Tech giants don't like Australia's plan to force Google and Facebook to pay for news, to fund public interest journalism. But the government may well respond with a digital tax, says Allan Fels.

‘Suck it and see’ or face a digital tax, former ACCC boss Allan Fels warns Google and Facebook

Media Files is produced by a team of journalist/academics who have spent decades working in and reporting on the media industry. 

They’re passionate about sharing their understanding of the media landscape, especially how media policy, commercial manoeuvres and digital disruption are affecting the kinds of media and journalism we consume. The media is evolving rapidly, as new platforms and trends come and go. As old media empires collapse, new ones are forming. But the need to protect diversity, public interest journalism and public broadcasting has, arguably, never been greater.

Catch Media Files each month for discussion about the key issues and ideas facing this vital industry.

News & Politics

Journalist and author William Powers talks with Media Files about taking an internet sabbath, how the media covers tech and what's changed since his book Hamlet’s Blackberry was first published.

Internet sabbaths and surveillance capitalism in the COVID-19 era: William Powers on what’s changed since Hamlet’s Blackberry

No wonder that, according to a new international survey, media companies are increasingly unhappy with their lot. In this episode we hear from the survey's author, Robert Whitehead.

Media Files: Media companies are mad as hell at tech giants and don’t want to take it anymore. But what choice do they have?

Today we meet Bastian Obermayer, the Pulitizer prize-winning journalist who led the Panama Papers investigation into global tax evasion.

Media Files: investigative journalist Bastian Obermayer, who led the Panama Papers tax exposé

In Dickens' era, international copyright law developed from a worldwide effort to deal with a global problem. Is it time to tackle tech giants the same way? A journalist and a media owner explain.

‘Suck it and see’ or face a digital tax, former ACCC boss Allan Fels warns Google and Facebook

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