the bill referenced in this column. She did not participate in the editing of this item.
