The UN cultural agency UNESCO has launched a global consultation to figure out how to make online platforms and AI companies pay fairly for the journalistic content they increasingly cannot live without. The initiative comes, the agency says, at a time when securing the sustainability of news media is more urgent than ever to protect the future of journalism and safeguard information integrity - which is a polite way of saying that if we don't figure this out soon, the only news left will be press releases from the platforms themselves.

The draft text under consultation paints a grim picture of the media landscape, noting disruptions including decreased funding for public-interest journalism, the contraction or closure of local and community news organisations, and other challenges that indicate a fundamental and ongoing change in the structure of the information economy. In other words, a small number of large, multinational digital platforms and AI actors now occupy a central intermediary role between media and the public, shaping content discovery, influencing the conditions through which journalism reaches audiences, and mediating access to digital advertising markets in ways that have materially altered the economic conditions in which journalism operates - which is a very diplomatic way of saying they took all the money.

UNESCO is seeking feedback from governments, regulatory authorities, media, civil society, academia and other stakeholders through 30 July. Through an online survey, respondents can share their inputs and perspectives on how the document can be improved to achieve the aim of safeguarding freedom of expression, strengthening media viability, and supporting the future of independent journalism in the context of growing digital platforms and AI actors. Submissions can be in English, French or Spanish, because UNESCO believes in making bureaucracy accessible to all.

Ahead of the deadline, three online regional roundtables will be convened to facilitate dialogue and input from people in Asia-Pacific and the Arab States, Africa and Europe, and the Americas and the Caribbean. The draft guidance builds on UNESCO's Guidelines for the Governance of Digital Platforms, issued in 2023, which call for supporting media sustainability, diversity, and pluralism. It is also informed by the agency's work on generative AI governance and human rights impact assessments, as well as global principles promoting fair compensation for journalism. The final draft of the Guidance will be published later this year, alongside a report summarizing the key insights and contributions received - assuming, of course, that the AI doesn't write it first.