News organizations aren’t getting their share of the revenue their content helps generate. And a healthy democracy depends on healthy journalism. The Australian government has developed an innovative proposal that would require tech gatekeepers like Facebook and Google to share search revenue with local independent news organizations. Their approach is a potential model for other countries, too.
Google threatened to pull its search service out of Australia. Microsoft has endorsed the Australian proposal and committed that its Bing search service would remain in the country. Microsoft is also prepared to share revenue with news organizations under the rules that Google and Facebook are rejecting.
Parachute journalism goes away for good
“The reasons are as practical as they are ideological. Travel is dangerous and many places are simply inaccessible to outside journalists. Sources are understandably warier than ever about meeting strangers to talk about a story.”
In the absence of local staff, many news organizations have for decades relied on a foreign correspondence model known as parachute journalism.
The term evokes a vivid image: An out-of-towner arrives by air, perhaps without much preparation or knowledge. Upon landing, he or she does their best to manage local language, currency, transportation, and communication, all while likely nursing jetlag. The parachute journalist might rely on a “fixer” a local journalist with knowledge and connections who may not receive any credit on the final product. Or the visiting reporter might go it alone, inevitably missing critical context and possibly key facts.