Financial support for professional journalism
Last update
The new press aid scheme establishes a single, technology-neutral framework for online and offline media.
It is composed of 4 different schemes:
- the preservation of pluralism, which, in particular, is aimed at current beneficiaries with an editorial team of at least 5 professional journalists;
- the promotion of pluralism, which is aimed at emerging publishers with an editorial team of at least 2 professional journalists;
- media and citizenship education for citizen publishers;
- a transitional clause for publishers who obtained a higher total amount in 2019 than that provided for under the new scheme.
The financial aid scheme:
- encourages transparency through the obligation to publish the editorial policy;
- encourages the implementation of measures to ensure that the content is accessible for people with disabilities;
- encourages continuing education in the field of journalism and the promotion of media literacy.
Who is concerned
Publishers who:
- have a Luxembourg business permit; or
- are established as a non-profit association (asbl) or foundation in Luxembourg.
Prerequisites
The "preservation of pluralism" scheme
A publisher is considered eligible for aid if they:
- have a business permit and their corporate purpose is information trading;
- have a training plan for professional journalists;
- publish, in their annual report:
- the ratio of women to men in the newsroom;
- their editorial guidelines;
- actions carried out to promote media literacy;
- training courses taken by the professional journalists;
- measures taken to improve access to content for people with disabilities.
To benefit from the aid, the press publication of an eligible publisher must have met the following criteria for at least 1 year at the date of application:
- disseminate general information intended primarily for all or a significant part of the public residing in Luxembourg;
- contribute to pluralism of opinion and produce content in at least the political, economic, social and cultural fields at national and international level;
- publishing the publication at the following rate:
- daily; or
- weekly; or
- monthly; or
- online;
- have an editorial team composed of a number of professional journalists equivalent to at least 5 full-time jobs (full-time equivalent / FTE) under a permanent employment contract;
- be publicly accessible to the entire population, whether free of charge or in return for payment;
- use one or more languages used by at least 15 % of the population according to official statistics of the last general population census at the time the application is submitted;
- not constitute a promotional tool or an accessory to an industrial or commercial activity;
- devote the majority of the total surface area of the press publication to editorial content;
- make content published for a fee easily identifiable and distinguishable from journalistic content originating from the editorial staff;
- put in place appropriate means of protection against illicit material on the pages with personal contributions from internet users.
The publication must also generate own annual revenues of at least 50 % of the amount of aid to be granted.
Finally, the aid must be used to cover expenses directly related to the publishing, marketing or innovation of the press publication.
The "promotion of pluralism" scheme
Emergent publishers are publishers who:
- have a business permit and their corporate purpose is information trading; and
- publish their editorial guidelines.
To benefit from the aid, the press publication of an emergent publisher must have met the following criteria for at least 6 months at the date of application:
- disseminate general information intended primarily for all or a significant part of the public residing in Luxembourg;
- contribute to pluralism of opinion and produce content in at least the political, economic, social and cultural fields at national and international level;
- publishing the publication at the following rate:
- daily; or
- weekly; or
- monthly; or
- online;
- have an editorial team composed of a number of professional journalists equivalent to at least 2 full-time jobs (full-time equivalent / FTE), hired under an employment contract;
- be publicly accessible to the entire population, whether free of charge or in return for payment;
- use one or more languages used by at least 15 % of the population according to official statistics of the last general population census at the time the application is submitted;
- not constitute a promotional tool or an accessory to an industrial or commercial activity;
- devote the majority of the total surface area of the press publication to editorial content;
- make content published for a fee easily identifiable and distinguishable from journalistic content originating from the editorial staff;
- put in place appropriate means of protection against illicit material on the pages with personal contributions from internet users.
- are not part of a media group;
- have incurred expenses related to the press publication of at least EUR 200,000.
If this threshold is not reached, the aid is reduced in proportion to the difference.
Finally, the aid must be used to cover expenses directly related to the publishing, marketing or innovation of the press publication.
