NewsPub - Illinois bill would force Big Tech to compensate local news outlets

CJL director Dr. Courtney Radsch’s testimony before the Canadian parliament was cited in an article on the Journal Preservation Act introduced in Illinois.

The article cites Dr. Radsch as saying Google and Meta blocked access to news on their platforms during the legislative processes in Australia and Canada, claiming technical issues that were later found to be negotiation tactics. 

As private equity guts newsrooms, layoffs abound and misinformation runs rampant across social media, an Illinois bill aims to offer a targeted solution to the decades-old journalism business model.

Sen. Steve Stadelman (D-Rockford) introduced SB 3591, or the Journalism Preservation Act, in February. It would require Big Tech companies to track and compensate news organizations for the content they share, display or link to on social media platforms. 

“Local newsrooms should be compensated for their content,” Stadelman told The Daily. “If Big Tech benefits from it on their platforms, there should be some type of reimbursement, a revenue stream for that content.”

Illinois has lost over 86% of its journalists and more than a third of its newspapers since 2005, according to the Local Journalism Task Force.

Read full article here.