Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp signs global news deal with Google

Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp has signed a global three-year deal with Google for use of its news content as the Australian government’s news media bargaining edges closer to becoming law.

The publishing company, which locally owns The Australian, The Daily Telegraph and The Herald Sun, said it would receive “significant payments” from the $1.8 trillion search engine for articles to appear on products such as Google News Showcase. The agreement is the third to be signed ahead of the introduction of new local laws that will force commercial negotiations between tech giants and media companies. Nine Entertainment Co (owner of this masthead) and Seven West Media also signed letters of intent this week.

News Corp said it would receive “significant payments” from Google in the three-year agreement.Credit: AP

News Corp, which owns major global newspapers such as the Wall Street Journal and The Times in London has been among the strongest campaigners for payments from tech companies to media organisations for news content.

The company’s Australian executive chairman, Michael Miller, said the Google deal was crucial for the company. “The future of commercial news organisations rests on their ability to establish workable business models in the digital era,” he said. “This is an important moment for our company, but an even more important moment for journalism and the people it serves, no matter how they consume news.”

“We are... grateful to the people at Google, led by Sundar Pichai and his team, who played a pivotal role in this historic development, which will benefit not only our business but journalists around Australia and the world.”

The deal spans audio and video and News Corp will also get an ad revenue share from Google. News Corp CEO Robert Thomson and Mr Miller both thanked the government and local competition regulator for their efforts.

News Corp is the third large local media company to agree to terms with Google. Nine and Seven have both agreed to five-year deals with the tech giant for use of their content. The amount of money has not been disclosed but it is likely to be significant given it is for all newspapers owned by News Corp, not just Australian publications.

Guardian Australia and the ABC, both considered large local news outlets, could both sign deals with the search giant this week, industry sources have previously said. Nine and Seven reached agreements with Google earlier this week while youth website Junkee Media announced on Wednesday it had struck a payment deal.

The agreements are in addition to the commercial deals Google struck with small publishers including Crikey, The Saturday Paper and Australian Community Media, publisher of The Canberra Times, last year.

News Corp’s announcement occurred as rival tech giant Facebook began to ban publishers and Australian users from sharing or viewing any news articles in response to the proposed media bargaining laws. Articles from newspapers such as The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, satirical news websites and global articles from The Economist and The New York Times are all unavailable to local users.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said on Wednesday none of the deals would have happened if it weren’t for the proposed laws.

“Everything that I have heard from parties, both in the news media business and in terms of digital platforms, is that these are generous deals,” Mr Frydenberg said.

“These are fair deals. These are good deals. These are good deals for the Australian media businesses,” he added.

The Australian deals with Google are being negotiated under Google’s own model, News Showcase. The company has reached pay deals with more than 450 publications globally since it launched News Showcase in October.

Google announced two weeks ago that it had begun paying seven far smaller Australian websites under News Showcase, but the payments were not disclosed.

Mr Frydenberg suggested that Google’s threat to quit Australia had receded as the “speed of these negotiations has picked up”.

“We have sought to keep the major players in Australia,” Frydenberg said. “Google had talked about leaving Australia. We never wanted that to take place. They are an important part of the digital landscape era.”

Marcus Strom, president of the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance, the Australian journalists’ union, said media companies have a moral obligation to use revenue from the digital platforms in news gathering.

“Any monies from these deals need to end up in the newsroom, not the boardroom,” Mr Strom said. “We will be pressing the case for transparency on how these funds are spent.”

Google is facing pressure from authorities elsewhere to pay for news. It signed a deal with a group of French publishers that pave the way for it to make digital copyright payments last month.

With AP

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