Press subsidies: Small publishers warn of abolition

Small publishers and representatives of the member press warned against the abolition of press subsidies in Bern on Monday. Their argument: the abolition would lead to a clear-cutting of the Swiss press forest. Small and medium-sized publishers would no longer be able to withstand the pressure and would have to give up. Member magazines of non-profit organizations such as professional associations, churches, political parties and non-governmental organizations would also be affected. The coalition of publishers and member press demanded that Parliament maintain indirect press subsidies. The debate on press subsidies is thus creating a toxic climate among publishers. The front runs between large publishing houses with their own distribution structure and small publishers that rely on postal distribution. At the beginning of January, Hanspeter Lebrument, President of the Publishers Association, called on publishers to abandon indirect press subsidies.
The so-called relief program for indirect press subsidies, as it exists today, was limited by parliament until 2007. Last year, a proposal for the direct subsidization of press products failed due to opposition from the Council of States. Both chambers then passed a motion calling for the federal government to make a targeted contribution to distribution costs. However, the Federal Council refused to comply with the motion. A parliamentary initiative by National Councillor Rudolf Joder is also pending. It calls for a uniform newspaper transport tariff to be set at the current level. The National Council's Political Affairs Committee will discuss this proposal next week.