The California Democrat, who brokered a deal with Google to fund local newsrooms, has defended the controversial partnership — arguing it was the best they could deliver in tough talks with the powerful search giant.
Assemblywoman Buffy Wicks led negotiations for the nearly $250 million truce, which critics say allows Google and other Big Tech firms to escape sweeping legislation that would have forced them to share ad revenue with cash-strapped newsrooms.
Some blamed California Gov. Gavin Newsom — who has veto power over state bills — for being too cozy with Silicon Valley.
Wicks said legislation aimed at forcing Big Tech to pay its fair share faced unspecified “serious challenges” in the California state legislature — and argued that the Google deal was “about the art of the possible.”
“Ultimately, the decision was: Do we want nothing, or do we want something?” Wicks said in an interview with the Sacramento Bee. “From my perspective, a nearly quarter-billion-dollar framework was better than zero.”
Wicks himself had introduced that proposal, called the California Journalism Preservation Act. Wicks and her allies have billed the deal as a “first-in-the-nation partnership” that will help stem ongoing job losses and grow newsrooms for years to come.
Meanwhile, a prominent journalists’ union has described a “disastrous” behind-the-scenes deal.
Critics are wary of key elements, including directing funding to an obscure “AI accelerator” project – at a time when many journalists fear the technology will cause more job losses – and the fact that more than one a quarter of the overall money will come from taxpayers.
Of the total, $180 million will be put into a nonprofit organization to benefit California newsrooms, with $110 million coming from Google and $70 million from taxpayers, Wicks’ office told the Bee.
The remaining $62.5 million will come from tech firms and fund the AI accelerator project.
Critics remain unconvinced that the deal was the best outcome available.
Media Guild of the West president Matt Pearce, a former Los Angeles Times reporter who previously called the partnership a “blush,” aimed his anger at Google.
“This whole settlement is a massive get-out-of-jail-free card for a monopoly with an illegal business model,” Pearce told the Bee.
Google, which earns more than $300 billion a year in digital advertising revenue, was recently found in federal court to have an illegal monopoly over the Internet search market.
Pearce reportedly added that the union was kept at arm’s length during the negotiations and that the $250 million figure is far less than what the tech industry would owe if a portion of the ad revenue were enforced by law.
“You can’t save an industry with a policy proposal that workers in that industry strongly oppose,” added Lorena Gonzalez, head of the California Federation of Labor.
Gonzalez argued that Newsom is too “in love” with Big Tech and bears some of the responsibility.
“I think the governor has always loved technology and innovation and Silicon Valley, and I think, yes, I think he’s on the side of all those factors over blue collar workers,” Gonzalez said.
Some insiders had raised concerns that Newsom would veto the legislation even though it had passed the legislature.
Newsom’s office cited the governor’s statement on the deal, which he called “a major step forward in ensuring the survival of newsrooms and strengthening local journalism across California.”
“The agreement not only provides funding to support hundreds of young journalists, but helps rebuild a strong and dynamic press corps in California for years to come, reinforcing journalism’s vital role in our democracy,” Newsom said.
The announcement specifically made no reference to any involvement by Meta, which last year threatened to remove news articles for California Facebook and Instagram users if the legislation passed.
Meta declined to comment.
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