Overview

• California Governor Gavin Newsom reduced the state's first-year contribution to the Civic Media Fund from $30 million to $10 million due to a $12 billion budget deficit.
• Google matched the state's reduction, cutting its initial pledge from $15 million to $10 million for the first year of the program.
• The California Civic Media Fund, administered by the State Library, aims to support local journalism, with oversight from a publisher advisory board to allocate resources effectively.
• The original agreement between Google and California envisioned a five-year, $125 million commitment to sustain local news, but the first-year funding now falls short of those expectations.
• Google has stated it may contribute additional funds in the future if the initiative secures private or philanthropic donations to supplement the reduced budget.