Magdeburg (dpa/sa) – Saxony-Anhalt supports the Federal Council initiative of Lower Saxony and Saxony to maintain press diversity. The cabinet decided on Tuesday, as the State Chancellery announced.
The states want to increase the pressure on the federal government for state financial support for press houses. The idea behind funding is that printed subscription newspapers, for example, can continue to be distributed across the board, even in very rural regions, even if circulation figures have been shrinking for years. The regional and local press diversity should be preserved.
“A free and independent press is an essential guarantor of our democracy. However, it can only perform this function if everyone continues to have access to regional press services. That is what we want to achieve with the resolution,” said Saxony-Anhalt Prime Minister Reiner Haseloff (CDU ).
Newspaper and magazine publishers have been demanding state aid for years and complain about rising costs. The states want to ask the federal government to present a funding concept for maintaining press diversity as soon as possible. It is intended to support companies in pursuing new innovative approaches, for example by developing new distribution channels, products or cooperation models.
