Thread by @BGrueskin

A lot of folks in my TL are busily badmouthing the #JCPA, the legislation stalled in Congress that would force Google and FB to pay news orgs.

I have a few thoughts, and also a request.

First, the request: Do some reporting. 1/

Australia has a similar system, called the Media Bargaining Code. I spent a few months there researching it and spoke to more than 20 news managers, at companies ranging from News Corp to the Guardian to small weeklies.

Only 2 were negative. cjr.org/business_of_ne… 2/

Most of them praised the Code for enabling them to expand staff or avoid layoffs. I checked in with a few of them last month, and they hadn't budged. They want it to continue.

Now, there are problems with the code -- opacity, tangled negotiations, FB's unaddressed pullback. 3/

There are also problems with the JCPA: It could allow some pink-slime sites to get funds. It sets up bizarre negotiating rules. It does provide more transparency than Australia, but some companies will still likely use the money for something other than journalism 4/

But this comes at a time when local journalism is getting hammered. We can blast CEOs' and hedge funds' avarice all we want, but many for-profit news orgs, even those with ethical, committed owners, are in a bad way. This bill would provide them some breathing room. 5/

And in a few weeks, who takes over the House Judiciary Cmte, which would have to OK antitrust provisions that make this bill possible?

Jim Jordan. He dislikes the JCPA.

The new House speaker isn't a fan, either.

Meanwhile, the Senate version has Klobuchar and Cruz signed on 6/

You can argue the bill might be unfair to FB and Google - though the economics of that need to be studied more deeply. And in another universe, we'd have a better system, one that provides enduring support for journalism in an impartial way.

That's not happening anytime soon7/

Meanwhile, our democracy is in deep trouble, in no small part because local journalism is in deep trouble. We've had years of blue-ribbon panels and platform payola and 501c3s to reverse the tide, but the market forces are too strong. 8/

And this is an excellent point from my colleague, @emilybell. Journalists who oppose #JCPA would do well to disclose the funding they get from companies that also oppose it.

https://twitter.com/emilybell/status/1600549256041201664?s=20&t=C44bfqlRwcMDcsFZY8NeDA

9/

This @lhfang piece on the lobbying over the #JCPA is excellent -- and once again shows the value of actual, you know, reporting. theintercept.com/2022/12/07/goo…