The California Senate passed a bill on Thursday that would fund $500 million in local journalism jobs a year. SB 1327 was introduced by Senator Steve Glazer and would impose a data-mining fee on Big Tech to fund the jobs, clearing a two-thirds majority needed to advance in the California legislature. This vote came one day after the Senate Judiciary Committee passed the California Journalism Preservation Act with a 9-2 vote.
The NewsGuild-CWA, Media Guild of the West (TNG-CWA Local 39213) and Pacific Media Workers Guild (TNG-CWA Local 39521) are supporters of Senator Glazer’s bill and the California Journalism Preservation Act, having worked alongside Senator Glazer and Assembly Member Buffy Wick’s team to make several improvements to the bills that would benefit union journalism jobs and protect local news access across the state.
“It’s not every week that a legislative body in the United States prioritizes passing not one but two important bills to protect local journalism jobs,” said NewsGuild-CWA President Jon Schleuss. “It’s a strong indicator to me that Californians and the officials elected to represent them understand the critical role that journalists play in our communities and our democracy. We must protect local journalism and the brave working journalists who bring us the news.”