Google and Facebook are in the news about their impact on the news business.
The owners of the Southern California News Group are sounding the alarm over how Google and Facebook are threatening the gathering of local news.
In an editorial published this week, they say that the local news business has been struggling for well over a decade as search engines and social media have siphoned audience and revenue away from traditional publishers by redistributing the content of these publishers, without paying for it and making a lot of money from it by selling their own advertising.
The editorial points to a recent study that found that Google and Facebook owner, Meta, owe local news publishers between 12-billion and 14-billion dollars a year for the local news content they distribute on their sites.
The Google and Facebook defenders argue that local news outlets get lots of people clicking to their sites so they benefit from that.
But those in the local news business say studies show that most people who get their news doing Google searches do not click through to the local news sites.
The fear is that without legislation, such as is being considered by California lawmakers, local news gathering could dwindle to very little due to the costs.
And that would not be good for a democracy that is very dependent on citizens being well informed.
(Photo Getty Images)
Photo: Getty Images