Minderoo Foundation and Google sign agreement for Google to support 24 digital publishers

Minderoo Foundation and Google have reached an agreement that will see Google offer commercial deals to two dozen Australian independent publishers.

The agreement benefits publishers represented by the Minderoo Foundation, which registered with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to bargain on behalf of those publishers.

Following negotiations facilitated by Minderoo Foundation’s Frontier Technology initiative, the publishers will be offered deals from Google for a range of initiatives. These publishers play a critical role in the creation and distribution of news content for the benefit of the Australian public.

Frontier Technology Senior Policy Adviser Emma McDonald said the commercial agreement would protect local journalism and give the independent publishers the opportunity to flourish.

“We are delighted Google recognises the value these publishers deliver to their communities. This deal has been negotiated in good faith over the past six months, culminating in a landmark agreement for independent journalism,” Ms McDonald said.

“These publishers are working hard to produce important public interest journalism, including in rural and outer urban areas, and with multicultural and LGBTQI+ communities. Without them, the news they publish would often not be reported, and the Australian public would lose an important service,” she said.
“We are pleased to have worked with the Minderoo foundation to identify a broad set of solutions for a diverse group of publishers, and I’d like to thank Emma and The Minderoo Foundation for their collaboration,” said Shilpa Jhunjhunwala, Google’s Head of ANZ News Partnerships.

“These agreements will mean we have reached more than 60 individual commercial partnerships for News Showcase, representing more than 180 individual Australian media outlets.

“These offerings cover a range of content and digital transformation initiatives, tailored to the publication.”