Press help
The Press Help is a subsidy which the Luxembourg State since 1976 the editors of certain newspapers and magazines ( newspapers and magazines provided) according to legal criteria. Online offers can also be funded since 2017. In 2013, the volume of press aid was around seven million euros.
background
The aim of state press aid is to maintain pluralism of opinion in the press landscape. The background to this is the fact that many Luxembourg press organs are affiliated with a political party or current. As the market for Luxembourg newspapers is limited due to the small size of the country, small-run newspapers in particular, which are more closely related to smaller parties, would have a harder time surviving.
Press aid was introduced in 1976 and reformed in 1998. The press aid consists of two components: Each press product receives a basic amount and a proportional part, which is distributed for pages with editorial content.
conditions
To get press help, a newspaper in Luxembourg must appear at least once a week, distribute general information and be mainly written in one of the three national languages German , French or Luxembourgish . In addition, the editorial team must consist of at least five permanent journalists. Printed matter distributed free of charge will not be funded. Foreign newspapers are also not eligible, although the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung or Le Monde in Luxembourg have more readers than, for example, the newspaper vum Lëtzebuerger Vollek . In December 2016 it was announced that from 2017 press aid will also be granted for online offers. Daily media that employ at least two journalists with independent online reporting are also eligible for funding since then. In addition, the press aid may only make up half of the respective budget, but no more than 100,000 euros per year.
Calculation key
The calculation of the press aid is not based on the circulation of the press products, but on a reference amount that is established each year by a Grand-Ducal regulation .
To calculate this reference amount, the sum of the costs for five full-time journalists and the price for 120 tons of paper has been taken as the basis since 1999. In 2016, the costs for a journalist were estimated at 82,200 euros and for a ton of paper at 513 euros, which results in a total of 472,660.00 euros.
Every press organ that fulfills the subscription conditions receives a third of the reference amount as a base amount, i.e. EUR 157,553.33 in 2016. The proportional amount is calculated by multiplying two thirds of the reference amount by the number of standardized editorial pages (187,680 mm² in size) and then dividing by 2325. In 2016, this resulted in an amount of 135.53 euros per newspaper page.
The term “editorial pages” is not precisely defined and is therefore the subject of discussion. One example is the cinema supplement “Graffiti”, which is enclosed with several newspapers and therefore, depending on the view, it could not be billed at all (as there are no editorial pages), once or even more than once (for each newspaper it is enclosed).
distribution
Printed matter
In 2013, 7,087,965 euros in press aid were distributed in Luxembourg, which corresponds to around 13.20 euros per inhabitant; in 2017 it was 7,233,503 euros. These are distributed among the newspapers and magazines as follows:
| newspaper | 2013 | 2017 |
|---|---|---|
| Day sheet | € 1,580,122 | € 1,508,390 |
| Luxembourg word | € 1,390,566 | 1,436,185 € |
| Le quotidien | € 1,272,700 | € 1,232,168 |
| Lëtzebuerger Journal | € 893,603 | € 948,754 |
| Newspaper vum Lëtzebuerger Vollek | € 383,031 | € 401,723 |
| Télécran | € 353,057 | € 380,445 |
| Le Jeudi | € 333,665 | € 344,401 |
| revue | € 329,648 | € 341,225 |
| d'Lëtzebuerger Land | € 304,447 | € 304,638 |
| Woxx | € 247,146 | € 268,653 |
Online offers
With the law of January 13, 2017, websites for publications are also subsidized, provided they meet certain standards of quality, professionalism and regular publication. In 2017, the following seven online offers received a lump sum of 100,000 euros each:
- Contacto (Portuguese), part of the online offer of the word
- The Maison Moderne publisher for Delano (magazine published eight times a year in English) and Paperjam (monthly business newspaper)
- Le quotidien
- L'essentiel for the German and French websites
- the English edition of the word has been operating under the Luxembourg Times since the end of 2017
Indirect press funding
In addition to state press support, there are other indirect press subsidies in Luxembourg. On the one hand, there is the very low postage of 10 to 15 cents on press products, which reduces the income of the Luxembourg Post and thus represents an indirect subsidy . All public service advertisements and job advertisements are also placed in all Luxembourg daily newspapers. According to an estimate by forum magazine in April 2014, this advertising volume is more than ten million euros annually.
Web links
- Law of March 11, 1976 (Loi du 11 mars 1976 d'aide directe de l'Etat à la presse écrite)
- Law of August 3, 1998 (Loi du 3 août 1998 sur la promotion de la presse écrite)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Rapport d'activité 2013. (PDF) (No longer available online.) Le Gouvernement du Grand-duché de Luxembourg - Ministère d'État, March 2014, p. 34 , archived from the original on January 12, 2017 ; Retrieved January 23, 2017 (French). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Jochen Zenthöfer: On the imminent end of the Luxembourg press aid. Forum 339, accessed January 23, 2017 .
- ↑ State budget 2017: New online press help: The conditions . In: Wort.lu . December 9, 2016 ( wort.lu [accessed January 23, 2017]).
- ↑ Communication et Médias: Règlement grand-ducal du 4 février 2016 modifiant le règlement grand-ducal du 2 février 2015 refixant pour l'année 2015 le montant annuel de référence 2015 tel que prévu à l'article 3 de la loi modifiée du 3 août 1998 on the promotion de la presse écrite. - Legilux. Le Gouvernement du Grand-duché de Luxembourg, February 11, 2016, accessed on January 23, 2017 (French).
- ↑ a b Aide à la presse on the website of the Office for Media and Communication (SMC), accessed on February 10, 2019 (French).
