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Google’s Journalism Deal With California Up in the Air After UC Berkeley Backs Out

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The UC Berkeley Campus in Berkeley on Aug. 17, 2023. The university’s journalism school informed Assemblymember Buffy Wicks that it cannot act as an intermediary for funds from Google and the state. (Martin do Nascimento/KQED)

California officials are looking for another school to help execute its controversial deal with Google to fund journalism in the state after the University of California, Berkeley, announced it would not host the partnership.

The deal, reached last summer, came after Google and Meta lobbied against legislation, modeled after agreements in Australia and Canada, that would have mandated that digital platforms pay publishers for using their content.

The legislation, authored by Assemblymember Buffy Wicks and approved by Gov. Gavin Newsom, promises to send $180 million to California journalism programs over five years, beginning in 2025. Of that money, $125 million was earmarked for a proposed News Transformation Fund to be housed at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism.

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However, a spokesperson for Wicks confirmed, “The journalism school did write a letter indicating that UC Berkeley cannot serve as a passthrough for funds from Google and the state. However, the letter does express an interest in other potential ways for us to work together, and there have been continuing conversations with members of the journalism school in recent months,” Erin Ivie wrote.

In the letter sent to Wicks’ office in mid-October, school officials wrote they had concerns about the fact the school would not have the power to determine how money would be allocated to newsrooms. The agreement would leave decisions up to a seven-member board that has yet to be named.

“We remain actively in conversation with Assemblymember Wicks about how our school can be helpful and about any and all efforts that can support California newsrooms,” Acting Dean Elena Conis told KQED.

A spokesperson for Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office wrote to KQED, “The Governor agreed to allocate $30 million as part of the proposed budget for this program, and we have done that,” in his 2025 budget proposal, released last week. The final budget is expected to be approved this summer.

A spokesperson for the University of Southern California — which previously indicated it was approached by state negotiators about housing the fund — told KQED that no final decision had been made.

“We were contacted about the proposal last fall. We are learning more, and no commitment has been made,” the USC spokesperson wrote in an email on Thursday.

Earlier this month, the Media Guild of the West called for an overhaul of the agreement. Union President Matt Pearce wrote that the “meager” contributions of the deal will not be enough to “correct” the market and stimulate job growth across California’s collapsing news sector.

Google did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

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