Country Press Australia says the proposed News Bargaining Incentive reforms could provide greater support for regional and local journalism, but the final rules will determine their effectiveness.
The CPA issued a medal release stating that the federal government’s factsheet indicates that the proposed changes will include: a stronger offset for deals with smaller publishers; an increase in the minimum number of agreements required to fully acquit a platform’s liability; additional recognition for regional journalism; and a grants program for publishers and start-ups below the existing $150,000 annual revenue threshold.
CPA president Damian Morgan said the announcement appeared to recognise several concerns raised by regional publishers during the consultation process.
“The broad direction is encouraging, particularly the stronger incentive for platforms to negotiate with smaller publishers and the recognition of the additional costs and importance of regional journalism,” he said.
“However, we will need to see the legislation and the detailed operation of the scheme before determining whether these changes will achieve their intended purpose.”
Country Press Australia represents about 240 regional, rural and local newspaper publishers across Australia.
Mr Morgan said the announced increase in the small publisher offset from 170 per cent to 200 per cent had the potential to create a stronger commercial incentive for digital platforms to enter agreements with regional and independent publishers.
“The effectiveness of that measure will depend on how a small publisher is defined, what proportion of a platform’s expenditure can receive the higher offset and whether the final framework prevents support from remaining concentrated among a small number of major media groups,” he said.
CPA also noted the proposal to increase the number of agreements required to fully acquit a platform’s liability from four to six.
“Increasing the minimum number of agreements is a positive indication that the government wants support to be distributed more broadly,” Mr Morgan said.
“However, the number of agreements alone may not guarantee diversity. A platform could potentially enter six agreements without reaching a representative cross-section of Australia’s news industry.
“We need to see whether the final rules require deals with genuinely separate corporate groups and whether there are safeguards to ensure regional, rural, independent and small-to-medium publishers receive a meaningful share of the support.”
The final framework should consider limits on the amount that can be concentrated with one corporate group and measures encouraging agreements across different publisher sizes, geographic areas and market segments.
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Mr Morgan said CPA would also examine closely the proposed grants program for publishers and start-ups that do not meet the $150,000 annual revenue threshold.
“We understand the government’s desire to encourage new publishing services, innovation and journalism in communities that may currently be underserved,” he said.
“However, public funding intended to support journalism should be directed towards the creation of professional and sustainable newsrooms.”
CPA’s submission supported retaining the $150,000 revenue threshold as an important integrity safeguard and argued that public support should prioritise news businesses that employ journalists, produce original public-interest journalism and meet recognised professional and editorial standards.
“Volunteers can make an important contribution to community life, but volunteer publishing should not be treated as a substitute for employing professional journalists,” Mr Morgan said.
“There would be little public benefit in creating an ongoing funding stream for organisations that rely predominantly on unpaid labour and have no clear pathway towards employing journalists or becoming financially sustainable.”
CPA believes a workable compromise could be achieved if the grants program were designed as a time-limited pathway into professional journalism.
This could require grant recipients to: primarily produce original public-interest journalism; employ, or use the grant to employ, at least one journalist at lawful professional rates; direct the majority of grant funding to journalism employment and editorial production; meet recognised professional standards, editorial independence and complaints-handling requirements; demonstrate a credible plan to reach the existing revenue threshold within a defined period; and ensure volunteers supplement rather than replace paid journalists.
“A carefully designed grants program could help establish professional news services in genuine news deserts and support promising start-ups to become sustainable,” Mr Morgan said.
“But it should not establish a permanently lower standard for organisations receiving public support or undermine publishers that already meet employment, revenue and professional obligations.”
CPA also welcomed the announced removal of the professional networking exemption, the proposed recognition of appropriate agreements made during the retrospective period and the inclusion of a review after three years.
“These changes appear constructive, but their practical effect will depend on the final legislative definitions, eligibility requirements and distribution mechanisms,” Mr Morgan said.”
“The News Bargaining Incentive represents an important opportunity to strengthen public-interest journalism throughout Australia.
“Australia was the first country in the world to legislate a mechanism compelling digital platforms to pay for news content, and the NBI has the potential to set an even higher global benchmark for how public policy supports public interest journalism.
“Country Press Australia looks forward to examining the detailed proposal and working constructively with the government to ensure the final scheme supports a broad, diverse and professional news sector, not simply a limited number of agreements or the lowest-cost publishing models.”
