News Corp Australia is backing a push by the Greens and Labor for the ABC and SBS to receive payments from Google and Facebook under the proposed mandatory news code.
The public broadcasters were not included in the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s draft code but during the consultation phase the Greens and Labor have said they won’t support the legislation without them.
Public interest journalism advocates earlier told the competition watchdog the digital giants should pay to use ABC and SBS content, but the revenue should not go directly to them but into a fund for civic journalism.
In a submission to Treasury, and privately, News Corp has said it has no objection to including the public broadcasters alongside commercial media in new laws which would mandate the payment by the platforms for using Australian news content.
“In relation to which news publishers are covered by the requirement to enter into an agreement outlined above, News Corp Australia considers that it would not be difficult to generate a list of major news publishers,” the media company told Treasury in response to the release of the draft code.
“Such a list would include major news publishers such as News Corp Australia, Nine Entertainment Co, Seven West Media, the Guardian, the ABC and SBS.”
Separately, News Corp chief executive Robert Thomson welcomed Google chief executive Sundar Pichai’s announcement of a US$1bn “investment in partnerships with news publishers and the future of news”.
“We applaud Google’s recognition of a premium-for-premium journalism and the understanding that the editorial eco-system has been dysfunctional, verging on dystopian,” Thomson said. “There are complex negotiations ahead but the principle and the precedent are now established.”
ACCC chair Rod Sims said it was not coincidental the Google announcement came while there was “increased government scrutiny both in Australia and overseas”.
“We are aware of a number of voluntary commercial arrangements offered by the large platforms in Australia and elsewhere which involve payment for news content,” Sims said on Friday.
Last month, Sims said it was up to the government to decide whether the ABC and SBS were included.
He said the code was “not about News Ltd” but was about balancing the power of the technology giants. “I accept [News Corp is] a big player,” he told an industry forum. “But, you know, Nine’s a big player, Channel Seven’s a big player, Channel Ten’s a big player, the Guardian is getting bigger in terms of clicks, as is the Daily Mail.”
Greens media spokeswoman Sarah Hanson-Young told Guardian Australia the party would not support the government unless the draft code was updated to include public broadcasting.
“If the ABC and SBS continue to be locked out it’s pure vindictiveness because there is no excuse not to include them,” she said.
“We believe that the code should also make sure the smaller independent publishers, like Junkee, can engage with it easily and it’s not too complex.
“At the end of the day these tech giants are not publishers; they’re not journalists; and they are getting part of their business model paid for by other people.
“They’re giant advertising companies, that’s what they do.”
Shadow communications minister Michelle Rowland has said the regime should cover the public broadcasters because the revenue would be used to boost regional news services.
The communications minister recently left the door open to including the ABC and SBS in the new code forcing Google and Facebook to pay for the value they receive from distributing Australian journalism.
Sims said on Friday the ACCC and treasury are working to deliver the revised news media bargaining code to the government later this month. “We are considering submissions and taking broad feedback into account,” Sims said.
“The news media bargaining code is designed to encourage good faith, commercial negotiations between news media businesses and platforms. The objective is commercial, not one-sided, outcomes.”
