About the Guest(s):

Ricky Sutton is a prominent voice in the media landscape. Currently spearheading Future Media, a thought-leading platform on Substack, Ricky delivers in-depth analysis on the critical shifts in media, particularly around international tech platforms and their effects on local journalism.

Episode Summary:

In this episode Wade Kingsley and Natasha Lee delve into the intricacies of the media landscape with industry expert Ricky Sutton. As they sip their drinks, the conversation wanders through topics like the state of journalism amidst job cuts, the evolving digital media paradigm, and Ricky's insightful understanding of the News Media Bargaining Code (NMBC) and its latest iteration, the News Bargaining Incentive (NBI).

Ricky Sutton breaks down the history, challenges, and future implications of the News Media Bargaining Code, highlighting its initial success and later shortcomings. This world-first legislation aimed to redistribute wealth from tech giants Google and Meta back to Australian media companies, initially fetching a substantial financial injection. However, Ricky explains how these deals began to unravel, with Meta retracting its support post-legislation. Featured prominently, this conversation underscores pressing topics such as media digitisation, job redundancies, and the political hesitancy to enforce stronger legislative measures. As Ricky notes, the "defunding" of journalism—an 80% financial erosion over 12 years—raises critical alarms and questions about the future of news media integrity and resilience, especially with looming five-year delays in publisher payouts under the new NBI framework.

Key Takeaways:

• Media Job Losses: The dialogue reveals a significant reduction in available positions within media, especially journalism, due to digital evolution and the distribution of responsibilities to fewer employees.
• News Media Bargaining Code: Initially aimed at infusing revenue into Australian media by taxing entities like Google and Meta, highlighting its limited scope and unexpected outcomes.
• Advertising vs. Journalism: Meta's strategic focus on advertising through AI content generation, indicates a shift away from traditional news dissemination as a revenue source.
• News Bargaining Incentive: A new approach aimed at indirectly taxing tech companies and encouraging negotiations with local publishers, albeit with challenges in enforceability and effect.
• Future Outlook: Continued pressure on government policy refinement in balancing tech influence over local media sustainability.

Notable Quotes from Ricky Sutton:

1. "The media industry has been defunded 80 cents on the dollar in the past 12 years."
2. "Meta is not a social media company; it's an advertising company."
3. "The solve here is to know how much those companies are making in Australia and tax them on their real earnings."
4. "If Meta doesn't want to deal with our news, the new tax approach is our shot across the bow, even if it's a Rubik's Cube-level complexity."
5. "The Media Bargaining Incentive is an attempt to turn the tables, promising tax rebates for good behaviour."

Resources:

• Future Media on Substack - Ricky Sutton's blog offering deep analyses into media issues.