Indie publishers halt news in strike to bring Facebook to negotiating table

News 22 Mar 2022 - 3 min read

Indie publishers halt news in strike to bring Facebook to negotiating table

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Tags: news media bargaining code Concrete Playground

Independent publishers that reach millions of Australians, like Broadsheet, Star Observer, Australian Jewish News and Australian Chinese Daily, have stopped publishing news today to put pressure on Facebook to negotiate commercial deals under the News Media Bargaining Code. They are #WaitingOnZuck.

What you need to know:

More than 30 independent publishers are taking part in a collective freeze of publishing to put pressure on Facebook to negotiate with them under the News Media Bargaining Code.
The #WaitingOnZuck campaign includes Broadsheet, Concrete Playground and Urban List are publishing red ads to “fight for the future of Australian news media”.

A coalition of independent news publishers have stopped publishing news for 24 hours as part of collective action called #WaitingOnZuck, pressuring Facebook to pay small and medium organisations for journalism.

More than 30 publications, including Broadsheet, Concrete Playground, Urban List, Star Observer, Australian Jewish News and Australian Chinese Daily, will freeze their news for the day and replace it with a blunt message for Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Facebook parent company, Meta.

It has been more than a year since the Australian government introduced the News Media Bargaining Code, controversial legislation that aimed to reduce the widening gap between news media businesses and digital platforms – Google and Facebook, specifically.

Since then, more than $200 million has been paid by those two companies to Australian publishers after they were forced to negotiate commercial deals with media networks.

Facebook, however, has declined to negotiate with most of Australia’s independent publishers, including SBS, The Conversation, and those taking part in the #WaitingForZuck campaign.

The campaigners are also calling on the government, which is reviewing impact and effectiveness of the code, to “designate” the platforms to strike these smaller commercial deals.

“The unintended consequences of how this code has been handled is that independent publishers face unprecedented competition from our publishing colleagues who have struck deals,” Nick Shelton, Founder and Publisher of Broadsheet Media, said.

“Facebook and Google can pick the winners and losers in Australian media, which is something the Australian public should be very worried about. The only way for independent media to survive is to designate the platforms.”

Facebook has promoted a $15 million “Australian News Fund”, funnelled through and managed by the Walkley Foundation, to support smaller news organisations. Fifty-four news organisations have received financial support through the fund, including some that are involved in the collective action.

The #WaitingOnZuck campaign was created by D.O.A., a social purpose-focused consultancy.