“Operational support has survived on its own and should now be replaced by a more modern system where free, independent media are given indirect rather than direct support.
Where the state creates the conditions for free enterprise rather than, albeit benevolently, provides for consolidating old business models ", writes TU's board on DN's debate page.
With today's 56-year-old system, the support is distributed unfairly between locations, while newsrooms organize themselves based on support conditions rather than their news work, the industry organization believes.
Therefore, it should be phased out with a transitional solution, the publishers write.
No increased funding
TU wants a VAT exemption for the media industry and that the employer contribution for journalists is reduced.
Media support should be rights-based in order to avoid, as far as possible, subjective assessments of content, they continue in the debate article.
The system should be "platform neutral, but must place high demands on frequency, self-produced material and 'good user grounding'".
These changes would not create greater costs for the state, TU estimates.
As an example, it is pointed out that the lost VAT revenue for the state would not exceed the sum of the annual operating support.
See TU's acting CEO Thomas Mattson about the press support in the clip.