Newspapers to bid for antitrust exemption to tackle Google and Facebook

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Buckingham Palace Road,United Kingdom, Architect London, Google London

The News Media Alliance argue that, despite their growing dominance in news distribution, Facebook and Google lack the resources and ability to guarantee the accuracy of reporting upheld by reputable news associations. Facebook in particular came under fire during the 2016 U.S. presidential election when it failed to suitably monitor the news content on its platform and was seen to host unverified articles.

“(Facebook and Google) don’t employ reporters: They don’t dig through public records to uncover corruption, send correspondents into war zones, or attend last night’s game to get the highlights. They expect an economically squeezed news industry to do that costly work for them,” David Chavern, president and chief executive of the News Media Alliance, wrote in anopinion piece published Sunday in the Wall Street Journal.

“The only way publishers can address this inexorable threat is by banding together,” he continued.

“If they open a unified front to negotiate with Google and Facebook — pushing for stronger intellectual-property protections, better support for subscription models and a fair share of revenue and data — they could build a more sustainable future for the news business.”

Chavern added that antitrust laws are currently “insulating” Google and Facebook from market forces, but said that news publishers remain committed to “unleashing those forces to defend their investments in great journalism.”