A state bill with bipartisan support that aimed to throw a lifeline to California’s struggling news industry is no more.
In place of the proposed “journalism usage fee” levied on Google and Meta annually to help fund local newsrooms, state officials announced a nearly $250-million public-private partnership wherein Google would pay a fraction of what they might have owed under the proposed law.
The agreement would also put state taxpayers on the hook for tens of millions. Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, is not part of the deal and state lawmakers are not currently pursuing one with them.
