Document details

Enabling a Sustainable News Environment: A Framework for Media Finance Legislation

Center for News, Technology & Innovation (CNTI) (2024), 46 pp.

Contains illustrations, bibliogr. pp. 37-43

"This study examines 23 recently enacted or proposed legislative efforts from 2018 through 2024 aimed at providing revenue streams for journalism. We hope it offers a fulsome method for analyzing possible paths forward. There are two main parts of the report: Part One groups this legislation into seven models for financing journalism. The financing models are organized around legal mechanisms that range from an expanded view of copyright to direct support for news by platforms and governments: the digital interaction (“usage”) type [models 1-3]; the subsidy type [models 4-6] and the tax type (model 7). Part Two looks at how this legislation impacts other issues critical to a sustainable news ecosystem that supports functioning, free societies. We first address an implicit yet inconsistently treated concept that emerges from this legislation: appropriate compensation, if any, for various uses of (and interactions with) digital content. This includes the notion of setting legal parameters for proper compensation that goes beyond traditional definitions of copyright. We then look at how these financially-oriented legislations impact issues within other core aspects of journalism." (Pages 2-4)
Overview, 2
PART ONE: LEGAL MECHANISMS FOR JOURNALISM FINANCING, 8
Model 1: Ancillary Copyright around Content, 9
Model 2: Required Negotiation with Businesses, 11
Model 3: Local Usage Fee around Link Distribution, 13
Model 4: Platform Support for News Organizations, 15
Model 5: Government Tax Credits, 16
Model 6: Third-Party Government Grants, 18
Model 7: Hazard Tax by Government upon Platforms, 19
PART TWO: KEY ISSUES FOR A SUSTAINABLE DIGITAL NEWS ECOSYSTEM, 20
The Concept of Digital Usage in Legislation, 21
Balancing Financial Streams with Core Elements of Journalism, 27
Conclusions, 32