S.O.S for the print media!

Gheorghe BUDEANU,
 journalist

 

The situation of the print media in the Republic of Moldova is increasingly deteriorating. The reason is the fact that, the country being small and the readers separated into two systems, Romanian language readers and Russian language readers, the circulation of printed editions is very low, therefore an editorial office cannot operate only on incomes from subscriptions, sales and advertising. Besides the fact that the number of potential readers in our country is small, the most loyal of them have left the country to work abroad, and those who stayed, are poor people who do not hesitate when making a choice between a loaf of bread and a newspaper. Those who have money prefer the online press, which advances unscrupulously. The first one steps aside like a gentleman and soon the good reader will take off his hat in its memory.
 
…While working with ” TIMPUL” newspaper, I initiated and coordinated a structural support project of this media outlet, financed by the Foundation ” Press Now” from Netherlands during 5 years.
The goal of the project was to organize a modern management of the outlet, by creating a publication addressing a larger range of readers, focused on information interesting to people living in rural areas. Thus, by increasing the number of subscribers and sales, to make the newspaper a profitable business or, at least, a media outlet that is able to cover all its expenses from its own income. With hopes and enthusiasm, in 2005 a daily version of the newspaper was launched. At the same time, the digital version of the publication was modernized. Unfortunately, in a society with such a low number of readers, the goal was impossible to reach, because many of them prefer the digital free version of the newspaper. In 2013, TIMPUL gave up the daily edition, because of the high expenses, but low income.
Probably, other media outlets have made such attempts, but these were futile, because occasional funds injections do not save the print media. There is a need of a state strategy in this field, with financial support provided by the government, as well as certain tax exemptions. In 2006, I talked about the subject with the editor-in-chief of” The Groene Amsterdamer” magazine from the capital of the Netherlands, as well as with colleagues working for the biggest daily newspaper of Roterdam – NRC Handelsblad. These publications are not offering a free digital version. Whoever wants to read NRC Handelsblad online, must buy a subscription to be able to open the digital version. Thus, the money obtained from the digital newspaper are help preserving the printed one. Anyway, last year, the circulation of the printed version of the above-mentioned daily Dutch newspaper NRS Handelsblad was of 188.500 copies, far less than 10 years ago…

Vivane Reding, the European Commissioner for the Information Society and Media admitted that the situation of printed outlets becomes more and more critical. Nowadays, Western democracies use different ways to save the print media, including financial support. For instance, Romanian Government decided on June 10, this year, those media outlets, which produce and broadcast programs of public interest, will benefit of a state aid of EUR 15 million, with the possibility of supplementing the amount. Immediately, the Bureau for Circulation Audit from Romania ”Transmedia” requested the replication of the initiative to the print media.

Unfortunately, our country is not able of generating initiatives to support the free media, nor do we have a union or a journalist union trade to fight for such support. Thus, the print media is on the edge of extinction. It survives only due to occasional grants or some financial injections made by politicians interested in transforming it into a controlled press, confining its freedom of expression. Printed media is being strangled, even if it continues to be a badge of a cultured society. In the countries on the path of democratization, such as Moldova, it still plays a vital role in changing the citizens’ mentality. The fact that the governance leaves it adrift, while it could provide some tax exemptions, help in distributing it through the ”Moldovan Post Office” or even in printing it, is unforgivable. Many of chief editors of printed publications claim that they cannot provide decent salaries to their employees, or that they have huge debts to printing houses. There is a sign that print media is in freefall and there is an urgent need of an “S.O.S. for the print media!” campaign, which should be supported first by the colleagues from the audiovisual and online media. Are we able of such journalism brotherhood?