| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Country | Emergency measures for the media sector | Fnancial support for journalists | Specific measures for freelancers | Long-term measures for the media sector | |||||||||||||||||||||
2 | Armenia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
3 | Austria | Package of 32 million euros. Almost half of went to private commercial broadcasters. Daily newspapers received a total of 12.1 million euros and weekly newspapers 2.7 million euros, according to the circulation number. | GPA-djp negotiated a “Corona short-time work” package until March 2021, in which all employees receive 80-90% compensation of their net wages. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
4 | Albania | / | Most traditional media compensated themselves the reduction of working time. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
5 | Azerbaijan | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
6 | Belarus | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
7 | Belgium | In French-speaking Belgium, a package of 3 million euros for media outlets in financial difficulty and another 3 million euros for public health advertising space through media outlets. In Flanders, 3.8 million euros were allocated to public broadcaster VRT, and another 3.8 million euros to regional broadcasters. The Flemish Audiovisual Fund and a number of smaller players can also count on another 1.9 million euros and 500,000 euros respectively. New support package of up to 15,000€ per media outlet/self-employed with a 60% drop in turnover in the period 1 August to 30 September 2020 compared to the same reference period in 2019. | All employed journalists were eligible to short time work compensation (70% of the wages) and to a bonus of about 150€/month. | In French-speaking Belgium, 550.000 € were announced for independent journalists via a fund (Le Fonds pour le journalisme) to support the production of journalistic pieces (lumpsum: 700€); Exemption or postponement of the payment of social security contributions for one year for the first two quarters of 2020. Also, self-employed workers were granted a reduction in their provisional social security contributions for the year 2020. Existing rules remained in place for freelancers with no income (temporarily). The monthly payment amounted to 1.614,10€ for journalists with a family and 1.291,69€ for the others. A regional bonus of 2.000€ was available for freelancers in the region of Brussels who can prove a business interruption of at least 7 consecutive days in March and April. In Flanders, freelance journalists with a fall in their turnover of least 60% between March 14 and April 30 compared to the same period last year could claim the Flemish corona compensation premium of 3000 euros (1500 euros for self-employed persons in a secondary occupation). | ||||||||||||||||||||||
8 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
9 | Bulgaria | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
10 | Croatia | Media houses with a drop in income could apply, like any other companies, for compensation to pay employees. However, in practice this support was not widely used. | Freelance and part-time media workers who could prove a loss of income during the 3-month lockdown could get 4,000HRK/month (525€). | |||||||||||||||||||||||
11 | Cyprus | Package of 700.000 euros. More than 50% was given to TV stations and the rest to online media, newspapers and radio stations. | All employed journalists were eligible to short time work compensation (60% of the wages) under the condition that there is no redundancy on grounds of economic reasons during the period for which the compensation is received | Freelancers were included in the plan for self-employed until mid-June (60% of their wages, up to 900€ per month). | The government renewed the plan in support of print media for another three years with increased funding. The amount is calculated based on the circulation and the number of journalists employed. | |||||||||||||||||||||
12 | Czech Republic | / | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
13 | Denmark | 24 million euros. The government supports private media which have lost between 30% and 50% of the revenues from ads. They receive from 60% to 80% of what they lost as compensation from the state. In addition, a deal has been agreed with private media to encourage them not to dismiss their staff. If they don’t, the state will pay 75% of the salary, the employers will pay 25% and the workers will pay the rest by giving up one week’s holiday. | Freelancers and self-employed journalists who could justify a loss of more than 30% of their income received 75% compensation from the State (maximum 3000€/month) between 8 March and 8 July. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
14 | Estonia | Reduced VAT rate for electronic publications (down from 20% to 9%), with annual savings estimated at 400,000 EUR for the industry in 2020. The government made available another subsidy worth 450,000 EUR for newspaper home delivery, which was meant to support the sector for a period of 3 months. | / | |||||||||||||||||||||||
15 | Finland | A package of 5 million euros for emergency relief of newspapers for the wages and freelancer expenses, 2,5 million euros for the Finnish News Agency (STT), and 5 million euros for the Finnish Film Foundation for domestic productions support. | Private culture or journalism foundations are offering short term grants with fast decision making process. | Freelancers and entrepreneurs were eligible for unemployment compensation up to 724€/month. Freelancers could get an assistance of 2 000€ from the state for their business costs. The finnish union granted financial assistance to journalists through its own foundation (40 special Coronavirus grants of 5 800€ each - 232.000€ in total) to help freelancers and their media projects. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
