Leading Australian News Media Industry to Strike a Deal with Google News Pay
By – Ashwathy Nair
- The parliament of the nation considers draft laws to force digital giants to pay for news.
- Print & Online publishing company agreed on “long-term partnership”.
- The implementation resulted in fair payment and guaranteed digital future.
Seven West Media has successfully become the major Australian news media business to strike an agreement with Google to pay for journalism in a partnership that was declared on Monday before the parliament of the nation considered draft laws to force digital giants to pay for news.
Google along with the publicly listed broadcast television, print as well as online publishing company jointly announced that they had agreed on “long-term partnership” after the Australian government ministers had weekend discussions with media executives, CEO of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg and Chief Executive of Alphabet Inc Sundar Pichai and its subsidiary Google.
The chairman of Seven West Media, which owns 21 publications, Kerry Strokes thanked the government as well as the Australian competition regulator for their proposal.
In a statement, Strokes stated that “Their excellent leadership in adopting the news media negotiating code proposed has resulted in us being able to conclude agreements that result in equal payment and protect our digital future.”
He added, “The negotiations with Google be familiar with the value of quality as well as original journalism throughout the country and, in particular, in regional areas.”
Since, in October, News Showcase was launched, Google has reached pay deals with more than 450 publications globally. The deal was struck under News Showcase, which is Google’s own model.
It was announced two weeks ago by Google that it had initiated paying seven far smaller Australian websites under News Showcase.
The regional director of Google, Mel Silva stated that “We are feeling proud to support quality journalism, which is original and trusted and are also excited to welcome Seven West Media today as a major Australian publishing partner to connect with Google News Showcase.”
The partnership will be considered as a substantial investment for Google in journalism not just in metro areas but also in smaller communities.
It was neither being mentioned by Google nor by Seven West Media that how much is the deal worth. Nine Entertainment, which is a rival media company has reported, citing unnamed industry sources, that the deal was worth more than 30 million Australian dollars ($23 million) a year.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, before the announcement had stated that Google and Facebook were close to striking commercial deals, “which could be benefitting the domestic media landscape and will be rewarding journalists financially for generating original content as it should be.”
There was no immediate response to requests by Google and Facebook for commenting about discussions of Frydenberg with their leaders.
Pressure from authorities elsewhere to pay for news has been faced by Google. It signed a deal last month with a group of French publishers, paving the way for the company to make digital copyright payments. Under the agreement, Google will be negotiating individual licensing deals with newspaper, with expenses based on factors like the amount published daily and monthly internet site traffic.
