Media mogul Rupert Murdoch has suggested Facebook pay fees to authoritative news sources, floating a model that could help ailing media organizations share in the social media giant’s profits, The Independent reports.
“If Facebook wants to recognize ‘trusted’ publishers then it should pay those publishers a carriage fee similar to the model adopted by cable companies,” Mr Murdoch said in a statement.
News outlets have become heavily reliant on Facebook as they seek to put their content in front of readers. The social media hub has become a crucial distribution channel and a key source of information for many users, and much of the online traffic to news outlets comes through Facebook.
Last week, Facebook announced a change that could disrupt that flow of information, announcing it would seek to prioritise content posted by friends and family members rather than from the media.
In a follow-up post, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that users would also be able to designate whether certain sources are reliable, saying the change would not “change the amount of news you see on Facebook” but would only “shift the balance of news you see towards sources that are determined to be trusted by the community.”
“The idea is that some news organizations are only trusted by their readers or watchers, and others are broadly trusted across society even by those who don't follow them directly,” Mr Zuckerberg said.