16 | France | All workers were eligible to short time work compensation (84% of the net income). | The scheme also applied to "pigistes". No income threshold or press card is required to be eligible. Pigistes have to provide at least three pay slips in the last twelve months, including two in the last four months, or prove they have collaborated on the last issue of a quarterly publication. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
17 | Georgia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
18 | Germany | Media outlets were eligible to the 25 billion euros aid programme if they meet the following conditions: decrease in revenues in April and May 2020 by at least 60% compared to 2019 and by at least 50% in the period June-August 2020. Up to 50% of fixed operating costs will be reimbursed if revenues fall by at least 50% compared to the same month of the previous year (up to 80% if decrease by more than 70%). The maximum refund was 150,000€ per company for three months. | Short-time work benefits were increased to 70% of net income for childless employees and 77% for employees with children. | - National level: freelancers could receive from 9 000 to 15 000€ per journalists for three months (for their running costs). Self-employed could also benefit from a child allowance of 300€ or subsidies for electromobility. - Regional aid: Bavaria: up to 5,000€ for three months Baden-Württemberg: up to 9,000€ for three months. Berlin: up to 5,000€. Brandenburg: up to € 9,000 for three months. Bremen: up to 5,000€ and 20,000€ after a more thorough examination. Hamburg: 2,500€ - in addition to the federal aid. Hessen: effectively up to € 1,000 from the state. Niedersachsen: one-time emergency aid of up to 3,000€. In March/April, the city of Hanover had a short-term emergency aid package (subsidy up to 3,000€) to support entrepreneurs. North Rhine-Westphalia: up to 9,000€. Saxony-Anhalt: artists and writers received maximum twice 400€/person/month. Thuringia: up to € 5,000. Rheinland-Pfalz and Schleswig-Holstein did not have their own regional program. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
19 | Greece | Freelance journalists were granted a 800€ unemployment benefit. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
20 | Hungary | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
21 | Iceland | ISK 400 million in support of private media, maximum 100 million per media outlet. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
22 | Ireland | Employees could get a temporary wage subsidy of 70% of take-home pay, up to a maximum tax free amount of 410€/week to help affected companies keep paying their employees. Workers who have lost their jobs due to the crisis received an enhanced emergency Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment of 350€/week (an increase from 203€); The Covid-19 illness payment was also increased to 350€/week. | Self-Employed were eligible for the Unemployment Payment of 350€/week until mid-June. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
23 | Italy | Advertisers could deduct from 30% of all investment for advertisement in newspapers and online media from their taxes. | Workers who have lost their jobs due to the crisis received an enhanced emergency Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment of 350€/week (an increase from 203€); | Freelancers with an annual income of up to 50.000€ could get a bonus of 600€. The National Institute for Italian Journalists' Social Security (INGPI) implemented a package of measures of 42 000€ which allowed extensions of parental leave, the right to defer contribution, a fund for solidarity loans at zero cost, an additional economic allowance of 500€ for all contraction of activities (in case of a contraction of at least 33% of the income in the quarter March-May 2020, compared of the period October-December 2019) and possibility to suspend further financing installment in progress with the Inpgi. The Autonomous Fund for Integrative Assistance of Italian Journalists (Casagit) provided for members with an allowance of 50€/day, up to a maximum of 30 days, following an admission to public facilities for Covid-19. The contribution was paid even when convalescence or a period of home isolation was necessary. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
24 | Kosovo | A package of 41 million euros. It includes a Fiscal Emergency Package, lease subsidy up to 50% of the value of the lease for small and medium enterprises for April and May (maximum 12 million euros), the coverage of the value of pension contributions for salaries for April and May, up to 8 millions euros, micro-enterprises and the self-employed are eligible for financial liquidity insurance of up to 10.000€ over 24 months through certain programmes of the Kosovo Credit Guarantee Fund, a financial support from 130€ was granted to companies employing with contracts of at least 1 year during the period of health emergency, for the two months following the hiring. | The government compensated salary expenses of employees (170€ for April and May) for companies in financial difficulties due to revenue's fall. | No | ||||||||||||||||||||||
25 | Latvia | 599 492 euros to support the print and commercial internet news portals; 223 737 euros (per month) to support the monthly delivery costs of subscribed press publications; 217 699 euros (per month) to support the monthly broadcasting costs of electronic media programs. € 1 000 000 has been allocated to the National Electronic Media Council (NEPLP). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
26 | Lithuania | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
27 | Luxembourg | Luxembourg media could apply for an extraordinary subsidy of maximum 200,000 euros per outlet. It takes the form of a subsidy of 5.000€ per full-time journalist (so max. 40 per media outlet) under the condition that supported full-time position must not already have been supported by the State as part of the short-time work. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
