Thomson praises 'digital denouement' as Facebook signs up

Mar 16, 2021 at 01:11 am by Staff


After fears Facebook would avoid deals on Australian news content following introduction of the mandatory bargaining code, News Corp has announced an agreement with the social media giant.

News Corp Australia publications including The Australian and metro mastheads the Daily Telegraph, Herald Sun, Courier-Mail and The Advertiser are included in the three-year deal, along with Sky News.

The two had already signed on a deal for News' US mastheads in 2019.

Facebook will now launch its Facebook News product in Australia, having held off because of concerns about the code. ANZ new partnerships head Andrew Hunter said this will give Facebook users access to premium news articles and breaking news video from News Corp's national, metro, rural and suburban newsrooms.

News Corp group chief executive Robert Thomson described the deal as "a landmark in transforming the terms of trade for journalism" and said it would have "a material and meaningful impact" on News' Australian news businesses. He gave credit to Mark Zuckerberg and his team, and praised Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch who "led a global debate while others in our industry were silent or supine".

He also thanked prime minister Scott Morrison, treasurer Josh Frydenberg and ACCC 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."

Financial details of the deal have not been disclosed.

• The Australian Financial Review - which is owned by Nine Entertainment - has reported that its parent is "believed to have signed" a letter of intent with Facebook regarding content from its flagship titles and the nine.news.com.au website.

The ABC and Guardian Australia are said to be "still in talks", with ABC managing director David Anderson indicating that the public broadcaster will direct revenue from the deals to boost its public interest journalism in regional and rural Australia.

Sections: Digital business

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