Document retains its press subsidy. This is a victory, given all the fuss surrounding Document’s membership of the Editors’ Association. The Norwegian Media Authority has not allowed itself to be swayed by those who wanted us to lose it.
In the long term, our aim is to become independent of it. Nearly 1,000 new subscribers in just over a month bring us closer to that goal.
Under the press subsidy scheme, newspapers already in the scheme receive advance payments in the first half of the year. It is not until the autumn – usually in October or November – that the final decision on this year’s funding is made. The Norwegian Media Authority pays out the advances in January, April and June.
For Document, a withdrawal from the scheme would also have meant that around two million kroner in advances already paid out would have had to be repaid.
The amount allocated is subject to the condition that the money is used to publish the newspaper. The grant letter specifies that any funding that remains unused may be reclaimed. The newspapers must therefore use the money to cover their operating costs throughout the year, whilst the final decision is not made until late autumn.
This arrangement creates dependency. The funding becomes part of the operational budget, and the newspaper structures its expenditure around income that has not yet been finalised. Once salaries and bills have been paid, a shortfall could also trigger a demand for repayment of the advance. In our case, this would mean having to repay 2 million kroner within 30 days.
This is a dependency we do not wish to have.
Our production grant is minuscule compared to that of left-wing newspapers. The fact that Klassekampen receives 45 million a year basically says it all about the press subsidy scheme. Our category, ‘national niche media’, is a small pot from which many are to have their share.
We have retained our press subsidy this year, but we are working on the assumption that it will one day disappear. We must therefore build a financial foundation that will enable us to continue running Document without it.
Something significant has happened recently: we’ve gained almost 1,000 new subscribers!
Every new subscription helps to make the newspaper less dependent on press subsidies. Taken together, this growth brings us closer to a newspaper funded by the people who read it and want it to continue.
Former editor-in-chief of VG, Gard Steiro, said a couple of years ago that it was becoming more difficult to get people to pay for a pure news product. Four in ten Norwegians pay for digital news.
“In our view, quality journalism is not enough to create a robust business,” he said.
Document is much smaller than VG, but has a bright future because we pick up on what is really happening in society long before the mainstream media. And we dare to write about it! We therefore have growing appeal and much greater potential. And people are willing to pay, just not for the news served up by the mainstream media.
This is also a clear message from our readers following months of strong opposition. More and more people want the journalism, analysis and commentary that Document offers, and are choosing to pay for the work we put in.
We have never made any editorial changes as a result of press funding. We will continue to ask questions, investigate issues and challenge established views. We will take our readers’ experiences and concerns seriously and cover topics that receive too little attention in the wider public sphere.
The press must scrutinise and challenge those in power. All too often, we see the mainstream media instead adopting the premises of those in power and directing their fire at those who challenge the political consensus. Issues that ought to have been investigated are dismissed. Concerns that ought to have been taken seriously are treated with suspicion.
When the media cease to challenge those in power, they fail in their social responsibility. It then becomes all the more important that there are independent newspapers that ask the uncomfortable questions and investigate what others leave unchecked.
This is the role that Document is set to fulfil.
To everyone who has taken out a subscription, and to those of you who have supported us over many years: Thank you so much! You are laying the foundations for an independent Document.
We now have 5,700 subscribers. Our next target is 6,000!
