Monday, September 16, 2019

Why does the Cal Legislature hate newspapers?

A new bill that has just passed the California Legislature and been sent to Gov. Gavin Newsom for (let us hope not) his signature attempts to rein in the worst of the "gig economy."

With a blunderbuss sized gun firing indiscriminately.

It would be a killer to the non-daily and small daily "community" newspaper industry. Namely, it would require any paper that gets more than 35 submissions a year from a freelancer to make that person a regular employee. It would also require route delivery drivers to be made paid employees on similar terms.

That said, THAT one I don't object to.

Community newspapers could, instead, go back to using people like me 45 years ago — kids delivering the newspaper when they couldn't work yet at a "regular" job, and making a few bucks, and by doing the monthly "collect" calls on subscribers for money, learning a little responsibility, too.

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