The Digital Media Bargaining Code, brainchild of Josh Frydenberg, unopposed by Labor, is lining the pockets of the big end of town. What’s the scam?
The scam has been exposed by Chris Janz, former publisher at Nine Entertainment. Janz told ABC Radio National’s Medialand program last week that the money from (the code) mostly went to the shareholders of Australia’s biggest media companies or was used to pay off their debts.
“…Google and Facebook were encouraged to do deals with effectively the big end of town. The bulk of the cash flowed to the big end of town. I was running one of those at the time. It was fantastic … the reality is, though, the money flowed to shareholders or flowed to retire debt.”
Chris Janz, former Nine Media publisher to ABC Medialand
As pointed out by MWM and others at the time the code was put in place, Janz says, “It wasn’t guaranteed to be spent on the journalism.”
It was just used to increase the profit, and very little flowed to new entrants.
Janz is now the CEO of Capital Brief, one of those new entrants.
Fake news or no news? The folly of the News Media Bargaining Code
Kim Wingerei is a businessman turned writer and commentator. He is passionate about free speech, human rights, democracy and the politics of change. Originally from Norway, Kim has lived in Australia for 30 years. Author of ‘Why Democracy is Broken – A Blueprint for Change’.