The NBI is here, but the battle isn’t over

Parliament passed the News Bargaining Incentive legislation last month, marking a major milestone in Australian news media’s fight for sustainability in an increasingly challenging digital environment.

Many in the industry would argue there is much room for improvement – and would quibble over their choices of changes – but there is a sense of relief and hope.

There may also be some wariness; tech giants and the US government have been vociferously critical of the NBI throughout the design and consultation process, but largely quiet since the legislation passed.

What comes next? Will digital platforms concede the battle and come to the bargaining table, or will they front the charges – either way, risking setting an international precedent? Will other Australian industries pay the price if the US government decides to flex its significant trade muscle? Will the Australian government have the conviction to see this through, and keep working on other initiatives to ensure the survival of a strong, diverse fourth estate?

We’ll have to wait and see.

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If the US takes a swing over the NBI, should Australia take the hit? 

The US huffed and puffed over the NBI. Now it is law, experts say retaliation is almost certain – but Australia would be able to withstand the blow.

‘Do it once, do it right’: Why it might be worth waiting for progress on news and AI 

Australia is closer to bringing social media platforms and search engines to the bargaining table, but experts warn against rushing similar efforts for generative AI.

Research callouts

Got something to say about news and trust?

University of Sydney researchers are looking to speak with Australian news media producers to identify the ways that trust impacts their work, the ways their work impacts trust in the news, and the way their work impacts the public’s trust in its institutions.

Interviews will take about 45 minutes, and contributions will be anonymous unless participants ask to be named.

Interested in taking part, or want to find out more? Contact Dr Timothy Koskie: t.koskie@sydney.edu.au.

Got something to say about AI and journalism?

Pace University professor of journalism Mirjana Pantic is collecting survey data for a research study examining how media professionals – including journalists, editors, producers and photojournalists – are using AI in their work.

The survey takes approximately 10 minutes to complete.

Click this link to take the survey, or email Mirjana with any questions: mpantic@pace.edu.

ICYMI: Industry updates

Australia

• Pauline Hanson’s lawyer mistakenly CC’d The Australian editor Kelvin Healey in an email informing the One Nation leader of the “good news” that a bankruptcy notice had been served to former One Nation senator Brian Burston.
• Whistleblower David McBride was released on parole after serving more than two years in jail.
  In 2024, the former military lawyer was sentenced to almost six years for stealing classified documents and sharing them with journalists. The resulting story from the ABC revealed allegations that Australian soldiers were involved in unlawful killings.
• The ABC admitted to airing an “inaccurate” claim by Victorian Socialists candidate Hera Sheppard that billionaire Gina Rinehart wants Australians workers to “work for $2 a day”.
  This came soon after the ABC apologised to Rinehart for airing a ‘satirical’ clip which depicted violence against her.
  The ABC Ombudsman found the clip did not breach the broadcaster’s editorial standards, which a spokesperson for Hancock Prospecting said indicated a need for “significant improvement”.
• News24 (formerly Sky News) issued a correction after host Peta Credlin falsely claimed on air that the Australian Bureau of Statistics had removed Judaism as a religion option on the 2026 census.
• US-founded Politico launched Canberra Playbook, which it said combines Australian reporting with analysis on how decisions made in the US and Europe affect Australia and the Pacific. A companion podcast is set to launch in October.
  Speaking at the 2026 Mumbrella Publish Conference, Politico Australia launch editor Ryan Heath described Australia’s political coverage as a pyramid that too often “points upward”, concentrating on ministers and parliament at the expense of scrutiny of the broader ecosystem, including political staffers, lobbyists and advocacy groups.
• Nine announced it became the first free-to-air broadcaster in Australia to produce and broadcast a live news bulletin using cloud-based production technology.
  The company expects the national rollout of the technology to be completed by the end of 2027.
• More than one-third of young Australians aged 10 to 17 use generative AI as a news source, ahead of social media, TV and radio, the ‘News and Young Australians in 2026’ report found.
  Less than half of young people feel confident they can tell fact from fiction online, and nearly one-third of young people who shared a news story online in the past six months later found out a story they had shared was false.

Around the World

• The Trump administration backed OpenAI in its legal battle with the New York Times, arguing in favour of the use of copyrighted material to train AI.
  The Justice Department stated that “the creative possibilities and public benefits” of training large language models “far outweigh any competitive harm” and that siding with The New York Times and other publishers in the copyright case would thwart “creative and scientific progress while hindering American prosperity and economic mobility.”
• The Washington Post reported journalists and other passengers were left aboard Air Force One after US President Donald Trump and select staff secretly boarded another plane in response to an alleged assassination threat in July. 
• Following deadly flash flooding in Nepal and Tibet, local and international journalists faced difficulties reporting on the extent of the destruction and tackling disinformation due largely to damaged infrastructure in Nepal and censorship by the Chinese government in Tibet.
• An NBC news team and a Palestinian woman they were interviewing were beaten by Israeli settlers in the West Bank, with the broadcaster releasing footage of the attack. 
• Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International each concluded an Israeli attack in Lebanon that killed journalist Amal Khalil and seriously wounded her colleague Zeinab Faraj in April was an apparent war crime.
  The organisations called for action from the international community and for Lebanon to accept the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court. The Israeli military denied targeting the journalists and said its strikes had instead targeted Hezbollah operatives.
• The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) Asia Pacific called for defamation charges against veteran Samoan journalist Lagi Keresoma to be dropped immediately.
  IFJ Asia Pacific director Jane Worthing said the “bogus” case sends “a really worrying message that a country like Samoa can use defamation laws to actively silence quality journalism.” If convicted, Keresoma could reportedly face up to six months in prison or a fine of about $8000.
• Hungary’s state TV aired its first news bulletin since July, ending a suspension imposed while the government launched reforms aiming to restore the broadcaster’s independence following the ousting of long-time Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
• Proposed reforms to Somalia’s penal code could turn public interest journalism “into a potential offence, and journalists into criminals”, Reporters Without Borders Sub-Saharan Africa Bureau head of advocacy Jeanne Lagarde warned.

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