Dan Walters: Should tech giants have to pay California newspapers for their content?

When I began my journalism career 64 years ago, newspapers were virtual licenses to print money because they were the dominant medium for advertising retail businesses such as supermarkets and department stores and the larger public via classified ads.

During the 1990s, however, the internet popped up.

At first, newspaper owners were pleased that their content was being republished by other websites. When they blossomed into large corporations selling ads, they became powerful competitors.