science

Press support

Press support is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Press support rather than just read about it. In short: Press support is a government subsidy available for newspapers in some countries. The support can either be direct, in terms of money to the newspaper, or indirect, such as lowered or eliminated sales tax.

Key takeaways

Press support belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Press support to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Press support from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Press support is a government subsidy available for newspapers in some countries. The support can either be direct, in terms of money to the newspaper, or indirect, such as lowered or eliminated sales tax. The justification for press support is typically to maintain some level of diversity in the media market.

Press support by country

Norway In Norway, press support is a state subsidy available for newspapers. The subsidy is twofold; the first part is a direct subsidy of the second-largest, by circulation, newspapers in each city. The other subsidy is that newspapers are subject to no sales tax (as are books).

Direct support The direct subsidy is managed by the Norwegian Media Authority and totalled NOK 303 million in 2006, which was paid to 138 newspapers. It was introduced in 1965 because of the fear of a massive newspaper death like Sweden and Denmark had seen, mainly the second-largest newspapers in each city. Also, at the time, most newspapers were not politically neutral, with many papers being controlled by either conservative forces, the labour movement or political parties. Support is given to all newspapers except those with the largest circulation in the respective city of publishing. There are limitations on the newspapers that can receive support, including that the support will cease if they pay a dividend to their owners. Other support is given to media research, follow-up studies, Sámi newspapers, immigrant publications and distribution support for Finnmark. The press support has been partially successful, with a number of second-largest newspapers surviving, like Bergensavisen (Bergen), Rogalands Avis (Stavanger) and Dagsavisen (Oslo). Other secondary newspapers have been closed, like Trondheims-Pressen. The largest receivers are often national newspapers, targeting special (often political) sectors, like Klassekampen (Socialist), Nationen (Agrarian) and Vårt Land (Christian). Most of the large business and tabloid newspapers, like Dagbladet or Dagens Næringsliv, do not receive support since they pay dividends to their owners.

Indirect support By far the greatest level of support to newspapers comes from their exemption from sales tax and exceeds NOK 1 billion. This exemption was instituted to foster a variety of perspectives from newspapers, to stimulate public debate and consciousness, democracy and freedom of speech and to enable the media to act as society's watchdog.

External links "Presses til å gjøre kutt" [Forced to make cuts]. Klassekampen (in Norwegian). 2013-09-10.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Press support

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Press support claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Press support before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Press support ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Press support

In research: Press support appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Press support in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Press support is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Economics of the arts and literature, Mass media in Norway, Mass media industry, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Press support outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Press support in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Press support means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Press support out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Press support in simple terms?

Why does Press support matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Press support?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Press support.