CBAA’s Jon Bisset: “Many community broadcasters miss out entirely”
A scheme designed to force Google and Meta to help fund Australian journalism could raise up to $250 million a year, but community broadcasters and independent publishers warn the money may mostly flow to the biggest media companies unless changes are made.
The News Bargaining Incentive would require large digital platforms to either strike commercial deals with Australian news-producing organisations or pay a levy to government, with that money then redistributed to the news industry.
But community broadcasters, independent publishers, multicultural media and public-interest journalism groups say the current draft risks repeating a familiar media-industry pattern – media businesses with the most clout capturing most of the benefit.
The smaller players’ argument is that a policy designed to repair the damage done to Australian journalism by digital platforms should not leave local, regional and community outlets behind.
“The key barrier to small and new media organisations participating is the $150,000 annual revenue threshold in the eligibility criteria,”said Jon Bisset, CEO of the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia (CBAA) and Chair of the Local & Independent News Association (LINA), when Influencing got in touch.
“There is no policy outcome served by excluding small and new players based on income. This should be removed. We also want 15 per cent of any levy funds collected to be set aside for a dedicated grant component targeting small, independent and community organisations.”
The current draft includes a 170% offset rate for deals made with small and medium publishers, only 20 percentage points higher than the offset available for all publishers. The coalition argues that’s not enough to overcome the administrative burden platforms face in negotiating multiple smaller agreements.
In a joint statement, a coalition including CBAA, LINA, Independent Multicultural Media Australia and the Public Interest Journalism Initiative said it welcomed action by successive governments to support Australian news.
However, the coalition warned the draft legislation could further entrench media concentration and give global digital platforms undue influence over Australia’s democratic information system.
The concerns fall into three broad areas: eligibility, deal-making and distribution.
CBAA points out the $150,000 annual revenue threshold under the existing News Media Bargaining Code would automatically exclude about 44% of community broadcasters.
Many community broadcasters and smaller independent publishers operate on modest budgets while still producing local news, public-interest journalism and community information for audiences underserved by larger outlets.
They also provide training pathways for students, graduates and early-career journalists at a time when traditional entry-level newsroom roles are under pressure.
The second concern is deal-making. Under the draft legislation, the coalition says a platform could satisfy its obligations by striking deals with as few as four major media companies.
That could allow platforms to comply with the scheme while directing most of the money to the largest and most established players.
The coalition wants the NBI to require at least 25 per cent of platform deals to be made with small and medium publishers earning less than $50 million a year.
The third concern is distribution. The government is consulting on a model that would allocate any levy funds according to the number of full-time equivalent journalists employed by a news organisation.
Community broadcasters argue that formula is poorly suited to the way they are set up. Many operate through a mix of volunteers, part-time staff, freelancers, students, graduates and multiskilled contributors.
A funding model based mainly on full-time newsroom headcount risks favouring organisations that already have large professional workforces while overlooking journalism produced through community and hybrid models.
CBAA has warned that large commercial and public media organisations could receive a significant funding boost while community broadcasters are largely shut out.
While Bisset is reluctant to suggest missing out on NBI money will doom smaller players, he’s certain it would be a missed opportunity for them.
“As currently designed, the NBI is likely to see many community broadcasters miss out entirely. It will greatly limit our members’ ability to produce news and compete with national players at the local level.”
Asked about 2SER, the beloved Sydney community radio station currently facing closure, Bisset said,“2SER is a great example of a station that contributes well to local news in Sydney, and nationally, but because their journalism is volunteer and student-led, they won’t receive a cent under this scheme.”
For journalists and PRs, the debate matters because the NBI could shape which outlets survive, which communities remain reachable through local media, and where the next generation of reporters gets trained.
The coalition says its proposed changes would not alter the overall structure of the legislation or increase the total obligation on digital platforms.
“All parts of the media industry support the proposed News Bargaining Incentive and want it to pass and quickly,” says Bisset. “That is why we are proposing simple adjustments to cater for a broad group of small organisations rather than broader wholesale changes.
“These changes will increase diversity and representation in news – priorities that accord with the Government’s rationale for policy intervention to support the news industry through the News Media Assistance Policy Framework adopted in December 2024.”
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