SB 1327 – (Glazer) Tax Credit to Support Local Journalism: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd75Ml2OzHREwu_C-bjuLpziKYFOw5BdeFCf54pZEtotYF1rQ/viewform

Senator Glazer’s SB 1327 has passed the Senate with a super-majority vote and is now on its way to the California Assembly in the next few weeks. The bill aims to establish a fee for the largest tech companies for the personal data they acquire, exchange, and use for targeting digital advertising services. This fee is expected to generate around $500 million for local news organizations in the state. The majority of this funding will be designated for an employment subsidy based on the number of journalists employed by newsrooms and their salaries. It will also encompass a portion of freelance spending in the benefit calculations. Rebuild Local News is mobilizing support for the bill ahead of its upcoming hearings in the Assembly. Would you consider signing a letter of support for this initiative?

As local newsrooms, journalism unions, local journalism funders, small businesses, and civic groups, we all recognize the essential value of trustworthy local news that meets the needs of our community. We commend Sen. Glazer’s SB 1327, which proposes the creation of a local news employment subsidy to significantly enhance the ability of newsrooms across the state to report on our communities.

 SB 1327 includes strong incentives for hiring and retaining journalists. The bill offers benefits for the journalism sector, with a focus on the needs of small- and medium-sized news outlets. It also considers freelance spending in newsrooms’ benefit calculations, which is particularly important for small outlets that often rely on regular freelancers as they expand. Furthermore, SB 1327 acknowledges the value of various community news outlets across the state, providing support for both for-profit newsrooms and nonprofits.

Dedicated local journalists serve many communities, but their newsrooms are often up against stiff economic challenges. California has lost an astounding 68% of journalists since 2004, as well as 25 percent of our newspapers. Total news circulation has dropped more than 50 percent. Meanwhile, most Americans still say local news is important to the well-being of their community. Research shows that the contraction of local news leads to less civic engagement, more corruption, higher taxes, and more polarization. Strong local news is as much a public good as our schools, libraries, and hospitals, and it is also integral to the success of all those institutions.

SB 1327 will be transformative to the local news sector in California, supporting legacy newsrooms, startup digital outlets, and broadcast and public radio alike. Importantly, the proposed subsidy maintains strong guardrails, ensuring that only credible local news outlets will benefit.  The bill ensures that no one in the government will be able to pick winners and losers, all while being comfortably compatible with the First Amendment.

There will be more legislative debate about the mechanism for funding the program, it is appropriate for large tech firms to have a role in supporting the future of the local press.  Urge lawmakers to move SB13127 forward. It will dramatically revive access to local news and civic information and strengthen California’s communities.

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