The Oregon Journalism Protection Act, introduced by State Senator Khanh Pham, moves forward to a markup committee ahead of a final vote on the Oregon Senate floor. The bill aims to protect Oregon’s journalism sectors and is supported by several organizations, including the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association, Oregon Public Broadcasting, and the Oregon Society of Professional Journalists.
During a hearing, Hoang emphasized the vital role of working journalists in providing content on platforms like Google. Hoang stated, “When there are fewer journalists, there’s less reliable information that Oregonians can access.” Concerns were raised about digital platforms’ response to the bill and similar proposals in other states. “It speaks volumes that these gigantic digital platforms are responding to this bill… by threatening to censor and take away news content from their sites,” Hoang remarked. He critiqued these actions as a refusal to appropriately compensate news outlets and journalists.
The legislation mirrors national efforts such as the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act. The NewsGuild-CWA expressed conditional support for related legislative initiatives that mandate 70% of new revenue to bolster newsroom jobs.
The Pacific Northwest Newspaper Guild, under the umbrella of The NewsGuild-CWA, advocates for over 400 workers across 18 media workplaces in Washington, Oregon, Alaska, and Idaho.
Read the written testimony.
