Congratulations to Canadian journalists! Parliament appears poised to pass a measure that would extract millions of dollars from Facebook and Google and send that money to news organizations. If you believe, as I do, that a healthy press is essential to democracy, this probably sounds like a great idea.
Posted at 3:00 p.m.
The bill is based on Australia’s News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code, which came into force a year ago and has generated about $200 million for media outlets, in a country whose population is two-thirds the size of Canada. I have just returned from six weeks in Sydney, where I interviewed1 dozens of newsroom managers, government officials and others to find out how the Australian system works.
There is some good news.
As the money poured in, media companies beefed up their teams of reporters.
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, the country’s largest public broadcaster, used the funds to hire 50 journalists in remote areas. Big Tech money has been a key factor in increasing the staff of the Guardian Australiawhich has grown from 70 to more than 100 people in just one year.
But the Australian system has some problems; let’s hope Canada learns from it.
Here’s how the system works: The Australian government requires Facebook and Google to negotiate with news companies, under the questionable principle that big platforms get a lot of value from delivering content, including headlines and excerpts, without paying for this privilege. If a technology company is unable or unwilling to enter into a deal, it can be “designated” by the Minister of Finance (Treasurer) of the country, which triggers a binding arbitration process in which each party presents an offer, one of which must be accepted.
At first, Silicon Valley fought hard against Australian law – Facebook even banned access to information on its platform and, in doing so, succeeded in silencing public interest sites dealing with topics as diverse as COVID-19 or victims of sexual violence. But the two companies ended up getting used to it.
In the process, big corporations like Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp received tens of millions of dollars, while some smaller newspapers receive around $50,000 a year.
In return, news organizations often do minimal work, such as publishing headlines on the low-traffic Google News storefront.
If this all sounds vague, that’s because it is — on purpose. Due to strict nondisclosure agreements, we don’t know exactly how much Facebook and Google paid news organizations or what criteria they use. We also don’t know if media executives are spending that money to hire new reporters, boost stock prices, or raise their own salaries.
Some news organizations worth their salt have been shut out, and they don’t know why. SBS, a large public broadcaster that focuses on Australia’s multilingual and multicultural communities, received money from Google but nothing from Facebook. Its executives are baffled, and Facebook has chosen not to explain its decision.
The Australian government could force tech companies to do more, but as long as powerful media companies are happy with existing deals, regulators feel little pressure to impose new ones.
In the longer term, some fear that the media will develop an unhealthy dependence on big tech companies. Matt Nicholls is editor of the Cape York Weekly, a small newspaper in Queensland, Australia. He worries about what might happen in several years.
What if Google decides it’s a bad deal for them? If you need Google funding to support your journalism, it’s not viable.
Matt Nicholls, editor of the Cape York Weekly
The Canadian Bill2 includes a provision that requires an annual audit report on payments from technology companies. It’s unclear exactly what information this will reveal, but it’s a step in the right direction.
Many local news organizations are struggling these days as print ads have melted and digital revenue hasn’t caught up. It’s understandable that journalists look to Facebook and Google as a goldmine to help them fill this shortfall. But if Canada is to emulate the Australian system, lawmakers must ensure we can see who is being paid, who is not, and whether those funds are actually helping give the public the journalism they need.
* Bill Grueskin was editor at wall street journalto Miami Herald and at Bloomberg News. Bill Grueskin’s work in Australia has been supported by the Judith Neilson Institute for Journalism and Ideas.