Newspaper publishers in the United Kingdom are looking to government to help push back against the likes of Google and Facebook. The Guardian reports that the News Media Association, a trade body, wants help from the government to level the playing field between publishers who invest in content creation, and news aggregators, such as Facebook, which do not.
Says a briefing provided to U.K. ministers by the News Media Association: “It is becoming increasingly difficult to meet these costs, partly because of the lower value of digital advertising compared to print, but also because of the diversion of advertising spend from publishers towards aggregators.”
Publishers in the United Kingdom are not alone in sharing these concerns. In May, Bob Cox, chair of the Canadian Newspaper Association, testified before the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage, where he advocated for increased government support for the publishing industry.
