"Google's $100M News Deal: A Small Price to Save Local News and Avoid Regulation"
The controversial link tax, which would require platforms like Google and Facebook to pay news publishers for displaying their links, may be losing traction in North America as the Canadian government and Google reach an agreement exempting the tech giant from the Online News Act. The focus should now shift to how legislation can support local news and pay more local journalists. The fate of California's proposed link tax, the California Journalism Preservation Act (CPJA), will be discussed in a hearing next week, and its outcome could impact the local news landscape across the US. Publishers argue that losing Google and Facebook as traffic sources would devastate the industry, emphasizing the need for a sustainable publishing industry online. The key metric that should be prioritized is how much original local news reporting can be added, and any legislation or agreement should increase trustworthy local news.
