ETC can pay millions after excessive pressure support

Late November ETC announced that 15 local editions of its newspaper would be deleted as they would no longer reach the press support level. Now, there is more adversity for the press group.

Last fall, TS Media Facts examined three of the ETC newspapers. The reason the newspapers were reviewed was that the Press Council considered that they were presenting publishing figures consisting mostly of gift subscriptions, which are not classified as media releases. This indicates the news of today.

The board of directors made a decision: the ETC newspaper and the local newspapers of Jönköping and Umeå will repay eight million crowns due to excessive pressure.

The founder of the ETC group Johan Ehrenberg says this about the decision of DN:
– TS Media Facts has counted all our editions and provided the figures on which we supported our Press service. Then they calculated exactly the same editions with exactly the same statistics and arrived at a whole new figure. Then, suddenly, they noticed on our customer subscriptions, which we had for ten years. Moreover, it is not possible to appeal the decision or even to discuss it with the council. They can not get and answer questions.

After Kerstin Morast Attorney at the Administration of Press, Radio and Television, who deals with issues relating to operational support to the Press Support Board, the Group ETC chose not to disclose its subscription figures.

– During the review of the three newspapers of the Group, they proposed that the Press Support Committee decide on a survey of subscribers. This is to ensure that the quantity of the edition has been ordered and paid for individually, which is the requirement for it to be favorable. ETC chose not to participate in this survey. As a result, TS performed a subscription-based evaluation that he believed could be justified. Then it became like that. And the TS edition indicates that the pressure support is the one that applies.

Johan Ehrenberg has developed a $ 4 million repayment plan for ETC today. How to pay the remaining four million, which applies to local newspapers, he wants to talk to the committee first.

In order to cope with the repayment, Johan Ehrenberg opened a support fund where readers can help with financial support. According to Johan Ehrenberg, there are currently more than 1.5 million crowns.