Rupert Murdoch scams Google News Showcase, spurns government’s “media reforms”

by Michael West | May 24, 2022 | What's the scam?

Instead of making its content available on Google News Showcase, as other publishers do, News Corp’s The Australian and its state tabloids such as Herald Sun and Daily Tele remain locked behind Rupert Murdoch’s paywalls. What’s the scam?

The scam is that Google News Showcase is the result of the Coalition’s shonky Digital Media Bargaining Code “reforms” which were designed to force Google and Facebook to pay Australian publishers for their content. The platforms have paid millions to News, Nine and other media orgs but there is still no arbitration system in place to negotiate payments, just cash transferred in the manner of protection money.

The “reforms” themselves are pretty much a scam and Rupert is running his own scam on top by taking Google’s cash and giving them no content, rather just getting a free steer, as they always did, to News Corp paywalls.

We checked the other publishers such as Guardian, Nine and Mamma Mia. They all deliver their content to Google. No paywalls.

 

Michael West established Michael West Media in 2016 to focus on journalism of high public interest, particularly the rising power of corporations over democracy. West was formerly a journalist and editor with Fairfax newspapers, a columnist for News Corp and even, once, a stockbroker.

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