California and Google have reached a revised agreement to support local news outlets, with a commitment of $10 million for the new California Civic Media Fund, significantly lower than the initially promised amount. Last August, Google and the state had agreed to contribute $15 million for the first year, but the state’s ongoing $12 billion budget deficit prompted Governor Gavin Newsom to propose reducing the state’s share of the fund from $30 million to $10 million.
The California State Library will administer the fund, which aims to improve community news coverage across the state. This fund is expected to attract additional donations from philanthropic sources to bolster local journalism, as advocates continue to express concerns over the decline of news outlets in California, which have lost approximately one-third of their newspapers since 2005.
Assemblymember Buffy Wicks highlighted the importance of collaboration among government, philanthropy, and the tech industry to sustain local journalism. Google Vice President Jaffer Zaidi reaffirmed the company’s commitment to the agreement, stating that future contributions could increase if private donations to the fund also rise.
While the current arrangement represents a compromise in the face of significant budget challenges, it has drawn criticism for being inadequate compared to prior legislative efforts that aimed to secure more substantial funding for local journalism. Nonetheless, the hope remains that this initiative can serve as a vital lifeline for California’s struggling news publishers, ultimately enhancing civic engagement and combating misinformation as local journalism adapts to ongoing challenges.