As Executive Vice President and General Counsel for the News Media Alliance, Danielle Coffey leads the advocacy efforts for the NMA's over 2000 news and magazine publishing members worldwide.
2022 was a busy year for Coffey as the U.S. Congress held committee meetings to consider passage of the well-publicized “Journalism Competition and Preservation Act” (JCPA), introduced in the House (H.R. 1735) by Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI) and Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO), and in the Senate (S. 673) by Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA). If made into law, this legislation, greatly supported by the news publishing industry, would allow news publishers to collectively negotiate with “big tech” platforms like Google and Facebook for fair compensation for using the news content these publishers generate.
The NMA has been promoting a number of cogent arguments as to why the JCPA is necessary to help local news publishers maintain sustainable business models. These "talking points" include:
In mid-December of 2022, it looked like the JCPA might pass into law as an attachment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), a necessary bill designed to keep the military funded. However, the legislation was "erased" from the NDAA at the last minute.
Then as a final attempt to help the JCPA become law before the end of the 177th Congress, legislators attempted to attach it to the controversial $1.7 trillion omnibus spending bill. However, last-minute lobbying from consumer, trade and civil society advocates like the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU); Free Press Action; the Center for Democracy & Technology; and Local Independent Online News Publishers (LION) deluged Congressional leaders with last-minute media that argued against the bill, stating that the JCPA included nothing to guarantee that the monies ultimately paid to news publishers (through negotiation or arbitration) would be used to pay or hire journalists. Their messaging also suggested that the JCPA would favor large media conglomerates, which might “dominate negotiations,” disenfranchising smaller, independent outlets.
In this 169th episode of E&P Reports," we go one-on-one with Danielle Coffey, Executive Vice President and General Counsel for the News Media Alliance (NMA), to gain her perspective on what really happened in 2022 to the nearly passed Journalism Competition and Preservation Act” (JCPA). She'll also address why this controversial legislation, designed to allow news publishers to collectively negotiate with “big tech” platforms like Google and Facebook for fair compensation for their use of the news content they monetize, failed to become the law of the land. Coffey also reviews the next steps the NMA will take to keep this legislation alive and the possible future of other content pending compensation models like publisher tax credits and several pending antitrust suits currently being filed by local media companies.
197 Insights into maximizing digital ad revenue — one-on-one with Brock Berry.
196 One-on-one with News Media Canada's Paul Deegan as their country's battle with Big Tech heats up.`
195 Borrell’s latest survey: Ad spend to rise with newspapers hanging in there
194 A quick audit of the top issues facing Danielle Coffey, now 3-weeks in as the new CEO of the News/Media Alliance
193 Gannett CEO Mike Reed on Google antitrust lawsuit
192 One-on-one with Peter Bhatia, CEO of the new nonprofit, free-access Houston Landing
191 NewsGuild President Jon Schleuss on TNG-CWA’s “most active year” of strikes and walkouts
190 One-on-one with the outspoken Evan Brandt, the last reporter left at The Mercury
189 Ballantine enters a Gannett “ghost paper” town, starting a five-day-a-week free, printed tabloid
188 The NPPA’s Mickey Osterreicher. Helping both the police & journalists understand the 1st Amendment.
187 The new MaineJF: Fighting to keep Maine news media pristine and hedge-fund free.
186 A one-on-one with Trust Project CEO Sally Lehrman
185 Guy Tasaka’s takeaways for news publishers from the NAB
184 Philanthropy and local journalism, as seen through the eyes of the giving community
183 Covering multiple major stories simultaneously. One month in the life of the Nashville Tennessean
182 Exploring Ogdensburg, NY’s two years as a 'news desert' and how the community rallied to bring back its voice
181 The Charleston Post and Courier: Committed to statewide coverage one market at a time
180 Two embedded journalists are making an impact thanks to the JFP
179 Six diverse news disrupters band together to create the Alliance for Sustainable Local News
178 Small-town citizens share support for the saving of their newspaper.
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