11 January 2007

The public financing of publishing

The reduction of public expenditure and the elimination of waste are two of the topics on which Italia dei Valori has been concentrating since the beginning of this term of office. Among the costs borne by the State is the financing to newspapers whether or not they are controlled by political parties. I don't believe that the State should turn itself into a publishing house and make up for the lack of readers, and therefore of copies sold, by providing finance of millions of Euro to hundreds of publications.
There's discussion about liberalisation and the free market, but if journalists live partly thanks to State contributions, is it still possible and legitimate to talk of free information? The newspapers must have a single point of reference: the reader. If the reader appreciates the contents, the sales will be sufficient to support the newspaper.
Otherwise it will have to close. Assistance to the publishing industry is not only a waste but also an indirect way of conditioning political publishing by the State. Italia dei Valori will be proposing a reduction in the financing of the publishing industry with the complete cut of funding to publications without any real social value and to all the party political publications. Funding to these can come from the financing that is already allowed for the parties.

Posted by Antonio Di Pietro in Information