Spanish editors reject government's proposal to save press

Posted by Soraya Kishtwari on June 12, 2009 at 1:27 PM

Over the course of the last six months, the Spanish media has lobbied the government hoping the state will be able to give the impoverished press a much needed boost. After many months of deliberation, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero's administration has finally come forward with a proposal for newspapers, but editors are unimpressed.

"It [the proposal] fails to meet expectations, does not provide an answer to the needs of the sector and, most importantly, does not even begin to seriously tackle the problem," said Pilar de Yarza, president of the Asociación de Editores de Diarios Españoles (AEDE), speaking to El Mundo. She added: "The measures do not include a structural plan for an industry which is the guarantor of rights and liberties; they do not remotely compare to the assistance provided in other countries."

Nicolas Sarkozy's 600 million EUR bail-out plan, introduced back in January, had been regarded as the intervention of choice by many of Spain's industry leaders, who had high hopes for the government emulating the proposal. At the time, Sarkozy, who sees the press as one of democracy's vital organs, said that he would not just sit around and watch the newspaper industry disappear before him.

What's on offer?

The PSOE government is offering 60 million EUR in soft credits for printing purposes, credit from the Official Credit Institute (ICO) worth 300 million EUR, deferred payment by up to a year of employers' social security contributions, training for journalists, the creation of a centre of journalism excellence, promoting newspaper subscriptions within government and the public sector, as well as a marketing plan to promote sales of newspaper e-reader, the Kindle DX.

Given the industry's reaction, it is possible that the plan will fail to make it past the board of ministers who were due to approve the measures in a meeting scheduled earlier today. As far as the AEDE is concerned: "The aforementioned measures should not be passed over to the board of ministers" for approval.

Although broadcasters have not technically received any direct funding, the written press appears to be unhappy with what it sees as preferential treatment given to broadcasters. "It's not enough," said the AEDE. "It does not offer real financial relief and it is far removed from what the government has done for television, for example. Just by cutting publicity from TVE, the government has freed up around 500 million EUR."

Sources: El Mundo.es