There will be pressure on jobs across Nine’s newsrooms if the parent company of Facebook and Instagram does not renew its commercial deals with Australian news organisations, according to the company’s chief executive Mike Sneesby.

Australia’s three most powerful commercial media bosses, Sneesby, alongside News Corp’s Michael Miller and Seven West Media’s Jeff Howard are appearing in front of a Parliamentary Joint Select Committee on Social Media and Australia in Canberra this morning.

“Most certainly if the deals aren’t renewed across the industry, we will see pressure on jobs,” Sneesby said, in response to a question on the impact of a reduction in revenue from Meta.

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Sneesby says Nine have hired around 50 journalists as a result of the commercial deals, as well as moving beyond “the constant cycle of cost-cutting”. Meta signalled in March the company would not renew its 13 deals with Australian publishers.

News Corp has already begun cutting costs across several divisions, a response to a weaker advertising cycle, and the expected loss of revenue from Meta.

Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young says the three chiefs have engaged in “hypocrisy” in their opening statements criticising the damage caused by Meta, saying the news organisations present contribute to dis and misinformation, division and toxic debate, taking particular aim at News Corp.

Miller responds by saying the role of trusted media is to surface debates and raise opinions.