The commercial radio and TV industries are pushing for changes to the draft news media bargaining code, which will govern how big tech pay news publishers for their content, to ensure they benefit from the scheme.
In a submission to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), industry body Commercial Radio Australia (CRA) says it “strongly” supports the proposed code but has several recommendations for amendments to ensure commercial radio stations are not “inadvertently excluded or disadvantaged”.
CRA’s submission recommends that the eligibility criteria for participation in the code should not be limited to public interest journalism but should be broadened to include coverage of community and local events as well as talk back radio programs that discuss core news content.
“This will require amendment of the content test to remove the requirement that programs contain ‘predominantly core news content’ together with the limitation that content must be produced by a ‘journalist’,” CRA says.
Under the proposed bargaining arrangements, commercial media organisations would be able to enter into negotiations with Google and Facebook to determine an appropriate payment for news content, with arbitration to follow if they are unable to reach agreement.
CRA recommends that the arbitration process should be refined to provide transparency on the division of cost and the selection of arbitrators.
Meanwhile, TV industry body Free TV has also recommended three key changes in its submission to the ACCC.
“We are grateful for the opportunity to comment on the exposure draft of the Code,” says Free TV CEO Bridget Fair.
“We have suggested three key changes that we believe are necessary to ensure the Code operates as intended.”
The industry body recommends changes to the content test and definition of news content to ensure it operates across all news media sources, including TV. It also recommends ensuring non-discrimination provisions are not limited to de-indexing news, but cover all touchpoints a news media business may have with Google or Facebook, and to limit the scope of overly broad and uncertain trade secrets provisions.
“We urge the Government to move forward quickly on this important public policy initiative so that negotiations on fair payment for news content can begin without any further delay,” Fair says.
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