Overview

• California and Google have each pledged $10 million for the first year of the California Civic Media Fund, down from initial commitments of $30 million and $15 million respectively.
• The fund will be overseen by the California State Library with input from a board of publisher representatives to ensure fair distribution of resources.
• Google has committed to matching additional public or private donations and will continue its existing support for newsrooms through the Google News Initiative.
• An AI innovation accelerator is included in the initiative to develop tools aimed at enhancing newsroom operations and media sustainability.
• The partnership follows legislative efforts to mandate tech platform payments to news publishers, with the fund seen as a compromise to support the struggling local news industry.