Lilja urges levy on foreign media to support Icelandic outlets

Lilja Dögg Alfreðsdóttir, leader of Iceland’s Progressive Party and a former minister for business and culture, says it is regrettable that a bill to charge large foreign media companies taking domestic advertising revenue has not been completed, mbl.is reports. She also says removing Iceland’s state broadcaster RÚV from the advertising market would not solve the media industry’s problems.

The future of Icelandic media has been widely discussed after broadcaster Sýn disappeared from the market, leaving one state television broadcaster.

Asked about Sýn’s television news service, Lilja said she missed it and praised the journalists who had worked there as “incredibly strong” and particularly productive.

Culture, innovation and higher education minister Logi Már Einarsson recently said it was regrettable that action had not been taken sooner to find ways to strengthen media in Iceland.

Lilja said Logi’s criticism surprised her. She pointed out that his government had changed the rules on grants to privately run media, reducing support for the two largest private media outlets, Sýn and Árvakur.

During her own time in government, she said, support for privately run media was introduced for the first time in Iceland, despite being controversial at the time. Support for local media was also implemented.

Lilja added that she had prepared a bill to charge large foreign companies that receive the biggest share of advertising revenue. Such a measure, she said, would have helped fund professionally edited media and created a more level playing field.

“I encourage Logi Einarsson to do good work. He took over a completed media policy and related measures, and it is entirely within his power to implement them at the first opportunity, since he is the minister today,” she said.

“I strongly encourage him to stand with Icelandic media as was done at the time. Of course, more can always be done.”

However, Lilja said the main problem was the dramatically changed way people consume media. People watch linear programming less often, she said.

“Advertisers are where consumers are, and no politician can change that. It is naive to believe otherwise,” she said.

Regarding criticism of RÚV’s participation in the advertising market, Lilja said France and Spain had also removed their state media from the advertising market. The initial effects had been positive, she said, but the situation later reversed and even more advertising money flowed to foreign media. A large share of advertising revenue in Sweden also goes to foreign media, she said.