UC Berkeley Backs Out Of Google Journalism Funding Arrangement

The deal for Google to fund journalism in California has been tripped up, at least temporarily. 

The University of California, Berkeley has backed out of hosting a News Transformation Fund that would be supported by $125 million from Google.

The UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism sent a letter stating that “the UC Berkeley cannot serve as a passthrough for funds from Google and the state,” says a spokesperson for Rep. Buffy Wicks (D), told NPR. “However, the letter does express an interest in other potential ways for us to work together, and there have been continuing conversations with members of the journalism school in recent months.”

It was not clear at deadline if other institutions would step up to house the News Transformation Fund. 

Last August, California reached an agreement with Google that would provide funding to newsrooms and create an AI accelerator while avoiding a showdown with Google and other firms. 

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Wicks is the author of AB 866, a bill that would have forced tech giants to compensate publishers for using their content, but that apparently became moot when the August agreement was signed.  

The arrangement was to provide nearly $250 million in public and private funding over the next five years, with the majority of this going to newsrooms. 

As part of the agreement, publishers were to benefit from the News Transformation Fund.

In addition, they could explore AI through a National AI Innovation Accelerator, to be run with a private nonprofit. 

 

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