Independent digital publisher Man of Many has called on the federal government to amend the News Bargaining Incentive, warning it will repeat the failures of its predecessor.
The publisher has lodged two submissions to the federal government, one to the Treasury on the Charge and Administration Bills and one to the Department of Infrastructure on the proposed distribution framework.
As part of its submission, Man of Many identified five material gaps in the exposure draft legislation and proposed structural amendments to ensure funding reaches Australian journalism rather than, as the publisher put it, the "corporate balance sheets of the publishers that happen to employ the most journalists."
Man of Many referred to data published around the original News Media Bargaining Code, stating an estimated $200 million to $250 million per year flowed to Australian publishers, with 60% to 70% directed to News Corp Australia, Nine Entertainment, and Seven West Media, under the original code.
The publisher explained that in the years that followed, News Corp's parent launched a USD $1 billion share buyback, Nine acquired QMS Media for $850 million and cut 200 jobs, and Seven West Media announced a $100 million cost-out program, with about 450 journalists made redundant across the three commercial publishers in 2024.
Man of Many said this data was directly relevant to how the NBI was designed, insisting the government must close this loop under the new legislation.
In its two submissions, the publisher identified five material gaps in the exposure draft legislation and proposed structural amendments to ensure funding reached Australian journalism.
Man of Many called the "zero deals" scenario a central concern, urging the government to consider the risk that platforms may refuse to negotiate, instead solely paying the NBI levy.
"A platform may rationally conclude that paying the 2.25 per cent levy in full and passing the cost through to advertisers and end users is preferable to setting a global precedent of bargaining with media businesses," said Man of Many.
The publisher pointed to Meta's withdrawal from its NMBC-era publisher deals in 2024 and its removal of news from Facebook and Instagram in Australia as evidence that the risk was real.
"There is no public indication it intends to re-enter commercial negotiations under the NBI framework," said Man of Many.
If platforms pay the levy rather than negotiate, Many of Many warns funds would flow into a statutory payment scheme distributed on the basis of full-time equivalent journalists at ACMA-registered news businesses.
The problem, Man of Many argued, was the register.
ACMA's own Media Diversity Measurement Framework identified more than 2,730 professional news outlets in Australia. The ACMA register, the proposed sole eligibility pathway, includes about 83.
“The same regulator that measures Australian news diversity at 2,730 outlets is gating the distribution of public-purpose journalism funding to fewer than 3% of them,” said Man of Many.
Under the original Code, an estimated $200 million to $250 million per year flowed to Australian publishers, with 60% to 70% directed to News Corp Australia, Nine Entertainment, and Seven West Media.
Under the new code, Man of Many's aligned its position with a joint statement issued on 19 May 2026 by the Local and Independent News Association, the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia and the Digital Publishers Alliance, calling for a mandatory minimum of 25% of all platform deals to be directed to small and medium publishers, a higher offset rate for SME deals, and a 15% set-aside from the levy distribution pool for smaller and independent publishers.
Alongside this, Man of Many's submission included three proposed amendments to the drafted legislation intended to “close the gap between the policy's stated intent and its likely real-world effect.”
First, Many of Many recommended closing the AI exemption.
The drafted legislation currently excludes large language model services, exempting ChatGPT, Perplexity, and similar AI tools from the bill - despite AI summarisation being a primary mechanism of value extraction from publisher content.
Man of Many said industry data pointed to median referral traffic declines of 20% to 60% directly attributable to AI search features.
Second, Many of Many proposed adding a 10% single-recipient cap and a 30% independent diversity floor to prevent funding from concentrating on legacy newsrooms, with the floor reserved for publishers with revenue under $50 million.
Last, the publisher recommended a mandated use-of-funds reporting, requiring all recipients above a minimum threshold to disclose how distributions were spent annually.
It recommended that the report include journalist salaries, technology, executive compensation, and capital management, verified through a JobKeeper-style payroll evidence mechanism.
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