Newsom plans no new journalism funding despite $175 million funding deal with Google
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s budget proposal includes no money for a fund formed last year to boost the state’s local newsrooms, casting doubt on whether a heralded effort to help California journalists will amount to anything and how serious Newsom is about supporting the struggling industry.
Newsom’s final budget faces a litany of political and financial challenges
This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters. On paper, the annual process of drafting a state budget is rational. In practice, it’s more akin to voodoo. It starts, as state law requires, with the governor’s introduction of a preliminary version in January, as Gavin Newsom did last week, unveiling a…
OpenAI, childrens’ advocates join forces on initiative to protect kids from chatbots
This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters. Kids safety advocate Common Sense Media and ChatGPT-maker OpenAI joined together Monday, Jan. 12, to advance a ballot measure that would amend the California Constitution in order to protect kids from companion chatbots online. The two previously planned to place competing initiatives before…
How Californians can use a new state website to block hundreds of data brokers
This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters. The California Privacy Protection Agency kicked off 2026 by launching a tool that state residents can use to make data brokers delete and stop selling their personal information. The system, known as the Delete Request and Opt-out Platform, or DROP, has been in…
California tax revenue getting a boost from AI boom — but for how long?
As California becomes more dependent on tax revenue from the tech industry, its stake in…
What did California lawmakers talk about this year? These 10 bills sparked hours of debate
This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters. Most bills in the California Legislature are barely talked about in public before…
After ICE arrests come health scares for the detained
This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters. After five months in Adelanto, an immigration detention facility in Southern California’s high…
