The state of Commifornia is extorting $242.5 million from various big tech companies to fund “local journalism,” which wouldn’t need the money of it was doing its job correctly.

The left-wing legislature was pushing a law that would force big tech to pay a percentage of their advertising revenue to news organizations based on how much news organization content shows up in social media or search results. The bill is called the “California Journalism Preservation Act,” and is essentially a government mandate forcing private companies to pay off other private companies.

How that is even constitutional, is anyone’s guess.

But in exchange for dropping the bill and keeping this outrage out of law, the big tech companies have pledged to self tax to help float failed local news groups, instead of having government mandate it by law.

Per Just the News:

The new deal would see the California government pitch in $70 million and Google put up $172.5 million towards newsrooms.

“In the latest draft of the framework, there is also a provision that 12% would go to “underserved” and “local” news outlets,” wrote Steve Waldman and Anna Brugman of Rebuild Local News. “It’s a bit hard to know what that means, but based on what we’re hearing, it’s likely that means members of California’s ethnic press and outlets with fewer than five employees.”

Media Guild West, which represents California journalists, has come out in opposition to the deal.

“This isn’t regulation. It’s ratification of Google’s monopoly over our newsrooms,” wrote Media Guild West President Matt Pearce in a bulletin to his members. “News executives don’t speak for journalists.”

It’s all a total scam, regardless.

It would create government-sponsored “news.” And nobody wants that.

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