Will Google’s $250 million deal with California really help journalism?

California has struck a first-in-the-nation agreement that will see local government and large tech companies spend more than $250 million over the next five years to support news organizations across the state. That sort of a cash infusion would normally be cheered by the journalism industry, which has been struggling in recent years (something many publishers partially blame on Google and Meta), but any celebration is muted at best.The initiatives also include a provision that will see money steered to the development of artificial intelligence news tools, which critics say could put the industry at further risk long-term and were agreed to by legislators under pressure from Google.There’s a lot going on with this agreement. Here’s what you need to know.What will newsrooms get?Over the next five years, Google will reportedly give $110 million to journalism initiatives through a program that will be housed at the University of California, Berkeley’s journalism school. The State of California will donate $70 million to that initiative.Money will be distributed to newsrooms based on how many full-time journalists they employ.Do any other states have this sort of program?No. California is the first state in the U.S. to agree to this sort of initiative.

There was an attempt last year, on a national level, to pass a bill that would have provided “a temporary safe harbor for publishers of online content to collectively negotiate with dominant online platforms regarding the terms on which content may be distributed.” That bill languished in committee, however.Do any other countries have this sort of law?It’s important to note that, while California legislators are involved, this is not a law; though at one point, before the compromise agreement on Wednesday, the proposal was a legislative bill, sponsored by Assemblywoman Buffy Wicks.That proposal was modeled after legislation in Canada meant to help support the journalism industry. To date, though, no money has yet been disbursed in the Great White North, though experts say qualifying outlets will get more than $14,000 per journalist per year when the money starts to flow.In Australia, which attempted to force Big Tech to pay for news three years ago, Google and Facebook negotiated private agreements with major outlets to get around government oversight, which resulted in about $166 million per year being paid to newsrooms.Meta, it’s worth noting, ended its payments to news organizations earlier this year, saying in a blog post, “Global tech companies cannot solve the long-standing issues facing the news industry.”What does the AI aspect of the deal entail?$70 million in private dollars will help fund the development of a new National AI Innovation Accelerator through an as-yet-unestablished nonprofit, said Wicks. This will provide journalists, as well as those in industries including environmental matters and racial equality, with both financial resources and tools to incorporate AI into their work.Scheduled to go live in 2025, the Accelerator will be supported by both Alphabet and OpenAI. Funding for the AI initiative was not a part of the original legislative language Wicks proposed.Not addressed, and a big concern for workers in the news industry, is whether the Accelerator will include protections against AI replacing human reporters. (Several newsrooms have struck deals with AI companies in recent months to incorporate their coverage and archived stories.) Why are some in journalism unhappy about this?Several trade groups, including the Media Guild of the West, and a number of California state representatives have said this agreement doesn’t go far enough to protect independent news organizations. Several felt the deal was a capitulation to Google’s pressure on lawmakers.“Not a single organization representing journalists and news workers agreed to this undemocratic and secretive deal with one of the businesses destroying our industry,” said Media Guild of the West in a statement.

“The future of journalism should not be decided in backroom deals.”Google, in a statement to Fast Company, said the agreement was a fair one.“California lawmakers have worked with the tech and news sectors to develop a collaborative framework to accelerate AI innovation and support local and national businesses and nonprofit organizations,” said Kent Walker, president of global affairs for Alphabet. “This public-private partnership builds on our long history of working with journalism and the local news ecosystem in our home state, while developing a national center of excellence on AI policy.”Does the legislature have to approve this agreement?No, since this was an agreement instead of a bill, it won’t go before the legislation for a vote. That said, it does involve state funds, so the agreement will require a signoff by Governor Gavin Newsom. In a statement Wednesday, he indicated he would approve the spending.“This agreement represents a major breakthrough in ensuring the survival of newsrooms and bolstering local journalism across California—leveraging substantial tech industry resources without imposing new taxes on Californians,” Newsom said in a statement. “The deal not only provides funding to support hundreds of new journalists, but helps rebuild a robust and dynamic California press corps for years to come, reinforcing the vital role of journalism in our democracy.”How have tech companies reacted to news protection laws historically?Both Google and Facebook have stringently opposed legislative efforts to force them to pay for news articles they share on their sites. In 2021, both companies threatened to stop linking to news sites when Australia was working out its law.

Facebook went as far as preventing users from linking to news sites for six days.In Canada, things went even further. Meta blocked all links to news content on its platforms and has continued to do so for over a year, since the passage of the country’s Online News Act. That has been devastating for some small newsrooms. Google struck a last-minute deal with the Canadian government, agreeing to pay $73 million ($100 million Canadian) per year, inflation adjusted, in perpetuity into a fund for news companies.Did Google break the law when it limited search access to news websites for some California users?That’s unknown. Google began removing links to California-based news outlets in April and the News/Media Alliance trade group sent letters to the Department of Justice, Federal Trade Commission, and the California Attorney General to request an investigation into whether Google broke any laws in the process.The FTC and Justice Department declined to comment on the matter. The California Attorney General did not reply to Fast Company’s queries about the state of any investigation (or whether an investigation was underway at all).