News Corp says plan to make tech giants pay for news has been gutted
Australia’s government confirmed changes to the News Bargaining Incentive to require large tech platforms to negotiate with publishers. The charge was narrowed to digital advertising revenue, the rate raised to 2.5% from 2.25%, publisher minimum deals increased to six, and the LinkedIn carve-out was removed. News Corp and Nine criticized the revisions; assistant treasurer Daniel Mulino said payouts remain $200m to $250m for deals and $350m to $400m for noncompliance.
How this was made
The 30-second read
Why it matters
The article reports Monday’s confirmed tweaks to the incentive and highlights divergent publisher reactions. News Corp argues the late changes reduce enforcement and platform incentives to negotiate, while the government says total funding is unchanged and non-compliant platforms pay more. This can affect valuation assumptions for Australian media groups reliant on incentive-linked revenue.
Market read
Traders in Australian media may reprice the probability-weighted economics of platform payments as the incentive’s base, rate, and publisher coverage requirements change.
What to watch
Actual impact depends on how many platforms comply, how “digital advertising revenue” is measured, and whether publishers outside the ACMA register lose access to funding.
Background
Australia’s News Bargaining Incentive is intended to push large tech platforms to strike commercial deals with publishers after the 2021 news media bargaining code failed to compel Meta.
Ticker impact
News Corp criticizes Australia’s News Bargaining Incentive tweaks, arguing the revised design lets tech platforms avoid fair journalism deals.
Near-term sentiment pressure on NWSA tied to perceived weakening of the incentive’s enforcement and economics.
The article is centered on News Corp’s reaction to government policy changes, including higher ad-revenue rates but fewer platform obligations and removed carve-outs, which News Corp frames as “gutted.”
Market effects
Shifts in Australia’s news bargaining incentive mechanics (ad-revenue base, higher rate, more required publishers, removal of LinkedIn carve-out) can change expected bargaining economics across listed publishers.
Australia-focused regulatory risk premium for media publishers and ad-tech referral dynamics.
Read-across to other countries’ platform-news payment regimes, but this is primarily an Australia policy story.
Counterpoint
Despite News Corp’s “gutted” framing, the government claims total expected payments are unchanged and penalties increase for non-negotiators, which could offset bargaining leverage concerns.
Key entities
- publisherNews Corporation (News Corp Australasia)
Criticizes the government’s late changes as gutting the incentive for tech platforms to strike fair deals.
- publisherNine Entertainment
Says the policy still meets its purpose despite the changes.
- government officialDaniel Mulino
Assistant treasurer defending the tweaks, stating money to media is unchanged and penalties increase for non-negotiators.
- policy architectRod Sims
Former ACCC chair who designed the original code, questioning the arithmetic and treatment of Google search revenue vs AI summaries.
- regulatorACMA
Media regulator whose register eligibility determines which publishers receive incentive funding.
