Editorial: Local journalism hurt by Big Tech exploitation Portsmouth Herald Quality local journalism is essential to creating an informed and engaged public and ensuring a thriving democracy. But local journalism has been a victim of Big Tech’s dominant practices for years. Google and Facebook use – and benefit from – our news content and audiences, but they don’t return value to news publishers. That’s why we’re asking Congress to support the “Journalism Competition and Preservation Act.” Over the past 14 months, local journalism has been more important than ever. From COVID-19’s devastating blows to cities and towns of all sizes, to the reignited social justice movement and the explosive 2020 U.S. presidential election and its tumultuous aftermath, people have been turning to news publishers to keep them up to date on how the changes happening around the world – and in their own backyards – affect their daily lives. News has been more in-demand than at any other time in recent history. But the local news publishers that provide this invaluable information are struggling in an online environment dominated by a few big tech platforms.