Bargaining with local journalism's value

Local journalism’s role in generating sense of community, place-based belonging and social connection is a well-established phenomenon documented by scholars since the early 20th century. In 2020, Australia took centre stage in the battle between traditional and new media titans that reverberated across the globe when its government announced a mandatory bargaining code that would force Facebook and Google to compensate news providers for content shared on their platforms. In 2020, the Australian Government set an international precedent with its decision to introduce a mandatory media bargaining code following its Digital Platforms Inquiry. The battle with Facebook and Google crystallises the importance of understanding the local and its role and place as a node in digital global flows and movements, conceptualised elsewhere as a geo-social model that positions local news in the local-global nexus and emphasises its place and power in flows and nodes of information.