Online publishers deserve fair compensation from big tech, says ishiekwene
The editor-in-chief of Leadership Newspapers, Azu Ishiekwene, has said online publishers in Nigeria deserve fair compensation from global technology companies that use and monetise their content.
Speaking during a BBC News interview on Wednesday, Ishiekwene said media organisations invest heavily in producing news, yet major technology platforms benefit from their work without adequate returns to publishers.
His comments followed President Bola Tinubu’s directive to the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) to investigate major technology companies and generative artificial intelligence platforms over allegations of anti-competitive practices and exploitation of Nigerian media content.
The directive came after a joint petition by the Nigerian Press Organisation (NPO), which comprises the Newspaper Proprietors’ Association of Nigeria (NPAN), the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), the Broadcasting Organisations of Nigeria (BON), and the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers (GOCOP).
According to Ishiekwene, who serves as organising secretary of the NPO, the media industry has suffered significant revenue losses as advertising spending continues to shift to global technology firms.
He said the platforms have also become the primary gatekeepers of news, taking publishers’ content and monetising it while giving little or no financial return to those who produced it.
Ishiekwene noted that Google’s News Showcase programme compensates publishers in more than 30 countries but does not currently include Nigeria.
He said Nigerian publishers have therefore sought government intervention to ensure fairness and sustainability in the media industry.
He added that publishers expect transparency and accountability from technology companies during the FCCPC investigation and are studying compensation models adopted in countries such as Australia, Canada and South Africa.
According to him, Nigerian publishers are also engaging their South African counterparts to better understand how their compensation framework operates.
Ishiekwene said South Africa recognises news as a public good and has developed policies that protect local media organisations.
He expressed confidence that the FCCPC would ensure technology companies are held accountable, stressing that the platforms now do much more than aggregate news by controlling distribution and generating revenue from content they do not own.
He explained that publishers are seeking a compensation model under which technology companies would make annual payments to media organisations, similar to arrangements already operating in Australia, Canada and South Africa.
Ishiekwene said while the Australian and Canadian systems were introduced through government-backed initiatives, South Africa’s model emerged after a ruling by the country’s competition commission, which required Google to pay publishers hundreds of millions of rand annually.
