• by Ray Schultz , July 21, 2022

Gannett was fast out of the gate in running an ad campaign to support passage of the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act (JCPA): The company ran the ads in digital and print in all its markets on Tuesday, a spokesman says.  

Including Gannett’s, there were 150+ participating papers, reaching 7.8 million readers, according to the Media Alliance, the nonprofit group seeking to have the bill passed. They resulted in 2,000+ emails and phone calls to relevant offices on Capitol Hill. 

The act would allow news publishers and broadcasters to “band together to negotiate with digital platforms on the terms on which their news content can be accessed,” according to Sen Amy Klobochar’s website. Publishers see it as a boost to their ability to compete with Facebook and Google.  

Papers owned by Gannett ran the ads on their front pages, and many wrote editorials. However, the New Jersey Globe noted that Gannett recently told its papers to reduce opinion journalism.  

Both the digital and print ads say, “Don’t Let Big Tech Cancel Local News.”   

“These big tech companies are not friends to journalism,” Klobochar said earlier this year. “They are raking in ad dollars while taking news content, feeding it to their users, and refusing to offer fair compensation.”

USA Today led off its pro-JCPA editorial as follows:  

Did you hear about the rape – and subsequent arrest in the case – of a 10-year old Ohio girl?

Did you see the stunning failure of police – who ran away as children were being killed – in the hallway of Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas?

What about the harrowing details of Jayland Walker’s death in Akron, Ohio, where officers fired 90 or more rounds at the 25-year-old Black man?

Do you know why you’re aware of these stories?

Local journalists. Men and women who live and work in the communities they cover.