[ti:Google to Pay $1 Billion to News Publishers] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:00.04]Google's parent company Alphabet [00:02.44]announced plans this month to pay one billion dollars [00:06.16]to news media for their stories over the next three years. [00:11.36]Reuters news agency says the move could help Alphabet win over [00:15.88]a powerful group at a time of growing concern [00:19.32]about technology companies and the rules that govern them. [00:24.44]For years, traditional news media [00:27.04]have fought the world's most popular internet search engine. [00:31.84]News publishers want to be paid for their stories, pictures and other content. [00:38.84]European media groups have been leading the fight. [00:43.16]The head of Alphabet, Sundar Pichai, announced last week [00:48.88]that a new product called Google News Showcase will launch first in Germany. [00:56.72]The company has reached agreements with German newspapers including [01:02.32]Der Spiegel, Stern, and Die Zeit. [01:07.36]In Brazil, Alphabet has deals with the publications Folha de Sao Paulo, Band and Infobae. [01:16.80]Google News Showcase will also use content from news media [01:21.56]in Belgium, India, the Netherlands and other countries. [01:27.40]About 200 publishers in six countries have signed up to the product. [01:33.80]The six are Argentina, Australia, Britain, Brazil, Canada and Germany. [01:42.68]"This financial commitment - our biggest to date [01:46.28]- will pay publishers to create... high-quality content [01:50.16]for a different kind of online news experience," Pichai said. [01:55.72]Google's parent company Alphabet reported a net profit of $34.3 billion [02:02.72]on earnings of almost $162 billion last year. [02:08.60]The product will give publishers the ability to choose [02:11.72]and present their stories on Google News. [02:15.48]The service will be offered first on Android devices [02:19.08]and then on products made by Apple. [02:22.64]German publisher the Spiegel Group welcomed the project. [02:28.12]The Spiegel Group's Stefan Ottlitz noted, [02:31.64]"Google shows that they are serious about supporting quality journalism in Germany. [02:38.24]We are happy to be part of News Showcase from the start." [02:42.84]The European Publishers Council was critical of the project. [02:48.40]The council's members include News UK, The Guardian, [02:52.52]Pearson, The New York Times and Schibsted. [02:57.76]Angela Mills Wade is Executive Director of the EPC. [03:03.16]She said that by launching this product, Google can dictate terms and conditions, [03:09.20]and possibly affect legislation designed to create conditions for a fair negotiation. [03:16.76]At the same time, she noted, [03:19.12]the company can say it is helping to finance news production. [03:24.28]Publishers in France have often criticized Google. [03:28.04]Yet the company is now negotiating with them. [03:32.40]Australia wants to force Google and Facebook [03:35.92]to share money earned from advertising with local media. [03:40.72]Other internet publishers are also critical of Google. [03:44.36]They note the company is paying news organizations [03:47.64]but not weather websites or for other content. [03:50.64]I'm Gregory Stachel. [03:52.96]And I'm Jill Robbins. 更多听力请访问51VOA.COM