After news the ACCC had approved its bid for collective bargaining agreements, Country Press Australia (CPA) and Facebook have signed a letter of intent to help financially support regional newsrooms.
The CPA – which represents 81 news publishers who publish 160 regional newspapers across Australia – had sought approval from the ACCC for its publishers to exchange information about deals with Facebook and Google with one another to collectively negotiate.
With collective bargaining now approved, the publishers have now struck a multi-year deal with Facebook.
In a release, Facebook said the agreement will “provide an innovation fund to support newsroom sustainability and digital transformation”.
“This funding support will help Country Press Australia’s members build their digital businesses and reach new audiences. It’s part of our continuing investment in Australian journalism and our collaboration with the news industry to build sustainable business models. We’re pleased to reach this agreement with CPA because it furthers our work with small rural newsrooms,” said Andrew Hunter, News Partnership Lead, Facebook Australia and New Zealand.
Facebook recently signed a similar deal with ACM, which will bring content from Newcastle Herald, Canberra Times, Bendigo Advertiser, The Advocate, Katherine Times and Illawarra Mercury to Facebook over the coming years.