When Tim Berners-Lee set the specifications of URLs, HTTP, and HTML protocols for the world wide web, he set off how information would be shared on the internet. In fact, the foundation and spread of the internet has come from the free sharing of internet links across a free and open internet. The sharing and compensation of these links is at the heart of the battle among governments and news publishers with the digital giants.
Over the past few weeks, the digital giants (i.e. Google and Facebook) have faced a standoff over how news organizations and their content would be compensated for access to social media networks as well as search engines. The battle came to a heated frenzy when Google agreed to compensating news organizations and Facebook decided to pull news feeds and links from their Australian users[1]. The recent news of Canada following suit with Australia has brought this issue to the forefront.
The Business Models of Journalism Have Not Fared Well in a Digital World
At the center of the battle is the business models and monetization models among content (i.e. news organizations), network (i.e. the reach of the internet with social networks and media), technology platforms (i.e. digital giants), and consumers. The news organizations feel their content is what draws the social networks and search giants, yet the data would show that only 2 to 4% of content used by social networks come from these content providers. Anywhere from 1 to 3% of searches are news related for the search giants. For the digital giants, they provide access to their networks and distribution platforms as a service to the publishers and news organizations and feel that they should not compensate them for this valuable access to billions of users.