USQ researcher: Platform’s news ban could benefit journalism

Yesterday saw many news, and other outlets, blocked off Facebook, but their could be a silver lining to the changes according to a USQ researcher.

A communications researcher at the University of Southern Queensland has weighed in on Facebook’s news blitz, saying the move might prompt more money being spent on journalism.

Yesterday saw all news removed off Facebook feeds, as the company railed against the federal government’s new plan to make online platforms pay for news.

University of Southern Queensland communications and social media researcher Matt Grant said the new plan had been a point of contention for a long time.

“My first thought, because this has been coming for a long time, was that Zuckerberg is finally flexing his corporate muscles,” Mr Grant said.

“But I do think that this is an argument that is at this government’s choosing, but it’s an argument that needs to be had.

“We’ve been too long a party to very constraining media restrictions in terms of advertising revenue.”

Mr Grant said any reversion back to a paid model of journalism “was a good thing”.

“What we have seen in recent years has been that regional media in particular is very underfunded by the advertising revenue going digital,” he said.

“If this actually results in more money being spent in journalism, we’ll see a better quality of journalism.”

A number of other non-news outlets also had their Facebook pages blocked yesterday, seemingly by accident.

“I think that what we’ve seen has been a one size fits all approach from Facebook,” Mr Grant said.

“You’ve got to remember that Australia is a very small market of only 26 million or so – on a global scale, we aren’t really the big fish we might like to think we are.

“This one size fits all approach has caught up a number of organisations that I think will be relaxed over the coming days.”