Nine is one of Australia’s largest media companies, with television, audio and publishing assets that reach 20 million people a month.
The media bargaining code came into effect in March 2021, and has resulted in more than $200 million flowing from Google and Meta to publishers. Nine signed a five-year deal with Google in early 2021, and its deal with Meta comes up for renewal in 2024.
Nine has repeatedly emphasised that these commercial deals, which it says have fuelled the hiring of new journalists and product investments, would not have been possible without a mandatory code.
“If the above platforms and services are signalled by the government as those which should be designated, then Nine and other Australian news media businesses will have the appropriate protections in place and help secure the ongoing sustainability of Australian journalism,” the company wrote in its submission, adding that it had hired staff and invested in public interest journalism as a result of the additional revenue from the deals.
A Nine spokeswoman declined to comment.
Meta slams code
Meta has repeatedly flagged in the past 12 months that it is reconsidering paying news organisations, reallocating resources from its news division to other functions and cutting some news curation roles. The company, in its submission to Treasury, described the bargaining code as an “untidy and short-term compromise”.
It defended its decision not to include SBS or The Conversation in commercial deals, adding they had received other funding for special projects and that they were eligible for its separate, $15 million Facebook Australian News Fund. “We understand that neither chose to apply for it. That is their choice,” the Meta submission reads.
Meta also questioned why Apple and Microsoft – which both have news platforms – were not included in the code, and took aim at media companies for how they had used the funding.
“Some of the revenue publishers have received from our commercial agreements is being used to pay down debt, or issue distributions to shareholders,” the submission reads. “Some companies have even cut journalism jobs after striking agreements after the legislation was passed.”
Meta alleged that publishers with little credibility were attempting to exploit the code, and its money had not solved the challenges of the news business.
“Unless the fundamental issues with the law are amended, it will be challenging for Meta to continue investing in the Australian news ecosystem after the existing three-year investments in Facebook News, Watch and public interest journalism conclude,” it wrote.
A Meta spokeswoman declined to comment on whether it would negotiate new deals next year.
In its review, Treasury concluded that the code had been a success in its first year, forging more than 30 commercial agreements that would have been highly unlikely without intervention.
In its submission, Google said the code could use “minor refinements” that would make it more sustainable, but otherwise said it was committed to engaging with the Australian and global news media industry.
News Corp Australia’s submission to the review of the code was three pages long, two of which were attachments, and it described it as “important to the future of news media businesses in Australia”.
