Legitimate concerns about how these businesses treat the privacy of their users have raised the threat of intervention by regulatory authorities. These are serious concerns, but it was their apparent abuse of market power that drew some of the most pointed criticism from Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg in responding to the 619-page Australian Competition and Consumer Commission report.

"Whether it be print, radio or television, content generated by journalists and owned by media companies is being displayed on social media and search engines, often without a negotiated agreement covering how data and content is monetised and shared," Mr Frydenberg said.

This is an important point. As the ACCC would no doubt agree, businesses shouldn't be shielded from the harsh winds of competition, and failure by weaker businesses is a natural part of the cycle of making the economy stronger and more efficient.

But in order to compete businesses need to be given a level playing field. For too long digital media giants, often based beyond Australia's legislative reach, have had a free ride off the backs of other businesses' content.

They have caught media businesses in a bind, by providing an online link to audiences, but stripping away much of the revenue required to pay for the journalism.

They have gorged themselves on the advertising placed next to work they had no hand in producing, often, as the Treasurer has noted, with little regard for the business that created the work in the first place. This is not only unconscionable, it's unsustainable.

More than 100 local and regional news titles have closed over the decade to 2018, with 20 per cent of print journalism jobs disappearing between 2014 and 2018.

Revenue has shrunk from $2 billion in classified advertising in 2001 to AU$200 million in 2016 at the same time Google and Facebook have approached or exceeded $100 billion each.

It would be easy to dismiss complaints by media companies as the bleating of a dying industry. But the reality is audiences for their content have never been bigger. It is a structural problem, not one of content, that needs to be addressed. Why? Because as the ACCC notes, professional journalists focusing on Australian news perform an important benefit to society that will not be replaced by large, multinationals entering the market.

Google, Facebook and Twitter are unlikely to attend the local law courts, spend time trawling through council minutes or scrutinising the spending of state, territory and local governments. News is expensive to produce, especially when someone else is skimming your profits.

Most of these online aggregators have in recent years made gestures towards the business of journalism, establishing foundations, training and new tools designed to assist journalists in the digital era. In recent years Google and others have also negotiated revenue sharing deals with news companies providing welcome revenue back to the content's creators. But the ACCC's report would suggest this has not always been done consistently, or in a way that fully recognises the cost of creating that content.

To its credit the federal government appears to understand this, and appears willing to act. A better deal that recognises the true value unique, local journalism provides to Australian communities would be welcomed by many.