Thus far, aids were based on the number of pages of a certain publication. The reform now aims at changing this mechanism and rather linking the support to the number of journalists. Furthermore, online media will be supported by the government, which represents a true paradigm shift.
Nevertheless, not every party involved seems to be satisfied with the proposal on the table.
A publisher needs to employ a minimum of five full-time professional journalists to file an application for the government support. The word "press" will be newly defined so that it also includes online-only publications. The criteria for daily newspapers is a minimum of four papers per week during at lest 50 weeks per year. Online publications need to have at least two articles per day during six days per week.
The amount of direct and indirect financial aids will also be reassessed. This means that a publisher is now eligible for €200,000 per year, and an additional €30,000 per journalist.
Another novelty in the reform is that monthly papers, free papers, and so-called citizens media will now also become eligible for support. When it comes to start-up media companies, they only need two full-time professional journalists to receive a maximum of €100,000 per year for up to three years in total. The same aid is given to citizens media.
A special commission will be created to determine the eligibility of applications. Minister for Communications and Media Xavier Bettel will name the members of said commission, which will consist of two representatives from the media and communication services, one from the Ministry of Finance, one from the Information and Press Service, one authors' rights commissioner, and one scholarly expert in the field. Furthermore, the press council will propose two editors and two journalists.
The press council argues that the status of professional journalists has to be defined more clearly, given that substantial parts of the financial support depend on accurate numbers. Furthermore, the council wants clearer criteria for acquiring a press passport.
The Luxembourg Association of Journalists (ALJP) agrees with this assessment, which secretary general Roger Infalt already highlighted during an RTL Radio interview back in June. Additionally, there are fears that the press council will be overrun with journalist applications, as well as appeals for denied requests.
ALJP also laments that the initial aid per employee was reduced from €55,000 to €30,000. The association believes this could lead to mass lay-offs: "We have already seen how experienced people with high salaries were let go, only to be replaced with new people that will start at lower pay rates."
Both the press council and ALJP also agree that the reform should have included an improvement of information access for journalists. The association wanted to present a respective proposition to the chamber's media commission beforehand, but were not given a chance.
In response, MP Guy Arendt (DP), who is the president of the chamber's media commission, argued that these sorts of amendments were too late, given that the draft law had already been sent to Brussels: "Changing everything would have required significantly more time, which I don't think would have been in the best interest of the press or its journalists."
Last Friday, the Christian Social People's Party also proposed two final amendments, such as raising the aid per journalist, which were both denied by the majority. The Alternative Democratic Reform Party also voted against the amendments. According to the Ministry for Communications and Media, a raising of the rate will throw the complete financial model out of balance.
The new press aid reform will be up for vote on Thursday. Due to Xavier Bettel's continued absence, Corinne Cahen will speak for the government, while party colleague Guy Arendt will take over the role of reporter.
