Newsom signs bill supporting local journalism, giving tax breaks to news organizations

On the final day to act on end-of-session bills, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law legislation designed to help keep beleaguered news organizations afloat.

The new law, slated to go into effect Jan. 1, will offer tax breaks to qualifying newsrooms for both full- and part-time reporters, editors, photographers and other journalists.

Newsom said he was signing the Assembly Bill 2222 — the Community Newsroom Employment and Workforce Sustainability Act, or “Community NEWS Act” — as a way to support the work of local journalists whose reporting ferrets out malfeasance and promotes good government.

He also drew a line between himself and President Donald Trump, who regularly attacks the media and has sought to limit access by news organizations he dislikes. Last month, Trump sought to bar MS NOW, CNN and Politico reporters from the White House grounds.

“While President Trump continues to attack the free press, California is supporting independent journalism,” Newsom’s office said in a statement. “By signing this bill, we are signaling the profound role journalists play to cover essential issues like local schools, city halls, courts, public safety agencies, businesses, and neighborhoods. A free press isn’t supposed to make government comfortable. It’s supposed to make government accountable.”

Authored by Assemblymembers Chris Ward, D-San Diego, and Buffy Wicks, D-Oakland, the law provides a credit of $20,000 for each of up to five full-time qualifying journalists, followed by a credit of $15,000 for additional full-time staff and $7,500 for each part-timer.

The ranks of local journalists have thinned dramatically in recent years as search engines and, lately, artificial intelligence, have usurped page views from news websites. Rounds of layoffs have also diminished coverage and left areas of news deserts.

The business model that sustained newspapers for decades — selling ads space to local businesses — has vanished. McClatchy, long one of California’s most respected chains and anchored by the Sacramento Bee, is one of the latest to undergo workforce reductions.

The independent, nonprofit newsroom of Times of San Diego is among the California news outlets that will benefit from the new law. Founded in 2014, Times of San Diego is part of NEWSWELL, a growing network of nonprofit newsrooms dedicated to their communities and made up of local journalists.

AB2222 was widely supported by journalism industry groups. The California News Publishers Association said the measure will “create refundable employment tax credits for qualifying local news organizations to help them hire and retain journalists. The goal is straightforward: put resources back into California newsrooms and support the journalists covering our communities.”

Another journalism advocacy group, the News/Media Alliance, issued a statement saying the bill will apply to the full scope of media across the state.

It “creates a common-sense model to support the sustainability of journalism in California, and its greatest strength is that it is ‘news neutral,’ covering the full, diverse scope of news media within the state,” said Danielle Coffey, CEO of the News/Media Alliance.

The measure was opposed by an array of business groups, who contend the measure will result in additional costs to taxpayers at a time when affordability is a top concern.