Increased job insecurity in journalism, which is imposing unacceptable working conditions and financial treatment on the majority of information workers, external contributors and freelance workers

19.11.2013

Question for written answer E-013162-13
to the Commission
Rule 117
Sergio Berlato (PPE) , Magdi Cristiano Allam (EFD) , Roberta Angelilli (PPE) , Paolo Bartolozzi (PPE) , Fabrizio Bertot (PPE) , Mara Bizzotto (EFD) , Lara Comi (PPE) , Susy De Martini (ECR) , Elisabetta Gardini (PPE) , Giovanni La Via (PPE) , Clemente Mastella (PPE) , Barbara Matera (PPE) , Cristiana Muscardini (ECR) , Alfredo Pallone (PPE) , Aldo Patriciello (PPE) , Crescenzio Rivellini (PPE) , Licia Ronzulli (PPE) , Oreste Rossi (PPE) , Marco Scurria (PPE)

The growing job insecurity that is spreading exponentially in Italy in various employment sectors has also hit journalism, and is imposing unacceptable working conditions and financial treatment on the majority of information workers, external contributors and freelance workers. Currently there are more ‘independent’ journalists than ‘employees’. In fact, 28 408 of the 47 727 working journalists are freelance, with average pay equivalent to 18% of the average annual salary of an in-house journalist. This equates to an average annual gross income of EUR 12 810 for those who are VAT registered, a figure which falls to EUR 8 973 for ‘continuous and coordinated contractual relationships’, as can be seen from the separate management data of the INPGI, the social insurance fund for this category. In material terms, then, this means that an article by a reporter on a daily newspaper may be ‘worth’ something like EUR 5 gross. A snapshot of this situation is provided by the Freedom of the Press, Right to Information report for 2012, which reveals that currently six working journalists in 10 are self-employed, and between 2009 and 2012 the percentage of those in an employment relationship fell from 46.4% to 40.5%. Journalists who are employed account for 18.8% of those registered in the official register. Average pay for a self-employed journalist varies from EUR 9 000 to EUR 12 800 gross per year (with expenses, contributions and risks borne by the journalist), and it is stated that 53% of this group earns an annual income of less than EUR 5 000. Paragraph 6 of the European Parliament’s resolution of 20 October 2010 on the role of minimum income in combating poverty and promoting an inclusive society in Europe ‘[h]ighlights the need for action at Member States level with a view to establishing a threshold for minimum income, based on relevant indicators, that will guarantee social-economic cohesion, reduce the risk of uneven levels of remuneration for the same activities and lower the risk of having poor populations throughout the European Union, and calls for stronger recommendations from the European Union regarding these types of actions’.

1. Is the Commission already aware of this situation, and does it believe that it is just an Italian anomaly?

2. Does it believe that job insecurity in the field of information, in view of the resulting lack of autonomy and independence that the profession would demand, inevitably has an effect on the product supplied, and thus lowers the quality of information?

3. Does it consider it appropriate to propose setting up a special enquiry committee, and if so, within what time frame, to begin comprehensive and coordinated monitoring throughout the countries of Europe in order to throw light on the situation regarding self-employment as a journalist in the information sector?

OJ C 237, 22/07/2014