A ray of light in the media gloom
ALSO: Housing to ‘flood’ the market; tens of thousands to miss out on food parcels
Summary:
The government’s decision to require tech giants to negotiate payments for using local news content could be a rare ray of light for our media
The housing minister’s plan to free up far more land for housing is good in outline, but carries risks that cities will spread out not up
Cuts to foodbanks risk making life harder for struggling families, and are a reminder that reducing government spending doesn’t make need go away
Good news about the news
Media about the media has been grim recently: the closure of Newshub’s newsroom, the loss of multiple TVNZ current affairs programmes, other cuts to journalism.
So it was a rare piece of potential good news this week when the broadcasting minister, Paul Goldsmith, announced that the government was U-turning and would support the Fair Digital News Bargaining Bill. The bill, introduced by Labour and modelled on equivalents in Australia and elsewhere, will force tech giants like Meta and Google to negotiate with local media about paying for the news stories that the former use as content. If an agreement can’t be reached, compulsory arbitration will be invoked.
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