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Another complicated Washington effort to support local news | The Free Press Initiative

Senate Bill 5400 aims to support roughly 150 local news outlets by taxing tech giants to raise more than $20 million annually, yet a new report urges legislators to radically alter the bill, potentially weakening guardrails preventing government influence.
Funded by Press Forward, the report proposes giving officials leeway to choose which outlets to support, a shift WSNA members argue would undermine objective criteria needed to prevent political bias in government funding.
Finken likened the proposal to President Donald Trump deciding which outlets access the White House based on coverage preferences, emphasizing that legislation must feature "clear, objective provisions that lawmakers from both sides of the aisle can support."
Report author Anika Anand previously worked for LION, a nonprofit that received Meta and Google funding and opposed similar legislation; the report also calls for funding non-journalism organizations, alarming local advocates.
California and Oregon previously faced uncertainty when LION opposed similar legislation, though California eventually passed a taxpayer-funded bill on Wednesday; Australia and Canada have implemented laws requiring platforms to fairly compensate publishers despite tech opposition.

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