WASHINGTON—Tomorrow, Sen. Amy Klobuchar will again try to use the U.S. Senate Judiciary markup process without a hearing to push through her bill to establish a government-endorsed media cartel that will undermine news and views which counter or question government-preferred media narratives.
The so-called Journalism Competition and Preservation Act (JCPA) diminishes competition by providing an antitrust exemption for politically well-connected news media companies. It will allow government bureaucrats to dictate who is and is not an approved source of news.
“Americans have more sources of news and views than ever before—because of the internet. But the JCPA props up government-endorsed media companies at the expense of a diverse and competitive news landscape,” said NetChoice Vice President & General Counsel Carl Szabo. “The JCPA also undermines the independence of news outlets by providing politicians’ preferred news outlets with government privileges, undermining the First Amendment. This will increase the government’s ability to pressure the media on editorial decisions. In essence, you can’t have independent journalism if journalists are dependent on government handouts.”
If passed, the JCPA will:
- Allow Congress to decide who is and is not a “journalist”, degrading the First Amendment;
- Provide an antitrust exemption for politically well-connected news media companies and allow them to collude with one another;
- Diminish competition in news and views by consolidating power in the hands of a few media conglomerates.
- Make it more difficult and costly to get and share information from smaller, local and diverse news sources; and
- Further undermine the independence, public trust and integrity of the media.
You can find a one pager on JCPA here and more information here.JCPA has been opposed by several organizations and leaders across the political spectrum, including Public Knowledge, Electronic Frontier Foundation, the LA Times, Breitbart, Speaker Kevin McCarthy, Rep. Jim Jordan, and Sens. Blackburn, Cotton, and Rubio. Sen. Rand Paul, who was originally a co-sponsor in 2022, later pulled his support of the bill.
Please contact press@netchoice.org with inquiries.