Confederation to pay 2 centimes more per newspaper copy next year
An increase of 2 rappen per copy of regional and local newspapers: Indirect federal press subsidies will rise slightly in 2020. Membership-based and foundation-funded newspapers, on the other hand, will receive the same amount of funding as in 2019. The total amount of subsidies remains at 50 million francs.
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On Friday, the Federal Council approved the reductions for the delivery of subscription newspapers and magazines in the coming year. Daily and weekly newspapers in the regional and local press will benefit from 27 centimes per copy.
This is 2 centimes more than in the current year. The increase can be explained by the fact that circulation figures have been falling steadily for years, writes the Federal Office of Communications (OFCOM) in a press release. "This trend is expected to continue."
As at October 1, 2019, 142 regional and local press titles met the requirements for indirect press funding. The number fell by three titles compared to the previous year. The circulation volume fell by a whopping 5.7 million copies. The annual subsidy amounts to CHF 30 million.
For newspapers and magazines in the membership and foundation press, the discounts amount to 18 centimes per copy, which is the same as in 2019. Overall, the Confederation provides CHF 20 million a year to support this sector of the press, which is also in decline - a total of 985 titles with a total of 119 million copies.
Further measures planned
The Federal Council is planning to expand indirect press funding, as it announced in August. It wants to increase the federal contribution from the current CHF 30 million to CHF 50 million. The entire media sector is to benefit from further measures. "We must prevent more newspapers from disappearing. Regions must not become a media no-man's land," wrote Media Minister Simonetta Sommaruga on Twitter on Friday.
In addition to newspapers, the government now also wants to support online media. In total, it wants to invest almost CHF 100 million per year. Online funding is to be limited in time for the time being. The Federal Council only wants to support fee-based digital offerings, with up to CHF 50 million per year.
Parliament will be able to decide on the package of measures. The Council of States has already recently spoken out in favor of expanding indirect press subsidies through discounts on postal delivery. The National Council committee also recently approved a corresponding parliamentary initiative.
Trade unions for system change
The media trade union Syndicom is calling on the federal government to go further and reorganize media subsidies. Funded companies should adhere to a collective labor agreement, comply with professional ethical standards and not skim off subsidies as profit. The Keystone-SDA news agency should become a foundation.
Syndicom lists these demands in a position paper that the union recently published. The union wrote on Thursday that recent years have shown that media companies prioritize the interests of owners and shareholders over democratic political responsibility. Politicians must therefore realign media funding. (SDA)
