Google cuts deal to avoid content payments to local newsrooms

Hello! Here’s what’s in this week’s issue:

→ Podcast: How Local Media Consortium is Supporting Local News Outlets

→ Google cuts deal to avoid content payments to local newsrooms

→ Local Media Association announces cohort for funding lab

→ Streaming service launches swing state election hub

→ AP announces content agreements with nonprofit newsrooms

🎧 Podcast: How Local Media Consortium is Supporting Local News Outlets

This week on Small Press, Big Ideas, I interviewed Fran Wills, CEO of the Local Media Consortium. The LMC negotiates deals on behalf of its members that they couldn’t get on their own with partners like Google, Facebook, Monster and more.

On the podcast we discuss how Fran has seen the local news ecosystem change in her tenure, how the LMC delivered $60 million worth of economic benefit to its members last year alone, how the partnerships that the LMC strikes benefits all parties, and a lot more!

This is a must listen for any newsroom leaders out there who are looking for a path to cutting costs with minimal resources.

Listen here: Apple Podcasts | Spotify

📰 Google cuts deal to avoid content payments to local newsrooms

A last minute, closed door agreement between Google and California lawmakers has bypassed proposed legislation that would require big tech companies to pay local newsrooms for using their content.

The two proposed bills, AB886 and SB 1327, would have required tech companies to directly compensate local newsrooms for using their content. The new deal will pay publishers $250 million over 5 years, along with the creation of an AI accelerator program.

Rebuild Local News’ Steven Waldman said: “Although there is much left to do, the deal announced today by Google, Governor Newsom and Assembly Member Buffy Wicks is a step forward and a down-payment on a strategy to revive local news in California.”

Critics have pointed out that the deal provides less support than similar arrangements such as a Google deal that payed Canadian newsrooms over $60 million for one year.

📰 Local Media Association announces cohort for funding lab

The Local Media Association has announced 17 local news organizations that will participate in the 2024 cohort of their Lab for Journalism Funding.

The news orgs will receive training and support to help them raise money to fund community service journalism.

The publishers are varied across geography, size, and media platforms. A few of the members of the cohort:

• Louisiana Illuminator

• Anchorage Daily News

• Wisconsin Watch

• Montana Free Press

📰 Streaming service launches swing state election hub

The TV streaming service Zeam has announced a new program called Swing State Election News. The new initiative, launched Tuesday, provides viewers news and updates about the election from local broadcasters in Arizona, Nevada, Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin.

According to Zeam, Swing State Election News “fills a void in the current presidential election coverage by bringing a true local lens to news coverage and longer form features of rallies, keynotes, and other moments in the places where the 2024 election is likely to be decided.”

Read more here.

📰 AP announces content agreements with nonprofit newsrooms

The Associated Press has announced content sharing agreements with three nonprofit newsrooms in an effort expand factual, nonpartisan journalism ahead of the 2024 US Presidential election.

The Maine Monitor, Deep South Today, and The Nevada Independent are the newest AP collaborations, joining other nonprofits announced earlier this year.

The publishers will be able to share AP content with their audiences, supplementing their own coverage and reaching local communities with the facts and information they need.