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Journalism Competition Taken Up in the Senate

Posted on Sunday, January 30, 2022 at 7:25 PM

The Senate Antitrust Subcommittee will examine the issue in a hearing next week.

Next week, the US Senate will conduct a hearing on antitrust issues facing the journalism sector, entitled “Breaking the News -- Journalism, Competition and the Effects of Market Power on a Free Press,” reports John Eggerton of Next TV. The hearing comes in advance of proposed legislation to protect publishers in an online and social publishing landscape filled with potential legal landmines. Eggerton writes that the “Journalism Competition and Preservation Act (JCPA), ... would grant publishers immunity from federal and state antitrust laws for a 48-month period while they bargain collectively with digital platforms.”

The bill is seeing bipartisan support in the Senate, cosponsored by Senators John Kennedy (R-LA) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN). The House Antitrust Subcommittee is taking up a similar bill, led by committee chair David Cicilline (D-RI), who “has argued that if the balance of power remains as it is, Big Tech’s dominance of digital advertising could be an ‘extinction-level event’ for local media.” Read more here.

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