Robert Thomson said the money from Facebook was meaningful.Credit:Bloomberg
Nine,the owner ofThe Sydney Morning Herald andThe Age,has also signed a letter of intent with the tech giant for use of its news articles,according to industry sources who could not speak publicly because the negotiations are confidential.
The agreements follow months of difficult negotiations between media companies and the $US780 billion (AU$1 trillion) social media giant and were struck afterit changed previously non-negotiable “poison pill” clauses in contracts that would allow the tech giant to walk away if it was required to comply with the media bargaining laws.
Industry sources familiar with the deal said News Corp will be paid for the use of articles in Facebook’s soon-to-launch ‘News’ product and Facebook video product,Facebook Watch. It follows a global deal reached between News Corp and Facebook in October 2019.
News Corp chief executive Robert Thomson said the agreement would have a “meaningful impact” on its Australian businesses.
“[Facebook CEO] Mark Zuckerberg and his team deserve credit for their role in helping to fashion a future for journalism,which has been under extreme duress for more than a decade,” Mr Thomson said. “Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch led a global debate while others in our industry were silent or supine as digital dysfunctionality threatened to turn journalism into a mendicant order. This digital denouement has been more than a decade in the making.”
News Corp’s ASX-listed shares closed at $31.86 on Tuesday while Nine shares closed flat at $2.99.
News Corp Australia executive chairman Michael Miller said the agreement was in addition to existing arrangements with Facebook in an internal note to staff.