In an open letter published Wednesday and Thursday in several titles of the regional and national press, the Alliance of the press of general information (Apig) draws the alarm bell. While the government has put together several recovery plans for the tourism or automotive sectors in particular, publishers of the national and regional daily press as well as magazine publishers are surprised by the lack of response from the public authorities and challenge them in a forum entitled "For a living press, for a strong democracy" .
We are left behind, while newspapers are an essential cog in democratic life and assumed their role with courage and determination during the period of confinement.
Jean-Michel Baylet“We are seeing billions pass to help sectors in great difficulty and this is justified. The State and the European Union are right to commit, begins by emphasizing Jean-Michel Baylet, the president of Apig. But for the general press, which has already gone through a painful digital transition and sees its content continuing to be cheerfully looted by the Gafa without obtaining any compensation, we see nothing coming. Over a year ago, the government approved a plan for the press industry. However, after this new crisis, nothing concrete happened. We are left behind, while newspapers are an essential cog in democratic life and assumed their role with courage and determination during the period of confinement. ”
Collapse of advertising revenues
Already fragile, the economic balances in the press are jeopardized by the collapse since March of advertising revenues, which still constitute an important revenue base for publishers, but also by the drop in sales during the confinement period . "Advertising revenue has collapsed, like that from the traditional resource that are classified ads, judicial and legal", details the Apig.
According to a parliamentary report, the written press shows a fall of more than 50% of its sales between the month of February and the beginning of April, to which was added the massive cancellations of advertisers' campaigns (- 70% on the month of April). In addition, the event activity, which has been a way of diversification for many press groups in recent years, has been brutally stopped.
"The press works in the open"
The Apig takes it coldly. "The press works in the open and this is likely to be fatal in many ways," she says, calling for "determined state support" like aid deployed in the United Kingdom or Italy.
Publishers are asking for emergency measures, starting with a tax credit for advertisers, signage for public communication campaigns and the extension of the exceptional partial unemployment compensation scheme. In the longer term, "the plan for the news press sector must be strengthened," argues Apig, who suggests "the establishment of a 0 rate of VAT, a tax framework that encourages subscription subscriptions. and the establishment of an eco-contribution system that is sustainable, economically and industrially ”.
The government has for the moment rejected the option of the "communication tax credit" requested from the start of confinement by several professional organizations and whose cost is estimated at more than 500 million euros.
