News Corp and Facebook Reach Agreement in Australia

   By Maria Armental 
 

News Corp reached a deal to let Facebook Inc. feature news in Australia from some of News Corp's key properties, including The Australian national newspaper, the company said Monday.

The three-year deal follows an agreement reached in October 2019 involving News Corp publications in the U.S., including The Wall Street Journal and other Dow Jones media properties.

"The agreement with Facebook is a landmark in transforming the terms of trade for journalism, and will have a material and meaningful impact on our Australian news businesses," News Corp Chief Executive Robert Thomson said in a statement. "This digital denouement has been more than a decade in the making."

The latest agreement, which followed a news blackout in Australia from Facebook last month amid a spat with the government over payment for content, involves News Corp Australia and includes The Australian newspaper, the news.com.au news site, metropolitan mastheads like The Daily Telegraph in New South Wales, Herald Sun in Victoria and The Courier-Mail in Queensland and regional and community publications, News Corp said.

Sky News Australia, meanwhile, reached a new agreement with Facebook that extends and "significantly builds" on an existing arrangement, the company said.

The company didn't disclose financial and other details.

News Corp has reached similar agreements with Alphabet Inc.'s Google and Apple Inc.

On Monday, Mr. Thomson credited the Australian government "for taking a principled stand for publishers, small and large, rural and urban, and for Australia."

Write to Maria Armental at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 15, 2021 17:47 ET (21:47 GMT)

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