Paris (AFP)
The Ministry of Culture announced on Tuesday the "forthcoming" organization of a consultation with press editors and journalists' unions to review the conditions for awarding public aid to the sector, linking them to the presence of journalists in the editorial staff.
Lasting two months, this consultation follows a report submitted in March to the Minister of Culture Roselyne Bachelot, who "fully shares" her "diagnosis", according to a press release.
In December, the minister had instructed the State Councilor and President of the Joint Committee for Publications and Press Agencies (CPPAP), Laurence Franceschini, to study a possible conditioning of aid to the press in the composition of editorial staff.
This involved responding to alerts from journalists from the magazine "Science et Vie", whose website had been entrusted by Reworld Media, its owner, to "content managers" rather than journalists.
While "the presence of professional journalists" in the editorial staff "has hitherto been obvious, it is clear that, on the one hand, certain press titles have changed their economic model and, on the other hand, digital technology. blurs the status of information, "said the ministry in its press release.
To rectify the situation, Laurence Franceschini proposes in her report "various modifications to the texts defining the conditions giving entitlement to press aid for press publications and online press services, with reinforced requirements for political information titles. and general (IPG) ", adds the ministry.
To benefit from indirect aid (preferential postal rate, super reduced VAT rate of 2.1%), "newspapers and periodicals presenting a direct link with the news" should thus include "an editorial team made up of professional journalists" , according to a summary of the proposals unveiled Tuesday.
They should also present, rather than a "significant editorial contribution", an "original content composed of information which has been the subject of a journalistic treatment", in particular via their "verification".
The direct aid and very preferential postal rates intended for IPG publications could mean a payroll devoted to 50% to the remuneration of journalists or, among other options, staff made up at least half of journalists.
Online press services should, for their part, offer "original content" involving "the presence within the editorial team of at least one professional journalist" in order to benefit from aid.
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