The problem is that "news" is a space where the free market doesn't really accomplish what the theory suggests it should. Consumers don't have a good way to ju

The problem is that "news" is a space where the free market doesn't really accomplish what the theory suggests it should. Consumers don't have a good way to judge the quality of a newspaper, so they end up competing solely on price. Competing solely on price means publishing what's most efficient to produce, Niche things are generally inefficient to produce, so niche reporting goes away. Goodbye local and special interest news. Regurgitated press releases and coverage of the latest Twitter drama are highly efficient to produce, so you get more of those things. Unfortunately for California, this measure isn't very likely to help the situation. It doesn't actually address any of the incentives that are killing local and special interest reporting. Even if the law sticks, these outlets are likely to just die anyway unless something else is done.