John Georges Seeks Meta AI Deal as His Newspaper’s Meta Ties Draw Scrutiny

John Georges wants Meta to pay for his newspapers’ content. He has also put his media company’s name on a dinner celebrating Meta and published Meta-sponsored videos about its Louisiana data center. In a newly published interview with Gulf States Newsroom and The Lens, the owner defended those ties as staffers questioned the line between selling to Meta and covering it. No AI licensing deal has been reported as signed.

The deal Georges has chased

Georges co-owns Georges Media Group with his wife, Dathel. Its papers include The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate. He told the interviewers he has pursued an AI licensing contract with Meta for more than a year. Such a contract would pay the publisher for the right to use its articles in AI systems, rather than leave that use uncompensated.

He calls licensing the path that “will save journalism,” though that is his bet, not a result for his papers. The joint report points to a $150 million News Corp deal as the kind of agreement he wants. Meta has announced news partnerships with News Corp and three European publishers; it says Meta AI can use partner content in answers and link people to their articles. Georges Media is not among the partners Meta named in that announcement.

The ambition comes from a publisher who says print advertising still gives his business a longer runway than many outlets. Georges said employment across the group’s five outlets has fallen by about two-thirds from its peak, to around 450. A licensing payment would offer another source of revenue, but he has yet to secure one from Meta.

The invitation carried the publisher’s name

Earlier this summer, Georges learned that Meta was planning a dinner ahead of an announcement about expanding its Louisiana data-center project. Georges Media Group became a co-host. The invitation paired its name with Meta’s, and the company’s logo appeared beside Meta’s in official event photographs. Gov. Jeff Landry and members of Congress were among the attendees.

Georges said he wanted to meet Meta president and vice chair Dina Powell McCormick. Asked why he involved the media company rather than attending on his own, he said leaving it out would “diminish the brand of the media.” He also defended celebrating the project, citing what he described as a $50 billion investment in the community.

“I wanted to meet her. I wanted to get on her radar.”

John Georges, speaking about Dina Powell McCormick in an interview with Gulf States Newsroom and The Lens

What appeared on the paper’s feeds

Weeks after the dinner, four Meta-sponsored videos appeared on Nola.com’s Instagram and Facebook pages. A Georges Media sales manager interviewed local business owners about the data center’s benefits. The “sponsored by Meta” label appeared for a few seconds, then faded; in earlier sponsored videos for other companies, the sponsor’s logo had remained visible throughout.

The upbeat accounts did not match every neighbor’s experience. Holly Ridge resident Makayla Johnese, who lives next to the construction site, said the promised economic boost had not helped her. Residents interviewed about the project described heavier truck traffic and rising land prices and rents. Those objections are part of what the newspaper’s journalists must be able to examine while its business side sells Meta-sponsored content.

The dispute inside the newsroom

In the newly published joint report, some staffers and media critics say Georges’s approach blurs the boundary between the newsroom and the business. Staffers say management killed at least one column critical of the paper’s relationship with Meta. Georges acknowledged that the column came to him, said he saw nothing there worth pursuing, and maintained that advertising does not influence the newspaper’s coverage.

That leaves two questions open, not one. Georges still needs Meta to offer the licensing contract he wants. His newspaper must also show readers that it can scrutinize the company it has celebrated and promoted, including when local accounts clash with the message in a paid video.