The "media and citizenship education" scheme
Citizen journalists are publishers who have met the following criteria for at least 1 year at the time of application:
- they are established as a non-profit association (asbl) or foundation in Luxembourg;
- they have recourse to the voluntary participation of citizens in the editorial activity;
- they contribute to media literacy, integration and social cohesion;
- have a variety of financial resources;
- are not part of a media group;
- disseminate content intended primarily for all or a significant part of the public residing in Luxembourg;
- have an editorial team composed of a number of professional journalists equivalent to at least 2 full-time jobs (full-time equivalent / FTE) among which there must be at least one professional journalist;
- do not constitute a promotional tool or an accessory to an industrial or commercial activity.
The "transitional clause" scheme
Publishers who received a higher total amount under the old scheme on the promotion of print media (in 2019) than the total amount under the new scheme are eligible for the transitional clause.
The benefit of this transitional clause is linked to the condition of maintaining the employment of professional journalists in relation to the average workforce in 2019, without any cutbacks, except in cases of force majeure or duly justified exceptional circumstances.
Finally, the annual compensation must be used to cover expenses directly related to the publishing, marketing or innovation of the press publication.
How to proceed
Submitting the application
Interested publishers should send an application with supporting documents to the Minister responsible for the media.
Supporting documents
The "preservation of pluralism" scheme
The application must be accompanied by the following documents:
- a list of the professional journalists with employment contracts, press card numbers and degree of occupation in the previous quarter;
- details of revenues related to the press publication for the year preceding the application;
- the business permit;
- the training plan;
- the annual report outlining, inter alia:
- the ratio of women to men in the newsroom;
- the editorial guidelines;
- actions carried out to promote media literacy;
- training courses taken by the professional journalists;
- measures taken to improve access to content for people with disabilities;
- the statement of use of any aid previously received;
- any relationships that form a single enterprise.
The "promotion of pluralism" scheme
The application must be accompanied by the following documents:
- a list with 2 professional journalists with employment contracts, press card numbers and degree of occupation in the previous quarter;
- a list of expenses incurred in connection with the publication;
- any element enabling an assessment of the economic viability of the publication, including a provisional budget covering at least 2 years;
- the business permit;
- the published editorial guidelines;
- the statement of use of any aid previously received;
- any relationships that form a single enterprise.
The "media and citizenship education" scheme
The application must be accompanied by the following documents:
- a list of at least 2 employees, of whom at least 1 is a professional journalist, together with employment contracts, press card numbers and degree of occupation;
- the articles of association of the non-profit association (asbl) or foundation;
- a detailed report outlining the following:
- the participation of volunteers in collective actions regarding content;
- actions carried out to promote media literacy, integration, promotion of citizenship and the fight against discrimination;
- the share of original content in the press publication produced by the citizen media;
- the extent of cultural, social and educational activities organised;
- vocational training measures for employees and the consolidation of jobs within their departments;
- the extent of technical and operating costs.
Amount of support
The "preservation of pluralism" scheme
The financial aid includes:
- a contribution to the editorial activity in the amount of EUR 30,000 per year for each full-time equivalent professional journalist employed by the publisher under a permanent work contract; and
- within the available budgetary limits, a fixed annual aid amount of EUR 200,000.
The "promotion of pluralism" scheme
The annual aid amount is EUR 100,000 and is limited to 3 consecutive years.
The "media and citizenship education" scheme
The annual aid amounts to a maximum of EUR 100,000.
The "transitional clause" scheme
The annual compensation is equivalent to the difference between the 2 amounts (for the same type of press publication), for a period of 5 years.
Online services and forms
Who to contact
Department of Media, Connectivity and Digital Policy
-
Department of Media, Connectivity and Digital Policy
- Address:
- 5, rue Plaetis L-2338 Luxembourg Luxembourg
- Phone:
- (+352) 247 82 167
- Fax:
- (+352) 47 56 62
- Email address:
- broadcasting@smc.etat.lu
- Website:
- https://smc.gouvernement.lu/en.html
Related procedures and links
Links
Legal references
relative à un régime d’aides en faveur du journalisme professionnel
