WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Bipartisan U.S. efforts to give news outlets new tools to collectively negotiate with large tech firms collecting the bulk online advertising revenue won support on Tuesday at a U.S. House Committee hearing on the fate of local journalism.
U.S. newspapers have cut thousands of jobs as the industry’s ad revenue has fallen 65% to $16.4 billion since 2005, while companies like Alphabet Inc’s Google and Facebook Inc have seen a dramatic jump in online ad revenue.
The bill, which gives small publishers a four-year safe harbor to band together to negotiate with online platforms, won industry backing at an antitrust subcommittee hearing Tuesday.
The bill, which would exempt publishers from some antitrust rules, was introduced by the chair of the House Judiciary Committee’s subcommittee on antitrust, David Cicilline, a Democrat, and Representative Doug Collins, the top Republican on the panel.
At the hearing, Cicilline said local journalism had been pushed…
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