Media death Google pays millions to media in California

A Californian law was supposed to oblige internet companies to pay levies to regional media companies. Instead, there are now voluntary payments of millions from Google - and the state.

By agreeing to pay millions, Google has averted a law in the US state of California that was intended to require internet companies to pay levies to local media companies. The agreement will see almost 250 million dollars invested in journalism over the next five years, according to the bill's initiator, California Assemblywoman Buffy Wicks. The money is to come not only from Google, but also from the state.

The legislative initiative was modeled on laws in Canada and Australia. Regional media in the USA in particular are struggling with falling advertising revenues, while advertising dollars are migrating online - to Google and the Facebook group Meta, among others. Wicks pointed out that more than 100 newspapers have disappeared in California alone in the past decade.

According to Wicks' office, Google will pay 15 million dollars into a new fund at Berkeley University in the first year, 5 million dollars into an AI project and 10 million dollars into existing journalism programs, the newspaper "Mercury News" reported. Payments of 20 million dollars are planned for each of the next four years.

The state of California will pay 30 million dollars in the first year and 10 million dollars in each of the following years into the UC Berkeley journalism fund. It initially remained unclear what other amounts make up the total of almost 250 million dollars.