In a triumphant win for News Corp, a deal has been made between the Australian media giant and social media monster Facebook.
The agreement dictates that Facebook will pay for News Corp news content on its social media platform.
After some dragging of heels and delay on Facebook’s end, the major publisher finally reached a three-year deal with Facebook for it to pay for journalism across the company’s mastheads, including news.com.au, The Australian, The Daily Telegraph, Herald Sun, The Courier-Mail and its regional and community publications.
Last month, Facebook gave Australian news content the chop from its platform as the government legislated a world-first media bargaining code that forces digital platforms to pay for journalism in Australia.
News Corp Australasia Executive Chairman Michael Miller said the deal ensured Australians were able to access quality journalism online.
“The events of the past month have reinforced to us and to Facebook the value our news, storytelling and brands bring to the Facebook platform,” he said.
“This is a welcome agreement for our company, for the quality journalism we invest in, and the many Australian readers we serve.”
Sky News Australia has also reached a separate deal with Facebook for its news content on the platform.
News Corp now has agreements with Facebook, Google and Apple to provide access to its news content.
Its leadership, including Executive Chairman Rupert Murdoch, Co-Chairman Lachlan Murdoch and CEO Robert Thomson, have championed the cause of the tech platforms compensating news publications for content for many years.
“The agreement with Facebook is a landmark in transforming the terms of trade for journalism and will have a material and meaningful impact on our Australian news businesses,” says Thomson.
“Mark Zuckerberg and his team deserve credit for their role in helping to fashion a future for journalism, which has been under extreme duress for more than a decade.
“Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch led a global debate while others in our industry were silent or supine as digital dysfunctionality threatened to turn journalism into a mendicant order.
“We are grateful to the Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission Chair Rod Sims and his team for taking a principled stand for publishers, small and large, rural and urban, and for Australia.
“This digital denouement has been more than a decade in the making.”
