GOOGLE PREPARES TO START PAYING SOME NEWS PUBLISHERS — Google is releasing its News Showcase product this summer in the U.S., which will pay news publishers for hosting content and includes more than 150 outlets, 90 percent of which are local or regional. Google’s rollout comes as talks on bills like the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act heat up.

— Where bills stand: The Journalism Competition and Preservation Act would require online platforms to negotiate with and pay news publishers, and allow outlets to coordinate with each other in collectively negotiating payment terms with tech companies. The JCPA was scheduled for a markup during Thursday’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, but was held over.

The tech industry has pushed back against the JCPA, arguing it could force companies to carry misinformation or harmful content, and disproportionately benefit larger media companies, rather than local outlets.

Google didn’t comment on whether the U.S. rollout was in response to the JCPA.

— New JCPA brief: Speaking of the JCPA, the American Economic Liberties Project, a nonprofit that works to promote antitrust policy, this morning published a policy brief on the bill.

The brief, shared exclusively with MT, breaks down the common misconceptions and criticisms of the bill. The nonprofit also includes recommendations, such as clarifying its nondiscrimination provisions (which critics argue could force platforms to carry extreme or harmful content).

“To the degree that this would address existing criticism, the bill could explicitly state that the nondiscrimination provisions apply only in the context of the negotiations or arbitrations outlined by the JCPA, and that the platforms would not be required to display or pay for any content as long as they do not access and profit from it,” the brief states.

The nonprofit also argues JCPA could be improved by requiring a certain percentage of funding received under the negotiated terms to be used to pay for journalism.

“The JCPA currently states that spending on journalism, and journalist employment, ‘shall be used to guide 65 percent of the distribution of remuneration among the members of [a] joint negotiation entity,’” the brief states. “This percentage only guides how the funding is allocated among journalism providers,” adding JCPA “could be improved by requiring that a similar percentage of the funding brought in by the JCPA be spent on journalists.”

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