Press support is a government

subsidy A subsidy or government incentive is a form of financial aid or support extended to an economic sector (business, or individual) generally with the aim of promoting economic and social policy. Although commonly extended from the government, the ter ...

available for

newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, spor ...

s in some countries. The support can either be direct, in terms of money to the newspaper, or indirect, such as lowered or eliminated

sales tax A sales tax is a tax paid to a governing body for the sales of certain goods and services. Usually laws allow the seller to collect funds for the tax from the consumer at the point of purchase. When a tax on goods or services is paid to a gove ...

. The justification for press support is typically to maintain some level of diversity in the media market.

Press support by country

Norway

Press support is a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

state subsidy A subsidy or government incentive is a form of financial aid or support extended to an economic sector (business, or individual) generally with the aim of promoting economic and social policy. Although commonly extended from the government, the ter ...

available for

s. The subsidy is twofold; the first part is a direct subsidy of the second- largest, by circulation, newspapers in each city. The other subsidy is that newspaper are subject to no

(as are

book A book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or images, typically composed of many pages (made of papyrus, parchment, vellum, or paper) bound together and protected by a cover. The technical term for this physical ...

s).

Direct support

The direct subsidy is managed by the

Norwegian Media Authority The Norwegian Media Authority ( no, Medietilsynet) is a Norwegian government agency subordinate to the Ministry of Culture and Equality charged with various tasks relating to broadcasting, newspapers and films. It enforces rules on content, adv ...

, and was NOK 303 million in 2006, paid to 138 newspapers. It was introduced in 1965, because of the fear of a massive newspaper death like

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic countries, Nordic c ...

and

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

had seen, mainly the second largest newspapers in each city. Also, at the time, most newspapers were not political neutral, with many papers being controlled by either conservative forces, the

labour movement The labour movement or labor movement consists of two main wings: the trade union movement (British English) or labor union movement (American English) on the one hand, and the political labour movement on the other. * The trade union movement ...

political parties A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

. Support is given to all newspapers that are do not have the largest circulation in the city of publishing. There are limitations on the newspapers who can receive support, including that the support will cease if they pay a

dividend A dividend is a distribution of profits by a corporation to its shareholders. When a corporation earns a profit or surplus, it is able to pay a portion of the profit as a dividend to shareholders. Any amount not distributed is taken to be re-i ...

to their owners. Other support is given to media research, follow-up studies, sami newspapers, immigrant publications and distribution support for

Finnmark Finnmark (; se, Finnmárku ; fkv, Finmarku; fi, Ruija ; russian: Финнмарк) was a county in the northern part of Norway, and it is scheduled to become a county again in 2024. On 1 January 2020, Finnmark was merged with the neighbour ...

. The press support has been partially successful, with a number of second-largest newspapers surviving, like ''

Bergensavisen ''Bergensavisen'' (lit. "the Bergen newspaper"), usually shortened to ''BA'', is the second largest newspaper in Bergen, Norway. The paper is published in tabloid format. The newspaper's webpage ba.no is Bergen's largest local newspaper webpage ...

'' (Bergen), ''

Rogalands Avis ''Rogalands Avis'' is a local newspaper published in Stavanger, Norway. History and profile ''Rogalands Avis'' was established in 1899. The paper is based in Stavanger and covers the southern Rogaland. A Labour Party-affiliated newspaper, it ...

'' (Stavanger) and ''

Dagsavisen ''Dagsavisen'' is a daily newspaper published in Oslo, Norway. The former party organ of the Norwegian Labour Party, the ties loosened over time from 1975 to 1999. It has borne several names, and was called ''Arbeiderbladet'' from 1923 to 1997. ...

'' (Oslo). Other secondary newspapers have been closed, like '' Trondheims-Pressen''. The largest receivers are often national newspapers, targeting special (often political) sectors, like ''

Klassekampen ''Klassekampen'' ( en, The Class Struggle) is a Norwegian daily newspaper. It describes itself as "the newspaper of the Left." The paper's net circulation is 34,000 (2021), and it has around 111,000 daily readers on paper (160,000 on Saturdays). ...

'' (Socialist), ''

Nationen ''Nationen'' is a Norwegian daily newspaper with a particular focus on agriculture and rural districts. Its circulation in 2015 was 12,954, an increase of 281 copies from 2014. History and profile ''Nationen'' was founded in 1918.

'' (Agrarian) and '' Vårt Land'' (Christian). Most of the large,

business Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or buying and selling products (such as goods and services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for profit." Having a business name does not separ ...

and

tabloid Tabloid may refer to: * Tabloid journalism, a type of journalism * Tabloid (newspaper format), a newspaper with compact page size ** Chinese tabloid * Tabloid (paper size), a North American paper size * Sopwith Tabloid The Sopwith Tabloid an ...

newspapers, like

Dagbladet ''Dagbladet'' (lit.: ''The Daily Magazine'') is one of Norway's largest newspapers and is published in the tabloid format. It has 1,400,000 daily readers on mobile, web and paper. Traditionally ''Dagbladet'' is considered the main liberal newsp ...

Dagens Næringsliv ''Dagens Næringsliv'' ( Norwegian for "Today's Business"), commonly known as ''DN'', is a Norwegian newspaper specializing in business news. , it is the third-largest newspaper in Norway. Editor-in-chief is Janne Johannessen, who was appointed ...

, do not receive support, since they pay dividend to their owners.

Indirect support

By far the greatest level of support to newspapers arises out of their exemption from sales tax and exceeds NOK 1 billion. This exemption was instituted to foster a variety of perspectives from newspapers; to stimulate public debate and consciousness,

democracy Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation (" direct democracy"), or to choose g ...

freedom of speech Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recogni ...

and to enable the media to act as society's watch-dog.

Sweden

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Press Support Mass media industry Economics of the arts and literature Mass media regulation Mass media in Norway