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 employed by each outlet. 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 greater 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 September 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.
It was that summer that 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 in hopes 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.