Vital Signs. Google shouldn’t subsidise journalism, but the government could
The ACCC’s News Media Bargaining Code may not be the silver bullet the media industry is looking for, argues UNSW Professor of Economics, Richard Holden in this crossposting from The Conversation. If the government is serious about helping the industry, they should be acting much more directly.
You might have missed it – what with the biggest recession since the 1930s and a pandemic going on – but there may be big, and bad, changes happening to a media landscape near you.
Right now the Australian government is considering amending the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 to force Google and Facebook to pay local commercial media organisations for the sharing of their content on the digital platforms.
Jeff Chiu/AP
The News Media and Digital Platforms Bargaining Code proposed by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission will require the tech and media companies to make terms through “mandatory binding arbitration”. It will also oblige them to divulge parts of their core intellectual property (such Google’s search algorithm).
