Public-interest journalism is not free to produce.

Every story carries a cost. It takes journalists, editors, photographers, designers, technology, legal care, social media professionals, printing, distribution, cultural care and time. It takes people willing to ask difficult questions, sit through long meetings, visit communities, read reports, check facts and tell stories carefully.

For Indigenous media, that responsibility is even greater.

The National Indigenous Times has a critical role in the Australian media landscape. We report on issues that are too often overlooked, misunderstood or only covered when there is a crisis. We cover land rights, native title, deaths in custody, Indigenous business, remote communities, culture, fashion, arts, sport, politics, health, education, justice, heritage and economic development.

This is not niche journalism. It is national public-interest journalism.

It informs communities. It scrutinises governments, businesses and institutions. It records the achievements, concerns and voices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It gives space to stories that might otherwise go untold.

That is why the Federal Government's proposed News Media Bargaining Incentive matters.

The principle behind it is straightforward. If major digital platforms use, distribute, summarise or benefit from Australian news content as part of their business model, they should make a fair commercial contribution to the newsrooms that produce that content.

This is not charity. It is not a handout. It is a recognition that journalism has value.

For years, Australian publishers have carried the cost of producing public-interest reporting while global technology platforms have benefited from the circulation and use of that content. News helps make those platforms useful. It drives engagement, informs search results, feeds social discussion and increasingly helps power artificial intelligence tools.

A fair system should recognise that value.

The National Indigenous Times Group supports the broad intent of the proposed Incentive. We believe it can help sustain public-interest journalism in Australia, provided it is designed carefully and applied fairly.

The Government should ensure the scheme supports the full breadth of the Australian media landscape. That includes major established publishers, regional and remote media, independent outlets, specialist publications and Indigenous newsrooms.

It should also recognise the particular role of Indigenous journalism. Indigenous media is not an optional extra in Australian democracy. It is part of the national infrastructure of public-interest reporting.

A scheme designed to support Australian journalism should make that explicit.

The Government should also look openly at the platforms and technologies that ought to be included.

Google, Meta and TikTok are obvious parts of the debate. But professional networks such as LinkedIn should also be considered where they distribute, rank, recommend and monetise news content. LinkedIn is no longer just a place for job updates. It is a major platform for business, policy, government, employment and public-interest discussion.

For publications like the Indigenous Business Review, that matters. Indigenous business, procurement, native title, resources, government policy and economic development stories circulate through professional networks every day.

Artificial intelligence must also be dealt with properly.

Large language model services such as ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot, Grok and similar systems are changing how people search for information. These tools can draw on news content to generate answers, summaries and explanations that may replace the need for a reader to visit the original publisher.

If Australian news content is being used to train, inform, retrieve, summarise or generate responses for commercial AI services, then those services should not sit outside the framework.

The law should focus on substance, not technical labels. If a platform or AI service benefits from Australian journalism, it should be capable of contributing to the cost of producing it.

There should also be transparency. Australians should be able to see whether money is flowing to a genuinely diverse range of publishers, not just whether platforms have found the easiest way to meet a technical requirement.

The framework should encourage meaningful commercial agreements. It should protect editorial independence. It should support real journalism, not advertising credits, contra arrangements or public relations activity dressed up as support for news.

The Government should also be realistic.

Many of the companies affected by this proposal are large American technology businesses with extraordinary financial power and political influence. They are unlikely to welcome stronger regulation. Some will resist. Some will argue the scheme is unfair. Some may seek support from the United States government and political cover from the President to avoid these new obligations.

That should not deter Australia from acting.

The future of Australian journalism should not depend on whether global platforms feel generous. Nor should Indigenous journalism depend on being noticed by companies headquartered on the other side of the world.

Australia has a right to set rules that protect its own public-interest media.

At the same time, we should acknowledge the people and organisations who already help make our work possible. The National Indigenous Times Group is deeply grateful to our advertisers, strategic partners and community partners who recognise the value of independent Indigenous journalism. Their support helps sustain reporting that informs communities, strengthens public debate and keeps important stories in the national conversation.

But commercial support for journalism should not fall only to advertisers and community partners. The digital platforms that use and benefit from news content must also play their part.

The National Indigenous Times Group has spent more than two decades helping tell the stories of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. We do that work because it matters. We do it because our communities deserve strong, independent and culturally grounded journalism. We do it because Australia is better informed when Indigenous voices are heard clearly and consistently.

The proposed News Media Bargaining Incentive is an opportunity to strengthen that work.

The Government should be bold enough to make the scheme fit for the media landscape we are now in, not the one we used to know. That means recognising Indigenous journalism, including AI and emerging platforms, supporting a diverse range of publishers, and ensuring the companies that benefit from public-interest journalism make a fair contribution to its future.

Big tech may not want to play ball.

But Australia should not apologise for asking it to play fair.

Reece Harley is the Managing Director of the National Indigenous Times Group.