• by Ray Schultz , Columnist, September 19, 2024

Journalism is in a crisis, with news deserts spreading around the world. But the confusing, often conflicting legislation to halt this decline may not help, judging by Enabling a Sustainable News Environment: A Framework for Media Finance Legislation,” a report by the Center for News, Technology and Innovation (CNTI). 

“Revenue streams are crucial for journalistic reporting to thrive, and these legislative efforts recognize the importance of journalism to functioning societies, which is good to see,” says Amy Mitchell, executive director for CNTI. “At the same time, a sustainable news ecosystem requires broader thinking.” 

CNTI reviewed 23 legislative proposals in more than 30 countries, grouping them into seven legislative and financing models:

- Ancillary Copyright around Content
- Required Negotiation with Businesses
- Local Usage Fee around Link Distribution
- Platform Support for News Organizations
- Government Tax Credits
- Third-Party Government Grants
- Hazard Tax by Government upon Platforms

But there are serious questions about these efforts. 

“Many pieces of legislation are proposed as temporary or triage measures to save journalism,” the paper says. “As such, they can lack a holistic understanding of what the legislation (individually or overall) means for the flow of news information and how it should be managed long-term. This may pose problems should pieces of legislation become renewed without reflection.“

The report offers these criticisms:

First, there is the issue of appropriate commission. “These policies presume a specific threshold for appropriate compensation but disagree on where that threshold lies, creating challenges due to the variety of ways digital content is accessed and shared,” the report states. 

Moreover, “some policies raise concerns about journalistic independence from government and technology,” it continues.  

And, public service legislation “does not fully consider how the public stays informed and the kinds of journalism it values.”

They mean well, but good faith efforts can only take you so far.