News outlet owners, journalists and coalitions of organizations that have come together to support the nation’s most important journalism legislation to date were still in scramble mode this week, even as supermajorities in the California Legislature passed the Community NEWS Act, authored by Assemblymember Chris Ward (D-San Diego).
This historic legislation, which would provide meaningful support for the free press and the public’s right to know at the local level, is on the verge of becoming law. California news outlets, journalists, and advocates for civil liberties and government transparency are holding their breath as they wait for Gov. Gavin Newsom to sign Assembly Bill 2222 into law.
Estimates indicate the law would direct more than $40 million a year to California local news outlets, including print, broadcast and digital operations, regardless of whether they operate under a for-profit or nonprofit business model.
The funding would be distributed through tax credits based on the number of journalists each outlet employs.
The structure is designed to serve smaller newsrooms first, as they would receive $20,000 per full-time journalist. That amount would decrease to $15,000 per journalist for newsrooms with more than five, and with additional funding available for new hires.
We are one step away from making sustainable local news a reality. However, concern over the governor’s signature is well founded. Newsom has until Sept. 30 to sign the popular bill.
This moment brings the California Independent News Alliance full circle. I founded CINA in 2024 after we lost the battle over SB 1327, a similar bill introduced by former state Sen. Steve Glazer that would have been funded by Big Tech. When Big Tech, chain news and other powerful lobbies came out hard against it, Newsom refused to support the bill.
That summer, many independent news outlets fully realized our interests were not being represented by any trade association or organization. We were being picked off one by one as we watched the number of journalists decrease across our regions, and the amount of corruption and misinformation in local communities and municipal governments increase.
We joined hands in an alliance, hoping our voices would be heard and our newspapers saved.
On the surface, AB 2222 looks much like the Glazer bill. But this legislation is financed through a measure that would end corporate tax breaks for executive compensation above $1 million, aligning California’s tax rules with federal law.
The news industry is crumbling in California, and the 200 independent newspapers that remain are feeling the heat. This legislative season, CINA has been an important voice and a key connector among the huge coalition built throughout the state and nation to breathe life into our sagging industry. That coalition includes:
- Rebuild Local News
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Media Guild of the West
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SAG-AFTRA
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California Independent News Alliance
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California Broadcasters Association
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California News Publishers Association
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Pacific Media Workers Guild of The NewsGuild-CWA
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Latino Media Collaborative
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American Community Media
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California Black Media
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Institute for Nonprofit News
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Local Independent Online News Publishers
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Asian American Journalists Association of Los Angeles
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The Journalism Chairs of the Cal State University System
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News/Media Alliance
Rebuild Local News founder Steven Waldman underscored the bill’s importance in a Sept. 1 press release, saying, “If signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, a bill passed yesterday by supermajorities in the California legislature would be the most economically significant law supporting local news in the country, possibly in American history.”
Glazer worked shoulder to shoulder with media partners to pass the bill. He was a unifying force, staying focused on our shared goal of protecting Californians’ right to know.
The lesson learned in the news industry since 2024 is, as Glazer said that year, to “stop fighting to see who will be the last ship off the Death Star” and work together for the good of the people we serve.
I trust Newsom will do the right thing and follow the lead of the Legislature, whose members represent the people and communities they come from. He must sign this bill and build in permanent support for the only industry protected by the Constitution of the United States.
