Black News Outlets Hopeful For Proper Compensation With New California Pro-Journalism Bill

Black news outlets could receive a hefty sum from social media giants using their content.

The California Journalism Preservation Act aims to help support local, small, and ethnic news publishers in the state.

The bill, also known as AB-886 was passed on June 2, 2023, and says platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram should pay news outlets for circulating their content. According to NPR, about 70% of the collected money would help create newsroom jobs and support staff—which has dwindled in the past 10 years the bill says.

Assembly woman Buffy Wicks (D-Oakland) shared that she created AB-886 to protect free speech. Wicks reasoned with the Assembly, “Free press is in our constitution, and it is at risk right now. That is what this bill is about,” per the Los Angeles Sentinel. The bill states that, “enabling publishers to receive fair market value for their content used by others will preserve and ensure the sustainability of local and diverse news outlets.”

AB-886 also addresses the importance of African Americans telling their story and argues in favor of Black news outlets saying they should be “justly compensated” for what they produce. The bill mentions Samuel Cornish, African American journalist and abolitionist, and his 1827 preamble, “We Wish to Plead Our Own Cause.” “This call to action spurred the establishment of numerous Black-owned newspapers and publications, solidifying the role of the Black press as a powerful tool for empowerment and social change, and laid the groundwork in our country for other ethnic media to plead their own cause.”

However, an analysis estimated that giants like Fox News would benefit the most from the bill. The analysis estimated that 844 times more money would go to news giants than Black news outlets in California.

In May 2023, Facebook and Instagram said they would remove news from their platforms if the bill was passed. The Los Angeles Sentinel reported a spokesman for Meta said, “If the Journalism Preservation Act passes, we will be forced to remove news from Facebook and Instagram, rather than pay into a slush fund that primarily benefits big, out-of-state media companies under the guise of aiding California publishers.” Meta owns Facebook and Instagram.

A Pew Research study found 53% of Americans get their news from social “at least sometimes.” One third (36%) get their news from Facebook.