Thread by @lisahmacpherson

Called to order: “Breaking the News – Journalism, Competition, and the Effects of Market Power on a Free Press.” This hearing is held by the #SenateJudiciary Subcommittee on Competition Policy, Antitrust, and Consumer Rights. View the livestream here 👇 judiciary.senate.gov/meetings/break…

As expected, @SenAmyKlobuchar introduces #JCPA as a solution to the news crisis, but acknowledges it will need improvements to address the challenges that have been raised. Here are some of them: publicknowledge.org/can-the-journa…

Ranking Member @SenMikeLee notes that the news crisis is the result of multiple, complex factors - and that they can't be solved by accepting a cartel, or changing laws to encourage them. Further, the largest news outlets would likely be the greatest beneficiaries of #JCPA

The witnesses are introduced; several are explicitly associated with News Media Alliance, one of the primary proponents of #JCPA. Collectively, the witnesses do not exactly convey the idea of advancing diverse ownership and representation in media.

Witness Daniel Francis, @Harvard_Law reframes the debate from "monopoly" to "property rights" - news owners can't legally veto or tax linking or fair use previews of content. The #JCPA is "an attempt to expand property rights on the internet"

In response to questions from @amyklobuchar, witnesses note the "power imbalance" or lack of negotiation with digital platforms for their content (see my previous tweet about how news owners have no legal right to veto or tax linking or fair use of news content)

.@jbertetto of @TribTotalMedia describes how Google punishes news outlets for using other ad tech partners by demoting them in search results. #JCPA would do precisely nothing about this - that's another set of #BigTech bills with more direct impact on anti-competitive behavior

.@SenBlumenthal describes the role of vulture venture capital firms in consolidating and stripping news outlets, a major contributor to the crisis in local news. He supports #JCPA but asks the witnesses if it's too late (it's not, but we need a public interest approach)

Here's a post from colleague @haroldfeld about a public interest approach to the news crisis instead of the unjust enrichment approach we're hearing about today publicknowledge.org/america-needs-…

.@SenAlexPadilla asks witnesses to describe the stakes for communities when they lose local news. They're huge. We agree. And we agree the #JCPA is flawed in part because it doesn't tie benefits to job creation (see also my previous tweet about vulture venture capital firms)

That's just one flaw of #JCPA - here are the others, from a letter we joined with other advocacy groups to write. These witnesses describe how they'll hire more reporters but let's ensure they do publicknowledge.org/policy/public-…

.@SenMikeLee quotes a recent CRS report: 70% of newspapers owned by hedge funds. He wonders whether #JCPA would change their incentives (this is known as "leading the witness") & wonders why the bill can't be limited to small and local publishers to avoid the creation of cartels

In response, Francis of @harvard_law agrees the focus of any legislative solutions should be on preserving small, local news outlets

Last, @SenAmyKlobuchar says what's being reworked on #JCPA: ensuring small outlets are included & can exert appropriate level of control over the process, nondiscriminatory provisions for political viewpoints, and addition of binding arbitration to avoid impasse in negotiations.