Digital Markets Bill and Media Bill passed, Section 40 is repealed
And as the general election gets underway Channel 4 and Sky News are first out the blocks revealing their coverage plans for polling day
Welcome to your daily newsletter from Press Gazette on Friday, 24 May.
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There are few things journalists enjoy more than a general election (maybe a free bar, or finding a blank book of taxi receipts).
And today we media folk have even more reason to rejoice as the pre-election legislative ‘wash-up’ has seen two laws passed which have massive ramifications for our world.
The first is the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill (read more here) which means the likes of Google, Facebook and probably Tiktok will be subject to a new regulator called the Digital Markets Unit.
The DMU will be charged with ensuring these tech giants deal fairly with news publishers and don’t rig the playing field against them. It is impossible to imagine that the DMU won’t have something to say about Google's plans to replace search as we know it with AI Overviews. As David Buttle wrote in Press Gazette yesterday, AI Overviews threaten to steal publishers’ content AND advertising without offering any clicks in return.
The Media Bill does much to safeguard the future of public service broadcasting in an on-demand world which is fast replacing linear TV and radio. It also finally removes the threat of statute-backed press regulation some ten years after Section 40 of the Crime and Courts Act was passed.
The principle is an important one and it ensures that newspapers and their websites will be free of any whiff of state control for another generation. The fear will be though that with the threat of Section 40 gone, tabloids will backslide into their bad old ways.
Scroll on for more news from Press Gazette, a comprehensive round-up of breaking news from our Twitter account and links to important stories from the last week that you might have missed.
Have a great weekend when you get there.
Jobs of the week
Dentsu Aegis Network is recruiting a retail media director based in Manchester
Carrot Pharma Recruitment is looking for a remote-based senior regulatory writer
FanDuel is looking for an associate motion graphic artist based in Los Angeles
To post and view more media jobs visit the Press Gazette jobs board.
New from Press Gazette
Digital Markets Bill passed paving way for publisher ‘level playing field’ with big tech
The UK has paved the way for Australia-style payments to news publishers from tech giants as the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill was passed by Parliament.
Media Bill passed protecting public service broadcasters and repealing Section 40
Passing of the Media Bill means threat of Government-backed press regulation has now lifted.
New technology from EX.CO helps publishers double on-site video revenue (promoted)
EX.CO has helped double ad revenue across the 1XL network of 700 UK local news websites.
Open Democracy wins complaint against Express over George Soros claim
IPSO said the article could create a misleading impression about Open Democracy's editorial independence.
Podcasts ‘are the future’ of news and investigations, says News Agents’ Lewis Goodall
Goodall says podcast format has allowed him to go into greater depth on stories than any other media.
Election night 2024: How broadcasters plan to report results
Sky News and Channel 4 have announced their plans to cover election night 2024 – the latter before Rishi Sunak even fired the starting gun.
GB News begins ‘formal legal process’ to challenge Ofcom rulings
It comes days after Ofcom said it was considering issuing GB News with a statutory sanction.
News in brief
General election 2024: Labour leader Keir Starmer has said he will take part in two televised debates, with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak asking for six. The format of the debates, and which broadcaster will get to host them, has yet to be agreed.
Metro is the latest newspaper to be cleared by press regulator IPSO over presentation of the claim that Hamas murdered babies on 7 October. (Press Gazette)
Global has announced a new podcast, "The Football Authorities", to be hosted by Clive Tyldesley and Martin O’Neill. (Global)
Ofcom has issued a note to broadcasters reminding them of their "special impartiality requirements" and said no candidate can act as a presenter in any type of programme during the election period. (Ofcom)
The Independent has made Danika Fears US head of news and Alex Lang US deputy news editor. (Independent)
Washington Post CEO Will Lewis says the business hopes to get out of its financial "hole" with Apple Pay-enabled micropayments and an Axios-style professional subscription tier. (CNN)
Mehdi Hasan's newsbrand Zeteo has generated $2m in revenue from 25,000 subscribers since launching on Substack in February. (New Statesman)
This week on Press Gazette
News Corp says OpenAI deal marks ‘beginning of beautiful friendship’
Google AI Overviews breaks search giant’s grand bargain with publishers
How media tech’s big four are harming publishers who power their world
Fears Google could down-rank publishers who decline to use Privacy Sandbox
Harry barred from adding claims against Rupert Murdoch to unlawful reporting trial
Latest podcast
Podcast 71: Daily Mail CEO Rich Caccappolo on keeping journalism free
This episode includes excerpts from an interview between Press Gazette editor-in-chief Dominic Ponsford and Rich Caccappolo, CEO of Daily Mail publisher DMG Media. It also features media consultant Matthew Scott Goldstein. They talk about how to save journalism (and democracy) on the open web by adapting to Google’s plan to switch off cookies on Chrome.
Caccappolo also provides an update on DMG Media’s legal action against Google and reveals how his company is growing overall revenue in a tough market.
Press Gazette live
Entries are now OPEN for the Future of Media Awards 2024 (which celebrate the best journalism-based digital products). Check out the full list of categories here. Note: These awards are free to enter.