The Union of Journalists (SJ) accused the Government this Monday of “weakening the financial situation of RTP” and criticizes the absence of measures to “strengthen journalism” in the State Budget proposal for 2025 (OE2025).
“(…) as in the Government’s Social Communication Action Plan, it also There are no big ambitions for journalists in this budget“says the SJ, in a statement, regretting that the measures “essential to strengthen journalism and guarantee decent working conditions for information professionals” presented by the union for protection are, “for the most part, absent.” .
The union led by Luís Simões points out that the lack of updating the audiovisual contribution “as required by law” will continue to “weaken the financial situation of RTP” and reiterates its criticism of the plan to dismiss RTP workers and the end of advertising on the station. public, measures that are part of the Social Communication Action Plan.
“It is not easy to understand how the Government thinks that RTP can do more and better journalism with fewer human resources and less financing, if the end of advertising, three years ago, is not accompanied by an increase in public contribution,” indicates the SJ.
On the other hand, “many other proposals, for the sustainability of the media, the defense of labor rights and the guarantee of access to information, did not comply with what was required or, worse still, were left out of this Budget proposal ”says the union.
The SJ indicates that it will have this week “meetings with various parties with parliamentary seats” and that he also requested a meeting “with the responsible Secretary of State, to insist on the need to include measures specifically aimed at journalists, essential in any fair and effective project for the media.”
“Neither the Budget nor the plan foresees, as the SJ suggested, the creation of a specific category in the public utility statute for journalistic organizations, with the corresponding tax benefits, ensuring that they can access SII and VAT allocations, nor its contemplation by the clientelism law,” he points out.
Furthermore, “not even a more favorable tax regime has been established for journalistic companies, including elimination of VAT on the sale of subscriptionsestablishing a specific tax regime for the sale of advertising, and including reduced energy and telecommunications rates,” highlights the SJ.
In a statement, the SJ also regrets that “no Government project is planned to establish new models of financing journalism as a public service, following international examples of direct support for the production of information, through the creation of a direct scholarship program for journalists or support for newsrooms.”
According to the SJ, the measures “not only reveal that the Government lacks a specific vision for the media but also They do nothing to guarantee the salary increase of the remaining journalists and the improvement of their working conditions”, also remembering that it is “urgent to address the generalized impoverishment of the journalistic class” in which “around 30% of journalists earn less than a thousand euros per month.”
The union also notes that it proposed the allocation of multi-year structural subsidies to non-profit journalistic organizations, the allocation of reporting subsidies to teams of journalists and individual journalists, as well as “the IRS deduction of all OCS subscriptions.” [órgãos de comunicação social] and donations made” and regrets that these proposals were left out of OE2025.
This Thursday, the Government delivered to Parliament the General State Budget proposal for 2025 (OE2025), which foresees that the economy will grow by 1.8% in 2024 and 2.1% in 2025 and a surplus of 0.4% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) this year and 0.3% next year.
Source: Observadora
