Newspapers to FTC: Digital Deck Is Stacked Against Quality Journalism

The News Media Alliance has told the Federal Trade Commission that it needs to take action to "rein in tech giants' anticompetitive conduct." That came in comments to the agency in advance of a planned series of public hearings over the next six months or so on competition and consumer protection policy in the digital age. It told the FTC that the Googles and Facebooks of the world did not get to be dominant in distribution and monetization on their merits alone. Instead, "they have grown with the assistance of serial acquisitions and exclusionary conduct aimed at nascent competitors and technologies that threaten to supplant their positions." NMA also said those tech giants are using that market power to force practices on their members that threaten the viability of the news business. One thing NMA takes issue with what they say is social media platforms' "unwillingness to prioritize and identify the original source of news content, even for a limited time. This solution would greatly benefit news publishers who spend significant time and resources on long-term investigative journalism that is then repackaged and distributed by those who do not make similar investments."