A coalition of California colleges including San Jose State University could manage a landmark investment by Google and the state to fund local newsrooms.
The director of San Jose State’s journalism school signed onto an informal proposal submitted last month by department leaders across several other CSU campuses. The idea could place the Cal State University system — the nation’s largest four-year public university system of 23 schools — at the helm of the $125 million fund under the partnership between Google and state lawmakers. It’s unclear when money will start disbursing and how those decisions will be made. The Cal State faculty submitted their ideas after they were contacted by the state.
While some educators behind the pitch say they aren’t interested in being a philanthropic prop for a tech giant driving local newsroom decline through online content aggregation, all feel strongly about how to use the money. Their ideas could be a game-changer for independent media serving ethnic communities and addressing news deserts across the state.
“We have an opportunity to ensure that funds are distributed in an equitable way that’s going to be a benefit to the general public and to local and community media,” John Delacruz, director of SJSU’s School of Journalism and Mass Communications, told San José Spotlight. “On a global level, there’s a lot of clamping down on what is said and what is heard — and how all of that arrives on a consumer’s screen. For me it’s really important that the truth is told and communicated to everyone.”
It’s unclear how receptive the tech giant and state will be to the informal proposal. UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism was initially picked to host the investment program — a move that blindsided faculty. The school pulled out in January, voicing concern it would only serve as a “pass-through” for the funds with no ability to determine how they’re allocated. Those decisions are planned to fall on a seven-member board that hasn’t been formed yet.
“Of course, our journalism chairs had the same concern,” Julie Patel Liss, head of Cal State Los Angeles’ journalism faculty who led the charge in drafting the informal proposal, told San José Spotlight. “But it’s our job as journalism academics to stem the flow of misinformation and ensure newsrooms are supported. That’s not just our job but the university’s mission — to serve the public. This kind of a program would be very much in line with what we want to do. On top of that, so many of our alumni are working at these small nonprofit ethnic newsrooms.”
Patel Liss and other educators are keeping tight-lipped about their specific ideas, as they’re informal and need input from stakeholders and newsrooms.
Jesse Garnier, chair of San Francisco State University’s journalism department who helped draft the informal proposal, doubts other institutions could have as meaningful an impact as the CSUs’ regional campuses with tight community connections.
“We believe our campuses have knowledge and expertise to share and expand these funds rather than just checking off someone’s box at Google that they did something good,” Garnier told San José Spotlight. “We have thoughts on how to maximize that money in ways where it’s decentralized, regionalized and tailored to individual communities and isn’t just one monolithic institution throwing bread out of a window.”
Google’s partnership with the state has been mired in controversy, after the company’s lobbyists de-limbed previous proposed legislation from Assemblymember Buffy Wicks (D-Oakland) that would have forced portions of its advertising revenue to newsrooms. Instead, the compromise between the company and state commits $125 million to journalism programs over five years, starting this year. Google will pay $55 million and the state will pay $70 million.
Garnier said it remains to be seen whether the CSU campuses’ pitch will resonate with the tech giant and state lawmakers.
“When I see $125 million sitting around there looking for someone to figure out how to spend it — yeah, we have ideas,” he said. “We made a serious proposal with seriously innovative ideas that I have not seen before.”
Contact Brandon Pho at [email protected] or @brandonphooo on X.
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