28 | Malta | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
29 | Montenegro | The government of Montenegro supported the media up to 310,000 EUR. An additional 300,000 EUR was granted, it corresponds to the value of the obligations of which the media have been released or whose payment has been deferred. Furthermore, journalists could receive free equipment to protect themselves against the Coronavirus. | Subsidies for salaries were also provided to employees in the media. | / | A credit line has been granted with the Investment and Development Fund for credit funds of up to EUR 600,000. | |||||||||||||||||||||
30 | The Netherlands | 11 million euros intended to regional broadcasters (7,5 million) and investigative journalism (3,5 million) - taken from existing subsidy scheme. Postponement of paying taxes until 1 October 2020. Government makes available 11 million euro for regional and local media, some of them ‘hyperlocals’- owned by independent journalists. And the government added a support of 24 million for local media for the remaining 2020 months, including the so-called "hyperlocals" | All journalists were eligible to short-time work compensation (up to 90% of the wages) during 3 months (with the possibility of extension) under the condition that there is no redundancy on grounds of economic reasons during the period for which the allowance is received. The NVJ social fund provides journalists with support to solve temporary financial issues, the Dutch LIRA contributed to this fund also. Funds for journalists are now easier accessible thanks to criteria relaxing. | Self-employed persons and freelancers with an income decrease could receive additional income support for a period of 3 months up to the social minimum level of 1,219€ from the age of 21, from 1 March, without checking other sources of income. Loan for working capital was available for emergency credit of a maximum of 10,157€. Easy application process for deferral of tax. Since first of July, however freelance journalists with a partner with a steady income were most of the time not eligible. As of August, 160,000€ was made available from Dutch LIRA for projects by freelance journalists. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
31 | North Macedonia | Applicable to June, July and August, the plan consisted in the distribution of subsidies (for fringe benefits) to all employers who have not illegitimately fired employees during the crisis, including those who reduced employees’ salaries. | All journalists were eligible to short-time work compensation equal to the minimum wage, ie 250€. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
32 | Norway | A package of 27 million euros. The scheme was used by national media who have a total turnover decline of at least 20% in the period March 1 through 15 June. For local and regional media, the fall in turnover must be at least 15%. The media that met these criteria was compensated up to 60% of the decrease in revenue during the period, upwards limited to EUR 1,3 million. The compensation was adjusted in case of layoffs / support from other covid-19 measures. | Freelance workers qualified for state-financed sick pay after the 4th day (instead of the 16th day) equivalent to 80% of the average earnings over the past three years (up to 50 000€). | |||||||||||||||||||||||
33 | Poland | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
34 | Portugal | A package of 24 million euros. It includes the purchase of institutional advertising worth 15 million euros, with 75% to national agencies and 25% to regional and local agencies. | All journalists received between 50 and 80% of their wages. | Freelance journalists with no income received 430€/month. Independent workers who needed to stay at home with their kids because of the schools closing, received one third of their average income, taking as a reference the last trimester of 2019. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
35 | Romania | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
36 | Russia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
37 | San Marino | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
38 | Serbia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
39 | Slovakia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
40 | Slovenia | Freelancers received 350€ for March, 700€ for April and May each, under the condition that journalists declare lower incomes, taking early 2020 and 2019 as reference months. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
41 | Spain | 15 million euros was granted to TV channels. Preferential VAT rate for digital content set at 4% (from 21%) to equal newspapers. | The government covered 70% of unemployment aids without condition. Tax reduction for freelancers. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
42 | Sweden | A package of more than 47 million euros to support the media temporarily for 2020 to strengthen financially editorial activities and compensate (partly) for lost advertising revenue during the pandemic. 15 millions euros will be distributed among 200 printed newspapers. The entire cost of all sick pay was covered by the government from the 1st day of sickness between 11 March and 31 May. | SJF signed a central collective agreement on short-term work due to the current crisis, valid until the end of the year. The agreement provides for a reduction in workers’ working time while retaining at least 92% of the salary, with the support of the State. The agreement covers the daily press and magazine areas, commercial broadcasters (public service media are excluded). | A lowering of the tax amounting to a decrease of about 1800€ for freelancers able to work full time (a minority). Freelancers in more advanced companies (minority) could apply for furlough to compensate their loss of incomes. SJF will fund 250 scholarships amounting of 1000€ for freelancers in need. | A permanent annual increase of SEK 200 million (around 18 million euros) for the media sector. Most of it (150 mil) will be used to cover distribution costs and the rest (50 mil) is a special subsidy for media to expand their media coverage. | |||||||||||||||||||||
