Following the report submitted to it by Mrs Laurence Franceschini, State Councillor, on the conditions of access to aid to the press and the consequent consultation with the professional organisations representing press publishers and journalists, the Minister of Culture has decided to change the conditions of access to postal and tax aids for print media and online press services.
The eligibility criteria for aid to the press did not previously include a requirement for the presence of journalists in the press.
Decree No. 2021-1746 of 21 December 2021 amending the Post Office and Electronic Communications Code, the General Tax Code and Decree No. 2009-1340 of 29 October 2009 introduces the requirement for newspapers to have access to tax and postal aids, to present original content consisting of information that has been the subject of journalistic processing, in particular in the research, collection, verification and formatting of information. It also specifies that this treatment, which may be provided by accredited news agencies, must be carried out by a team of professional journalists within the meaning of Article L. 7111-3 of the Labour Code. The composition of the editorial staff is assessed by the Joint Commission on Publications and News Agencies on the basis of the size of the publishing firm, the subject matter of the publication and its periodicity.
The decree introduces similar obligations for online press services.
Finally, in order to ensure greater transparency of information, the decree strengthens the obligation to identify advertising.
This reform will be followed by a complementary section on the political and general press (IPG), which will be subject to increased requirements in terms of the employment of professional journalists.
Strengthening the requirement for the journalistic treatment of information published in news headlines or websites will help strengthen the legitimacy of the latter in their essential role in any democracy.