This year, the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency Traficom awards EUR 7 million in discretionary government grants to support communications and news media. The aim of the discretionary government grants is to support comprehensive and socially important communications as well as diverse and multifaceted news operations. The applications will open during August.
Traficom awards discretionary government grants for the payroll costs of persons engaged in journalistic work and the fees of freelancers. Grants can be awarded to parties such as newspapers and online publications providing news for a national, regional or local audience as well as radio and TV channels.
The news media must cover a wide range of different topics and serve a diverse audience. For example, trade publications and bulletins published by professional organisations, media published by parties already receiving party subsidies, as well as media focused on a specific hobby and other similar publications do not meet the criteria for receiving a grant.
The grants are awarded for professional and continuous news media operations
The aim of the general requirements for awarding grants is, among other things, to target the grants at professional and continuous operations that generate costs. For instance, news media receiving a discretionary government grant must be published regularly and on a permanent basis, and it must contain editorial material produced by the news media itself. The qualification criteria for the grants also include the news media having an editor-in-chief and at least one person doing full-time editorial work.
Digitalisation has had a major impact on the media industry
The revolution of the media industry has had a major impact on the operating conditions of Finnish communications and news media; in addition, the role of comprehensive and diverse communications has been highlighted further in the current global situation. The media industry plays an important role in Finnish society in sharing fact-based information.
Throughout the 2000s, the media industry has faced major changes, because digitalisation has transformed its whole operating environment. Multinational technology companies challenge traditional actors for advertising income streams and compete for the same audiences as traditional media, while production costs as well as the printing and distribution costs of print media have increased.
The aim is to open the applications for grants during August. We will issue a separate notice on the start of the application period and release more detailed instructions on how to apply for a grant at the same time.
The grants are provided by the Government Decree on Discretionary Government Grants to Support Communications and News Media in 2023 (valtioneuvoston asetus valtionavustuksesta tiedonvälityksen ja uutismedioiden tukemiseen vuonna 2023 (476/2023)) (External link).
More information on the support for news media (External link) (in Finnish)
Additional information
Artturi Kavaja, Specialist, tel. +358 (0)295 347 379, artturi.kavaja@traficom.fi