43 | Switzerland | The press agency Keystone-SDA was made available free of charge to the media for six months. Newspapers and magazines were also distributed free of charge by mail. Support of 30 million CHF for private local radio and television stations through the fluctuation reserve for the radio and television licence fee. The condition is that publishers do not pay dividends in 2020. | Employers can apply for short-time work compensation for employed journalists (including those freelancers who work on a regular basis for the same employer). They received a compensation of 80% of the salary of the employee for the time the employee is not occupied and are obliged to pay this compensation to the employee. | Self-employed journalists received 80% of their average salary with a maximum of 185€ (CHF196.00) / day. However this covered only the net income, not the full turnover and thus, did not compensate expenses such as e. g. office rental costs. An additional emergency fund of 50 million has been financed by the federal government for the cultural sector and is distributed by “Suisseculture Sociale”, an independent foundation. Journalists (also those who do not work within the cultural sector) can apply for emergency aid if they can’t cover their living expenses. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
44 | Turkey | / | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
45 | Ukraine | Since 11 May, entreprises operating in the field of mass media (press retail outlets, logistics, audiovisual) are allowed to work. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
46 | United Kingdom | Journalists, earning at least 118 GBP a week, who cannot work due to coronavirus were able to get Statutory Sick Pay from day 1 (instead of day 4). Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (at least until July 2020): media can get support to continue paying salaries up to 80% of their wage up to a cap of £2,500 per month. | The scheme also applied to freelancers (80% of their average monthly profits over the last three years). The maximum per month is £2,500. The scheme is open to anyone with an income up to £50,000 (and a tax return for 2019). Newly self-employed, those earning more than £50,000 or those who don’t earn over 50% from their self-employment income are not eligible. Since July, self-employed parents who didn't submit a tax return for 2018/2019 because they were pregnant or taking time out to care about their new born or adopted child can claim for the Self-employement Income Scheme Support (SEISS), as long as they meet the other standard eligibility criteria. This scheme is available from 17 August to 19 October. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
47 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
48 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
49 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
50 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
51 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
52 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
53 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
54 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
55 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
56 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
57 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
58 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
59 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
60 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
61 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
62 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
63 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
64 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
65 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
66 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
67 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
68 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
69 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
70 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
71 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
72 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
73 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
74 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
75 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
76 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
77 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
78 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
79 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
80 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
81 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
82 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
83 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
84 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
85 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
86 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
87 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
88 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
89 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
90 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
91 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
92 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
93 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
94 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
95 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
96 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
97 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
98 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
99 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
100 |