Group opposes legislation aimed at helping journalism industry

Ahead of the Illinois General Assembly’s hearing on the state’s proposed Journalism Preservation Act, the Computer & Communications Industry Association submitted a coalition letter opposing Senate Bill 3591.

CCIA, along with 11 civil society and industry associations, expressed concerns about the bill’s unconstitutionality, violation of the First Amendment, and conflict with the Supremacy Clause in the letter. Additionally, the legislation would impose a link tax and interfere with interstate commerce by imposing this tax on linking to out-of-state content, the letter contends.

“Illinois’ Journalism Preservation Act would establish a tax on the most basic tenets of free information sharing on the internet,” CCIA State Director Khara Boender said. “Local publications depend on links being shared on search engines and social media, and the bill’s vague language would both provide financial incentives for clickbait as well as provide funding to large out-of-state publications and media conglomerates. We urge lawmakers to resist advancing a proposal that will not only fail to achieve its goal, but would have serious negative consequences.”

The association has advocated for policies that support access to information online for more than 25 years.

Another proposed measure, the Local Journalism Act or Senate Bill 3953, would create a tax credit for certain news publishers based on the number of reporters they employ.

Under that proposal from Sen. Steve Stadelman, a Rockford Democrat, the state would offer a tax credit of up to $25,000 for each journalist on a media company’s payroll and up to $30,000 for journalists hired into newly created roles. The credit would only be available to “independently owned” media outlets — making subsidiaries of larger or publicly traded companies ineligible for the credit.

Advocates say the legislation is a way to prop up an industry that faces existential financial and logistical challenges. In 2022, the General Assembly created a task force to research the state of journalism in Illinois. Their report included research from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism that showed one-third of local outlets have closed since 2005, creating an 86% decline in newspaper jobs over that span.

• Capitol News Illinois contributed to this report.