‘Value of journalism recognised’, says Michael Miller

Laws that will force tech giants to pay news media companies for the use of their content is a landmark momen­t for Australian journalism, says Michael Miller.

News Corp Australasia’s executive chairman Michael Miller. Picture: Brett Costello

Pioneering new legislation that will force tech giants to pay news media companies for the use of their content is a landmark momen­t for Australian journalism, according to News Corp Australasia’s executive chairman Michael Miller.

“It recognises the value of journalism, and it puts a framework in place to formalise how digital platforms and media companies should work together,” he said.

“It’s important to have as many Australian voices heard as possible. And in a practical sense, this legislation will give us the ability to cover more topics in more regions­, with the confidence that the journalism that we are publishing is also going to reach the right people.”

Mr Miller said that, contrary to popular belief, News Corp had enjoyed­ successful commercial partnerships with the likes of Google and Facebook for several years. “Through our advertising teams, we have a very positive relationship­ with Facebook and Google. We are a large reseller of their product,” he said.

“We’ve always wanted to work with the digital platforms, we just wanted a fair acknowledgment for their use of our content which aids their business.

“This really is about fairness. That’s all we wanted — fair payment for fair usage.”

In welcoming the legislation — which was outlined by Josh Frydenberg on Tuesday and will be formally introduced to parliament on Wednesday — Mr Miller said he was more focused on the commercial outcomes of the ongoing­ negotiations with digital platforms than the legalities of the code, and was confident the long-running issue would be finalised in the first half of next year.

“As a result of their lobbying, the tech platforms have won concession­s, and there should be nothing stopping them now from reaching fair commercial agreements,” he said.

Nine Entertainment was less enthused by the Treasurer’s concessions to the tech giants, namely the two-way value exchange that will allow the giants to factor in the monetary worth of the online readers they deliver to news websites when determining how much is owed to publishers.

“The continued concessions to the digital platforms only entrenches both their monopoly power and the significantly unfair imbalance in regulation,’’ a Nine spokesperson said.

“These companies pay little or no tax, contribute little and often negatively to our culture, and ­employ no creative­ teams. The notion they receive regul­atory recognition with the so-called two-way value exchange, for something they already have a commercial model to monetise, seriously undermines the fundamental problem the ACCC identified in the beginning of this process — that is an abuse of monopoly power which fundamentally harms the future sustainability of media in Australia.”

Mr Frydenberg confirmed on Tuesday that public broadcasters ABC and SBS would be included in the proposed code, in what was a deal-breaker for some of the Senate crossbenchers, including Greens communications spokeswoman Sarah Hanson-Young.

“I am delighted to see ABC and SBS have been included in the code and will be remunerated by Facebook and Google for the use of their content,” she said. “We will work through details of the legislation with a Senate inquiry.

“From what we know today, this is an important step forward.’’

ABC managing director David Anderson said: “The ABC is committed to reinvest any additional revenues derived from negotiations under the mandatory code directly into regional journalism.”

Spokespeople for Google and Facebook declined to offer in-depth comments, arguing that the formal legislation had not yet been made public.

Seven West Media, one of Australia’s largest media companies, also declined to comment.