A personfamiliarwiththematterconfirmed
thatFacebookhasapproachedNewsCorp.
aboutpayingtolicenseWallStreetJournal
stories.Thepersonrequestedanonymity
becausetheywerenotauthorizedtospeak
publiclyaboutthematter.
TheJournalreportwasnotclearastowhether
Facebookwasoffering$3milliontoindividual
publishersorintotaltoallnewsorganizations.
Manyinthenewsindustryhavelongblamed
FacebookandGoogleforusingtheircontent
forfreewhilethesocialnetworkslurpedup
themajorityofdigitaladdollars,imperiling
thenewsindustry.A bipartisanbillintroduced
inCongressthisyearwouldgrantanantitrust
exemptiontonewscompanies,lettingthem
bandtogethertonegotiatepaymentsfromthe
bigtechplatforms.
TheWashingtonPost,whichwasalsonamedin
thereportasa companyFacebookapproached,
declinedtocomment.TheWaltDisneyCo.,
whichownsABC,didnotimmediatelyrespond
toa messageforcomment.
Image: Stephen Lam