How the media code of conduct introduced 10 years ago has impacted print media and commercial journalism.
The Australian Government’s digital media code of conduct, introduced in 2020, has helped to keep newsprint media companies alive, but not thrive. The objective of the framework was to govern the sharing of revenue with media companies, algorithms and sharing of personal data. This includes a voluntarily negotiated payment scheme for news content which appears on platforms such as Facebook and Google, and ranking of news content in search results.
Knowing they will not be able to reach anywhere near as wide an audience without online platforms, print media companies have been unable to strike a decent agreement. Bilic and Primorac sum up the bargaining power of online platforms, saying that “they facilitate interactions between economic agents for their own economic benefit, which strengthens their position, and creates monopolistic control over advertising markets”.
“The internet has put a printing press in everybody’s hand.”
Not only has newsprint media revenue shrunk considerably, subscriptions have continued to plummet to the point that news organisations rely predominantly on advertising to stay afloat. Google’s Vice President of News shrugged this off, stating that “the internet has put a printing press in everybody’s hand”, and that Google is not to blame for the struggles of print media. However, research by Bilic and Primorac identifies several issues with this business news model. From their findings in the Croatian advertising market, Bilic and Primorac claim the news industry is pressured to package personalised advertising with targeted soft news entertainment, create privacy policies to hide tracking data for visits to their sites, and pursue stories that satisfy media-buyers database-driven requirements.
With advertisers paying the bills, journalists are subject to treating media advertisers interests kindly; cautious not to offend advertisers’ customers and favour audiences with greater purchasing power. How much longer print media companies will continue to operate under the realm of the digital gatekeepers is unclear, but it is fair journalism that has been shut out.
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