(By Hekimen, Basque Media Association)

The Basque Government's Deputy Ministry of Language Policy (VPL) has published the most important call for proposals for the Basque media sector: call for grants to promote Basque in the media. This year's call presents a significant particularity with the previous ones: it will be multi-annual, for the years 2016-2018. The Hekimen association has already pointed out that this call leaves no room for new projects, which can be an obstacle to the development of the sector. When designing the call, on the other hand, a series of recommendations issued by Hekimen have not been taken into account, such as the total number of readers of the survey that has been taken as a basis for the calculation of audiences, or the scope and other variables. The call has the same bag as in previous years, since it has not been modified since 2012, which means that six consecutive years in this call, without any increase, the sector will have to face the great challenges that are taking place in communication. Therefore, the association wants to reaffirm that there is a common money exchange and that the three-year call without discussing the main criteria is not what the sector needs, since it is not enough guarantee for its precipitation and consolidation.

It is worth noting, moreover, the period in which the resolution of the call has arrived, with the end of the year. This has caused serious liquidity problems to the media and has generated great instability in some companies. According to Hekimen, this highlights the need for long-term planning to exit the annuity and be able to do better management.

Another collaborative framework

The Basque media sector needs a new framework of collaboration, a new treatment. If the media are fundamental and fundamental to the revitalization of a language, and the Basque media complete among all the offer that the administration should ensure in its sphere, they fulfill the public function, since they respond to a need detected by the speaking community. That is why they are all successes. They must be valued and prestigious. They need recognition and protection. This is what has been done with other sectors of Basque cultural activity, which are also essential for the survival of Basque. It regulates the use of Basque in administration or teaching in Basque. However, the media sphere, considered as the third part of the process of linguistic normalization, what guarantees does it have, what norms, what legal bases?

Looking ahead, therefore, it is necessary to reflect on what is the support system that the sector needs to be able to undertake medium-term investments and maintain a minimum structure, or what may be the minimum budget that the media must have insured to maintain current production and that excellent professionals who work in a dignified way.

We believe that this is a debate that demands the situation and the time, and that the media sector is willing to start the debate with the aim of recognizing the effort and collective result of the Basque press, radio, television and network. Reach more people, make products more attractive and efficient, turn the current hegemonies. We hope we achieve it together. Collaboration between media and administration.

Andoain, September 2016