California freelance journalists sue over AB5

According to The Times, the Pacific Legal Foundation filed the second legal challenge against the new state law, AB5, that they say puts some independent journalists out of business.

AB5 aims to give wage and benefit protections to people who work as independent contractors. Also, although public focus has been on companies like Uber, the lawsuit brought by the American Society of Journalists and Authors and the National Press Photographers Association says the law would unconstitutionally affect free speech and the media.

“Thrown our community into a panic, given that in the year 2020 digital media is a whole different beast than newspapers and journalism of the past,” said Los Angeles-based writer, Maressa Brown, who founded California Freelance Writers United in Sep.

“You could hit 35 (submissions) in a matter of a few weeks, and we don’t feel that should require us submitting a W2, sitting in an office and tethered to a computer and under the oversight of one client,” added Brown, who likes having up to 15 clients at one time. “People are losing clients, income. Their livelihoods are under threat.”

The state law was sued the day after Vox Media announced that it would end its use of more than 200 California freelancers.

“The bill represents an existential threat to our industry,” said Jim Ewert, general counsel for the California News Publishers Association. “Content doesn’t matter if you can’t put it on peoples’ doorsteps.”