Making—and Sustaining—the News
The question of how to fund newsgathering has made the news. Since the advent of internet classifieds, the growth of massive search and social media platforms, and the wide availability of free news content, media organizations—particularly local and regional ones—have faced challenges in sustaining robust newsgathering operations.
Since 2005, 2,500 newspapers, or more than a quarter of the U.S. total, have shuttered, and newspaper employment has fallen by 70 percent, according to Axios. Between 2019 and 2022 alone, more than 360 newspapers closed down. Today, around a third of U.S. counties have no daily newspapers, and about 7 percent have no local news outlet at all. This decline affects not only news businesses but raises questions about America’s ability to maintain an informed citizenry capable of holding elected officials and other powerful actors accountable.
Australia’s News Media Bargaining Code, enacted in 2021, represented a landmark policy intervention to address a perceived imbalance in bargaining power between news organizations and major advertising-driven internet platforms. The Code requires news publishers and digital platform distributors to agree on the value of news content provided, subject to arbitration, ensuring that publishers receive some compensation for news content. Although the Code was and remains controversial—Facebook initially threated to withdraw certain content from the Australian market—agreements were quickly struck between platforms and news publishers. Two years later, it is possible to begin assessing the concrete effects of this legislation.
Australia’s Code has since also inspired similar proposals in other countries, including the United States. The Journalism Competition and Preservation Act of 2022 ultimately did not pass, but it did attract significant bipartisan support. The JCPA would have waived certain antitrust restrictions to news publishers to collectively negotiate with online platforms. More recently, the California Journalism Competition and Protection Act was introduced in the California state legislature. The bill would require platforms to pay news publishers a “journalism usage fee.”
In hopes of better informing these debates, this symposium analyzes the Code and its implications for U.S. policy from multiple perspectives. University of Sydney professor Terry Flew offers a comprehensive account of the Code’s motivations and an assessment of its effects in the early years of implementation. Chris Krewson of LION Publishers explores the Code’s limitations with regard to transparency and support for small publishers. Josh Hammer of Newsweek examines the larger questions surrounding the Code from a legal perspective, particularly with regard to policymakers’ ability to exercise “partiality” in promoting public interests. Sohrab Ahmari of Compact discusses the Code and similar proposals with reference to the concept of “countervailing power,” drawn from political economy. Matt Stoller of the American Economic Liberties Project focuses on the antitrust implications for both news media and Big Tech. At a later date, Peter Lewis, of Australia’s Essential Media Communications, will address potential changes to the code resulting from privacy reforms, pending the resolution of those policy processes in Australia.
In sum, the Australian News Media Bargaining Code and similar proposals involve a range of fundamental issues—from local news to Big Tech, to advertising markets, antitrust, censorship, privacy, and beyond. A better understanding of the Code and its implementation can offer critical insights to both immediate participants and the wider public as these important debates continue.
—The Editors
Download the entire symposium here.