Newsom proposes slashing funding to California newsrooms by $20 million citing budget issues

Gov. Gavin Newsom projected slashing backing by 67% for a pioneering woody with Google to enactment struggling California newsrooms, citing fiscal pressures that person promoted wider fund cuts.

California newsrooms had expected to person $30 cardinal from the authorities arsenic portion of a woody brokered past twelvemonth successful which Google and the authorities would jointly lend wealth implicit 5 years to enactment section newsrooms done a News Transformation Fund. The authorities Dept. of Finance confirmed Wednesday that California, instead, volition wage retired $10 cardinal for the 2025-26 fiscal year.

"The sole crushed for the simplification is much limited/fewer resources than projected successful the January budget," Dept. of Finance spokesperson H.D. Palmer said.

Newsom announced Wednesday that the authorities is facing an further $12-billion fund shortfall adjacent year. The revised $321.9-billion program volition besides see a simplification successful healthcare for low-income undocumented immigrants and a chopped successful overtime hours for prime authorities employees.

Read more: California faces an further $12-billion fund deficit, Newsom says

The woody was calved retired of negotiations that began with a projected backing measure authored by Assemblymember Buffy Wicks (D-Oakland), known arsenic the California Journalism Preservation Act. It would person required Google to wage into a money annually that would person distributed millions to California quality outlets based connected the fig of journalists they employ. The California News Publishers Assn., of which the Los Angeles Times is simply a member, backed the larger effort.

It was designed to assistance newspapers that person seen their finances illness successful caller years, leaving less journalists to screen institutions and communities.

The connection was modeled after a Canadian bill that has Google paying about $74 cardinal per year. Google fought the bill, arguing its transition would unit the institution to region California quality from its platform, frankincense restricting entree for Californians.

Instead, the authorities and Google agreed successful August to supply astir $250 cardinal to newsrooms implicit 5 years, starting successful 2025, with backing slated for 2 projects.

Read more: Deal reached successful feud betwixt California quality outlets and Google: $250 cardinal to enactment journalism but nary caller law

The 2nd inaugural was a $68 cardinal pledge for Google to money artificial quality successful the signifier of a National AI Accelerator. The AI backing constituent of the woody drew crisp rebukes from Democratic lawmakers and journalists.

California had pledged $30 cardinal successful 2025 and $10 cardinal each of the adjacent 4 years. Google agreed to an archetypal outgo of $15 cardinal successful 2025 and $55 cardinal successful full into the journalism fund. Google besides agreed to boost its ain journalism programs with a abstracted $50 cardinal grant.

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This communicative primitively appeared successful Los Angeles Times.