Newspapers, TV stations and other news outlets that have seen their revenue siphoned away by online platforms could get an assist from Congress under legislation that a House panel will begin considering on Friday.
If passed, the legislation would grant news organizations a four-year exemption from antitrust laws to band together to negotiate compensation from online platforms that use their content, including Facebook Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google.
Supporters include the News Media Alliance, an industry trade group that includes News Corp , publisher of The Wall Street Journal.
The bill could also be a bellwether for other measures moving through Congress targeting the market power of big technology companies, which are also under fire from the Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission.
Backers have been pushing the legislation to help news organizations for several years, but haven’t been able to win enough support, especially among Republicans.
