SACRAMENTO, California — California state Assemblywoman Buffy Wicks announced a $250 million deal to ostensibly save the ethnic press Aug. 27 evening at the annual EMS/California Black Media Expo and Awards fest.
The deal is a public/private partnership between Google and the state of California. It allows the giant tech company — and other companies who may participate in the future — to avoid paying a share of ad revenue derived from ad links on digital news web sites. The Wall Street Journal and other mainstream news organizations have dubbed the deal “disastrous.”
’Breakthrough Partnership’
But Wicks defended the deal in her evening remarks to newspersons attending the two-day Expo. “This partnership represents a commitment to preserving a free and vibrant press,” she said, adding: “This is just the beginning.” Wicks expressed her hope that other social media companies and search engines would follow Google’s lead.
The funds would be allocated to qualifying newsrooms by UC Berkeley’s Journalism School.
“California is home to the largest concentration of multilingual news outlets serving immigrant and ethnic communities in the US,” said Sandy Close, executive director of Ethnic Media Services, in a statement released last week. ”This breakthrough public/private partnership to support local journalism brings welcome recognition of the ethnic media sector’s indispensable role in connecting these diverse communities to each other and to the wider public realm,” she said.
Tony Thurmond
The first day of the Expo featured several key California state decision makers, including California State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond and California Attorney General Rob Bonta.
In his luncheon keynote address, Thurmond said literacy was the key to reducing the state’s incarceration rate. “If a child can’t read by the time they are in third grade, there’s a good chance they’re going to drop out of school.”
Thurmond said he also hopes to ban cell phones in classrooms; he noted that the amount of time children currently spend scrolling through social media has negative mental health impacts. The former state legislator also proposed building 30 units of small housing on each school site around the state, potentially creating 2.3 million new homes in California, which is facing an acute housing shortage. “Kids need homes,” he said.
Rob Bonta
In a panel discussion moderated by Larry Lee, president and publisher of the Sacramento Observer, Attorney General Bonta said his office had created a number of measures to combat hate crimes in California. In 2023, law enforcement agencies around the state reported 1,970 hate crimes.
Bonta said his office provided guidance to law enforcement officers on how to identify and prioritize hate crimes. The AG’s office has also encouraged prosecutors to maintain a hate crimes unit, as well as a community response and awareness team.
Bonta also spoke about the state’s housing crisis. California has put in place many measures to quickly shore up supplies of affordable housing, but many cities are not participating, he said. “We never want to sue anyone, but if you’re breaking the law, we will enforce it,” said Bonta.
The Attorney General also focused on homelessness and the increased supply of fentanyl coming into the state. He noted that the raw components come in from China and into Mexico. The manufactured product makes its way across the border and into cities via the I-5. Increased patrolling at the border and vigilance on the highway could keep fentanyl out of the state, said Bonta.
Homelessness and drug abuse must be handled with compassion, he said, adding: “Societies must be judged by how we treat our most vulnerable.”
Communications Champions
Several individuals were honored with a “Communications Champions Award” for their work in government agencies, business, communications, academia, and the nonprofit and philanthropic sectors to promote ethnic media. Honorees included:
- Maricela Rodriguez, senior adviser for civic engagement at Governor Gavin Newsom’s office;
- Jon Christensen, adjunct assistant professor at the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability at UCLA
- Imara Canady, national director of community engagement at the AIDS Health Foundation
- Fiona Chan, marketing and communications principal at PG&E
- David Littlefield, public affairs manager at the California Wellness Foundation
- Debra Nakatomi, president and CEO of Nakatomi PR
- Tracy Arnold, assistant director at the Department of Health Care Services.
Two afternoon panels discussed the rise of hate in the state and solutions to combat the crisis. Another afternoon panel focused on the rising spread of misinformation via artificial intelligence.
