#WaitingOnZuck Campaign
Mark Zuckerberg has failed to pay for the independent journalism that he and his businesses have benefitted from for years. On March 22nd 2022, Australia’s news media businesses are joining forces and #WaitingOnZuck to pay up, before we lose our small and medium news media businesses.
Almost one year ago the Australian Federal Government, Department of Treasury (courtesy of Josh Frydenberg) introduced the News Media Bargaining Code. This Code aims to reduce the obscene power imbalance between Australian news media businesses and digital platforms, specifically Meta and Google.
It’s true that this world-leading Code has been a significant step in the right direction…it even caused a bit of a global ruckus, ruffling the feathers of many big tech leaders. The issue is that the digital platforms have made a bunch of commercial-in-confidence (AKA ‘secret deals’) that have exacerbated the massive competitive disadvantage, significantly impacting the ‘little guys’ of this vital industry – our small and medium news businesses.
These are the independent publishers who not only deliver important news and information, but in many ways form part of the backbone of communities by celebrating diversity, shining a light on local heroes, nurturing our unique interests and sharing the stories that help us to feel seen, heard and represented in Australia.
Australians have taken this issue seriously. Showing their support for small and medium publishers in droves and enraged when Meta tried to yet again control the media landscape by disabling the sharing of any Australian news links.
But the Australian public can only take this David and Goliath battle so far and the launch of the Code was only the tip of the iceberg for creating the change needed.
We know that Josh Frydenberg (Treasurer of Australia) is prepared to go the extra mile – heck he even reached out for a chat directly with Mr Zuck. Letting him know that we won’t be backing down, because the sustainability of independent news matters to Australians, all of us.
It has been a year since the Code was launched and Meta has had more than enough time to demonstrate that they believe in paying for the quality independent journalism that their business model continues to benefit from enormously. Instead they’ve made a series of convenient deals. Deals that benefit big-tech and big-media, putting the future of small and medium publishers at risk.
Introducing this Code was a great start, but the job is a long way from being done. Right now, small and medium publishers, along with their 4 million plus readers are #WaitingOnZuck to come to the table and make real deals. Agreements with small and medium publishers that are transparent, fair and actually pay for the journalism that his businesses are built upon.
Josh Frydenberg (and the Department of Treasury) is currently reviewing the impact of the Code. Which means that Josh has an opportunity to ensure that the Code holds Meta to account and helps to build a sustainable news industry that is independent, diverse and representative of all Australians.
On March 22nd 2022 news media businesses across Australia will join forces through a collective news freeze – letting the world know that small and medium publishers are still #WaitingonZuck to pay up for the journalism that he has been benefiting from for free.
GET INVOLVED:
Email Josh Frydenberg (Treasurer of Australia):
Email our very own Josh Frydenberg and let him (and the Department of Treasury) know that without greater accountability for Meta to negotiate with small and medium publishers that Zuck will continue to erode the Australian news media landscape and ultimately, democracy. Here is his email address: josh.frydenberg.mp@aph.gov.au
Suggested text:
Hello Josh,
You may have noticed that there’s no news today. That’s because we are all waiting on Mark Zuckerberg.
Publishers from right across Australia have frozen their news feeds for the day because we are #WaitingonZuck to pay up for the journalism that his businesses have been benefiting from for free.
Thanks for trying to disrupt the massive power imbalance between digital platforms and news media businesses. The Code was a great start, but Zuck has failed to come to the table, only making secret deals that exacerbate the massive competitive disadvantage, badly impacting the ‘little guys’ of this vital industry – our small and medium publishers.
These are the publishers who deliver me not only news and information, but they form part of the backbone of my community by sharing the stories that help us to feel seen, heard and represented in Australia.
We’re glad that 12 months on, we have an opportunity to improve the impact of the Code together. Which is why I’m calling on you to advocate for the future of small and medium publishers by designating digital platforms under the Code.
Kind regards,
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2 comments
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B Sullivan
Return to home page“Australians have taken this issue seriously. Showing their support for small and medium publishers in droves and enraged when Meta tried to yet again control the media landscape by disabling the sharing of any Australian news links.”
Really? I seem to recall that The Rupert and 9/Fairfax and Stokes, but mostly The Rupert, whinged and bitched and whined and complained and the LNP being beholden to their media lord and master fell to their knees and spread their cheeks like the good little toadies they are.
“without greater accountability for Meta to negotiate with small and medium publishers that Zuck will continue to erode the Australian news media landscape and ultimately, democracy.”
Facebook??? Meta??? Call it what it is – Meta Data Mining, and call it out for what it is really doing, which is mining information about its users by recording the individual user’s interactions with their devices which are collected as metadata and can be processed en masse to provide detailed informative profiles of millions of individuals. It can connect those profiles and how they all relate to the social network, and sells the information to interested buyers such as advertisers, media corporations, business empires and political parties and anyone else who has the money and wants to influence or manipulate consumers and voters.
It seems to me that the Australian news media landscape doesn’t really want to expose this exploitation of individual users personal information, that is already being used to erode our pretence of democracy (it was Cambridge Analytica’s use of data collected by Facebook, Twitter, Google, YouTube, etc that got Trump elected, not the Russians). Rather it wishes to receive a cut of the profits from this intrusive billion dollar business enterprise, in return for providing fake or factual news either of which will help the data miners produce ever more accurate personal profiles of their users.
I would prefer that this practice was recognised as criminal activity and that strict personal sanctions were imposed on oligarchs like Mark Zuckerburg as a penalty to discourage all those who think they can profit from this sort of behavior and get away with it.