[News] Facebook will pay for news to Murdoch's media empire to end war with Australia

[SougarLord]

 

Rupert Murdoch's media empire reached an agreement with the Facebook platform on Tuesday to pay a fee in Australia. In this way, the pioneering battle between the great dominators of the internet and the traditional media, shaken by more than a decade of advertising crisis accentuated by Covid-19, is symbolically ended.

 

After the tug-of-war of platforms like Google and directed by Mark Zuckerberg, the latter made good on its threat to blackout the broadcast of news in the country. Not only the media were blocked, but also public profiles of information about the coronavirus. The loss of reputation generated in the social network by the international campaign led by Canberra culminated in an agreement between the Government and the company. Days later, Parliament approved the Code that required platforms to reach agreements with Australian publishers to spread their news.

 

According to a statement released by News Corp., the three-year agreement consists of a dozen outlets such as the generalist 'The Australian' as well as the main local newspapers of the country such as' The Daily Telegraph 'in New South Wales,' Herald Sun 'in Victoria and' The Courier-Mail 'in Queensland distribute current content to the network's current affairs platform, Facebook News. Another relevant News Corp brand, the television network Sky News Australia, also renews and strengthens its commercial terms with Facebook.

 

The agreement with Facebook is a milestone in the business transformation of journalism

“The agreement with Facebook is a milestone in the business transformation of journalism and will have a material and significant impact on our news companies. Mark Zuckerberg and his team deserve to be recognized for their role in helping to shape a future for journalism, which has been under extreme pressure for more than a decade, "said Robert Thomson, CEO of News Corp.

 

The media empire welcomes the efforts of the Australian Government to change the board of relations between media and social networks for the pie of the online advertising market. “We thank Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, and Australian Competition and Consumers Commission Chairman Rod Sims and his team for taking a principled stand in favor of publishers large and small , rural and urban, and Australia. This digital agreement has been in development for more than a decade, ”the statement reads.

 

For his part, Andrew Hunter, director of Facebook media associations in Australia and New Zealand, confirmed the agreement, assuring that the group was "committed to bringing Facebook News to Australia."

 

Facebook wants to help you get vaccinated

Harassed by multiple open fronts, such as disinformation, dissemination of extremist content, tax avoidance and the incipient antitrust legislation of the world's major powers, Zuckerberg seeks to douse all these fires without undermining Facebook's business interests.

 

If in Australia the decision to block the dissemination of information in the midst of the pandemic was criticized, the platform this week announced a global campaign to "help 50 million people get one step closer to receiving vaccines against Covid-19" , in the words of the Facebook CEO himself in a post on the social network.

 

Facebook says it is working on tools to make it easier for everyone to get vaccinated as well. It would be an application that would show when and where a user can be vaccinated, as well as a link to request the appointment.