Barry Soper: ZB senior political correspondent on the Government advancing an amended version of the Fair Digital News Bargaining Bill

The Government's moves to force tech giants to support New Zealand-produced news have been met with scepticism.

Fair Digital Bargaining Bill has been amended - in a bid to ensure Google and Meta pay to use news content on their platforms.

ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper says it's unlikely Meta will respond well, considering the action they've taken against Australia and Canada.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Very so, Senior Political correspondence with US Heybarry.

Speaker 2 (00:02):
Good afternoon, Heather.

Speaker 1 (00:03):
What's the most likely reaction from Facebook's parent company Meta
to this fair digital news bargaining?

Speaker 2 (00:09):
Bill Well, I would imagine it would be the same
as Meta has reacted in a number of other countries,
in particularly Canada. They throw their toys out of the cot,
they don't play ball, and you know you're no further ahead.
This is the plan that Melissa Lee apparently had been
working on and it doesn't come as anything.

Speaker 1 (00:31):
This is Willie Jackson's plan.

Speaker 2 (00:32):
Well, you know, this is the one that Melissa Lee
got tongue tied about. I think looking at what was
what was the way through for media companies and what
is a very difficult situation. But the most that this
will drag in would be about thirty million dollars, which

(00:52):
is pittance when you consider what the revenues are of
media companies, even though they are going through very tough times.
The Minister will decide in the amended version which digital
platforms are captured by the Bill and Paul Goldsmith, and
I know you're going to be talking to him. He says,

(01:14):
that'll allow them to manage unintended consequences. What they are,
I'm not quite sure, but he says they'll also ensure
an appropriate independent regulator is appointed to act as the
bill's authority. Now and you mentioned it, the government will
remove Saturday or Sunday morning advertising and public holidays from television,

(01:38):
which is a good I think a good move. It
will make only around six million dollars a year, so
again not a lot of money, but Goldsmith says the
initiative will need labor support for it to be successful
and acknowledges it's not going to be the silver bullet
that many would like.

Speaker 3 (01:56):
Government's not able to solve all the problems of the
many businesses operating. Some businesses in the media landscape and
New Zealand are doing very well and some have been struggling.
It's been compounded by the fact we're in a tough
economic spot and so advertising revenue has been low in
that case as well. But all we can do is
make some changes that I think will help. How do

(02:17):
we encourage conversations to be had between very large multinational
streaming companies and local media producers and so you know,
we think m balance this is a good way to go.

Speaker 2 (02:30):
Well, we'll see about that. But you know, conversations have
already been held. For example, zed Me, the organization that
owns news talk ZB in the Herald, they've already talked
to Google.

Speaker 4 (02:44):
They already have a deal.

Speaker 2 (02:45):
They have a deal, they've been paid. I believe that
stuff might be in negotiations at the moment, but would
seem that Google is a much easier organization to deal
with than Meta. If you listen to Act, they say
beg to differ. They've invoked that clause. They say the
bills are stopped a stop. It's one of those things

(03:06):
you do when you don't know what else to do,
David Seymour said, and he said to him, it always
appeared like an attempt to force one group of businesses
to subsidize another. And if you listen to the tax bars,
you know, I think they make a fair point. If
the mainstream media can't stand on its own two feet,
it's because they're out of touch with New Zealanders. Study

(03:29):
after study shows that people don't trust us anymore. And
the answer is to do The answer isn't to start
bailing out, which is what the suggestion is behind this bill.
And I think that's a fair claim that you've got
to change with the times. And I guess it's unfortunate
that this comes in the very week that news Hub

(03:51):
is closing up its operation. It's probably, well, yeah, maybe,
but you know, it's the timing is a bit unfortunate.

Speaker 3 (03:58):
I suppose.

Speaker 1 (04:00):
Hilarious is it that Chappy to Kenney, who runs kayeinga order,
goes out and tells the staff off for leaking in
a video which then gets leaked.

Speaker 2 (04:07):
Yeah, yeah, that's right, and then tells them they're going
to be fired. It's incredible. They're asking staff to apply
for redundancy, and certainly there's a lot of tension there.
They're looking at more than four hundred jobs. There's a
new redundancy process that was announced last week. Now Tokarne

(04:30):
Chappy Note has of course invited applications for redundancy. Minutes
after urging disgruntled staff to look for a job elsewhere
if they don't like the way the organization's being run,
he said, they may have their opinions, but if it's
not the right agency for you, he said, then essentially

(04:54):
get lost. Now you haven't heard this fellow on air
on this program. I think for several years now. I
remember one of the last interviews you had with him,
but the staff certainly heard Champy condemn those who have
been leaking from the organization can including those who leaked
the video of him.

Speaker 4 (05:14):
The leaking of information and debating the change proposal publicly
did not advantage anyone. What that did do is put
Kaimah and the wider organization under pressure, and it disrespected
every other member of staff who showed up to give
their best even when facing an uncertain future themselves. The
leaking of information exposed to poor culture, which is not

(05:37):
reflective of who we are as an organization, but most
significantly made it harder for faring communities to believe will
do the right thing when working with their tim of
the king.

Speaker 2 (05:46):
Now there's an old cliche government here, There no clue.
Let's review now as we know that's been done many
times with the rung of Dummriki and it's still the same.

Speaker 1 (05:58):
Okay, thank you, Barry, appreciate it. Barri's overseeing political corresponders.
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