KeyCrew Media, a real estate intelligence and media company, is meeting with members of Congress and their staff in Washington, D.C., as part of the News/Media Alliance's 2026 Support Journalism Fly-In. The company is joining more than 220 participants from news, magazine, and digital-only publishers to press for legislation that protects how journalistic content is used by AI companies. The fly-in has two purposes: celebrating congressional champions of the news industry and reinforcing the need for legislation that supports quality journalism. KeyCrew's focus is on establishing clear rules for how AI companies can use publishers' content.
KeyCrew licenses its own content broadly, including to AI platforms, which might make its support for stronger protections seem surprising. However, the company sees no conflict. Its argument is that every publisher should have the legal right to decide how its work is used, whatever that decision turns out to be. According to Steve Marcinuk, Co-Founder and CEO of KeyCrew Media, the issue is not that AI companies use news content, but how some of that use happens. "There's a real risk right now that large tech companies are using information without proper licensing, building solutions on the back of work done by local organizations, with no compensation, no oversight, and no responsibility," said Marcinuk. Many AI platforms were built and trained on content that was not properly sourced, leaving publishers to enforce their preferences going forward.
Marcinuk acknowledges that technology can help block unauthorized scraping, but it cannot settle who has the right to decide. That is where legislation comes in. "How individual publications set up and enforce their rights over what can and can't be done with their content is a technology question, in terms of putting the right solutions in place to prevent scraping," said Marcinuk. "But it's also a legal one, and that part is of great importance." KeyCrew's model rests on a legal framework that governs what the company and third parties can and cannot do with its reporting. The company has spent significant time, energy, and money setting up that framework, including licensing to AI companies and other downstream partners. Marcinuk emphasizes that this is a conscious choice, and that other publications should be able to enforce their rights as well.
He also pushes back on the idea that publishers seeking protections want to shut AI out entirely. Many publishers KeyCrew has met through the News/Media Alliance already license content to AI companies, with legal structures in place and clear terms on how the content is used, displayed, and how they are compensated. "It's not the case that every publisher is trying to completely block their content from appearing in AI in every form or being used in training. Far from it," said Marcinuk. "But they are having thoughtful conversations about how their content will appear, and they have every right to do so."
More people now get information through AI platforms, and AI companies are consuming more content than ever. Marcinuk sees this as the moment for media companies to be at the center of decisions about how their content is used. The outcome matters beyond publishers' revenue. When local organizations cannot control or be paid for their work, fewer of them can afford to keep producing it. That affects publishers, and it also affects their readers, subscribers, and their ability to operate well into the future. For KeyCrew, which interviews local experts across hundreds of real estate markets and provides that coverage to publishers filling gaps in their local reporting, a healthy media ecosystem is part of its own foundation.
Clear legal protections give every publisher the ability to choose its own path with AI, whether that means broad licensing like KeyCrew's or tighter limits. As KeyCrew Media continues its advocacy, the push for AI content protections represents a critical step in ensuring that publishers retain control over their work and that quality journalism remains sustainable in the digital age.
