Building a Fair Code:
Tech Giants and News Media
The Australian government stands on the world stage as it attempts to regulate the relationship between news media organisations and tech giants Google and Facebook.
The globally unprecedented News Media Bargaining Code was published by the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC). It has been designed to allow news media businesses to bargain with Google and Facebook over payment for their content.
Tim Duggan is an Australian journalist and the co-founder of Junkee Media.
"The relationship between news companies and the big digital players is extremely symbiotic, which is why this entire issue is quite complicated."
Since its release in April, Google and Facebook have enacted public campaigns against the Code, claiming it to be preferential to news media.
Nic Hopkins is head of the Google News Lab for Australia and New Zealand.
"We want to ensure that whatever regulation is ultimately put in place is fair and recognises the value, costs and contributions on both sides, not just the side of the news publishers."
News media argues that platforms like Google and Facebook monetise attention paid to their content by collecting data about audiences and then selling advertising from information gleaned.
"The service that Google provides is to send that person to whatever news outlet they've clicked on. That news provider then has an opportunity to engage that person and sell an ad or to try and convert them into a subscriber, which has value to them."
"It's a bit reductive to get bogged down in who benefits the most from a mandatory code," says Australian journalist and professor, Corinne Podger.
"It's more useful to say, 'Do we want the information that we find on Facebook and Google to be accurate?' And if the answer to that is yes, then those involved in bringing that information to the public need to sit down and have a conversation about how that works."
With the threshold to be included in negotiations starting at an annual revenue of $150,000, the Code has raised concerns about entrenching larger news organisations.
"It could easily squash the voices of smaller publishers," explains Tim Duggan, the co-founder of Australia's fastest-growing media company - Junkee.
"I think the ACCC understands that plurality of voices is important. I assume negotiations are happening behind the scenes to try and make sure that smaller publishers like Junkee are not adversely affected."
With similar legislation being discussed in Canada, France and the UK, the implementation of Australia's News Media Bargaining code will set a precedent governing relationships between technology giants and news media organisations into the future.
