Senate subcommittee clashes over bill to waive antitrust laws to let publishers negotiate with Google and Facebook

"A proposal aimed at giving news publishers the power to bargain with dominant tech platforms over the distribution of their content is dividing media groups, with some advocates arguing the proposed solution could actually hurt small and local outlets it aims to help," Rebecca Klar reports for The Hill. 

The Journalism Competition and Preservation Act, introduced with bipartisan support last March, would exempt publishers from antitrust laws for the sole purpose of negotiating with digital platforms such as Google and Facebook. 

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who co-sponsored the bill with John Kennedy (R-La.), said in a Senate Judiciary antitrust subcommittee meeting on Wednesday that the proposal would help local news publications survive by giving them leverage in negotiations.

But ranking member Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), along with some witnesses and advocates, said the proposal was misguided and suggested some publishers were having problems because they hadn't updated their business models to reflect modern tech issues. He also said the bill would effectively create a news "cartel," entrenching power among the largest publications and stifling competition from smaller newsrooms. That echoed a letter sent by several advocacy groups.

News-industry witnesses scoffed, but there is concern among some community newspapers. "The National Newspaper Publishers Association, a trade association of more than 200 African American-owned community newspapers, warned leading Black members of Congress that the bill “would ultimately weaken our ability to sustain our positions as pillars of the community, including our ability to collaborate with companies across industries to pioneer new programs that will help us tell our community’s stories in new and exciting ways, and create a more sustainable future for our industry.”