News publishers seek answers from Labor on media code amid concern over Google deals
With just two parliamentary sitting weeks remaining this year, Labor is facing calls for action on the news media bargaining code and clarity on the government’s media reform agenda.
Labor faces mounting pressure to announce its plans for the news media bargaining code as it heads into the final two parliamentary sitting weeks of the year, with media executives growing concerned about the long-term security of the revenue they rake in from Google.
The future of roughly $200 million annually that flows to news publishers from Google and Meta hangs in the balance as the government prepares to announce if, or to what degree, it will stick with the code as part of a broader suite of long-awaited media reforms.
Industry sources from across the sector, speaking to Capital Brief on the condition of anonymity, are worried that further delays to a government announcement could end their chances of clawing back payments of any kind from Meta and expose agreements with Google to vulnerability.
Debate over Albanese government’s media reform agenda ramped up in March this year, after Facebook and Instagram owner Meta announced that it would not willingly renew deals it struck with publishers in 2021 worth in excess of $70 million a year.
