Lawmakers on Capitol Hill are about to get an earful about the troubles of local journalism.

And I for one sure hope they listen carefully.

Welcome to this week's Reliable Sources Podcast.

I'm your host Brian Stelter,

and this weekly podcast is our chance to go more in-depth

with media leaders and newsmakers,

talking about how the news gets made.

That's exactly what's on the agenda for the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, June 11th.

Congressman David Cicellini is leading a subcommittee looking at a broad antitrust

probe into big tech, into the power of Google and Facebook and other technology giants.

Cicely and he's holding his first hearing for the probe on Tuesday, June 11th.

The title is Online Platforms and Market Power Part 1, The Free and Diverse Press.

Yes, the first topic in this series of hearings is the sorry state of local journalism.

There have been years and years of cutbacks

in part due to the growing dominance of Google and Facebook

in the ad business.

Now, some of the speakers of the hearing are going to be using this opportunity to advocate for

a bill.

It's a new bill titled the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act.

Cicellini is sponsoring it, along with the Republican counterpart, Doug Collins.

So they're both supporting this bill that would provide a what's called a safe harbor,

an antitrust exemption. would let newspapers all across the country

...