Newsom signs bill to subsidize local news, citing Trump’s attacks on the press – San Francisco Chronicle

Newsom signs bill to subsidize local news, citing Trump’s attacks on the press  San Francisco Chronicle

SACRAMENTO — Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a new law Wednesday that will give tax breaks to news organizations. The new law will create refundable tax credits for news organizations of between $7,500 and $20,000 for each local journalist they employ. It will apply to print, digital and broadcast outlets. The law he signed has serious flaws, he said, including that the money will also benefit news organizations owned by hedge funds and billionaires. But he said President Donald Trump’s attacks on the media convinced him he needed to sign. “I could have vetoed it,” he said. “But at this moment of anxiety and stress and everything that Donald Trump’s trying to do, I couldn’t do that.” Newsom’s decision comes as Trump is trying to ban reporters from MS NOW, CNN and Politico from the White House, though that effort has been temporarily blocked by a federal judge.

This summer, the Trump administration tried to subpoena reporters from the New York Times to reveal information about confidential sources, though the Department of Justice withdrew them after a federal judge said he would block them. The tax credits come at a dire moment for the news industry, which has been in financial decline for decades. Nearly 40% of local U.S. newspapers have ceased publication in the past 20 years, according to the