PAPER PUSHERS

Newspapers Launch PAC to Fight Google, Facebook

Industry enlists its first-ever PAC to take on tech giants.

The News Media Alliance, a trade group of more than 2,000 U.S. newspapers, is launching the industry’s first-ever political action committee. The News Media Alliance PAC is being established to raise money to fight for its two biggest issues: “a safe-harbor exemption to compete against Google and Facebook and stopping Canadian newsprint tariffs,” Axios reports. Its website also states the PAC will “help elect candidates who understand the importance of public policies that facilitate production of high-quality journalism, necessary for a functional democracy.” This comes as the NMA has been vying for an antitrust pass to negotiate with Google and Facebook jointly since last year—creating a united front of media to better bargain with the digital giants.