The press plays an essential role in informing citizens and disseminating currents of thought and opinion. It allows an active appropriation of information, a perspective of events, a confrontation of comments and analyses and thus promotes the construction of a cultural and political consciousness. Its vitality and future are major democratic objectives.
This is the reason why the State has long been committed to supporting this sector, particularly through the provision of assistance to the press.
With a view to transparency, the Ministry of Culture publishes the list of press titles that received direct and indirect aid in 2020 and 2021, part of which was financed by the European Union under the 2021 and 2022 recovery plan.
The various aids presented in these tables are as follows:
- Direct aid (aid for pluralism, including in particular the specific aid granted to ultra-marine securities created in 2021, aid for carrying, aid for investment);
- Aid for the distribution of the national daily press;
- Aid for social modernisation (benefiting former employees of the securities concerned) in 2020;
- Exceptional aid paid in 2020.
In 2021, 431 securities benefited from these various aids, 433 in 2020.
For the record, the aid mentioned above is granted to the company issuing the press title and is calculated according to a number of criteria defined in the Orders in Council and, in particular, according to the quantity of copies sold.
The tables concerned are disseminated on the culture.gouv.fr, data.gouv.fr and data.culturecommunication.gouv.fr.