Introduction
The social and solidarity economy (ESS) offers the possibility of establishing companies with horizontal and democratic management in which journalists, and also the public, have control. The cooperative is one of the most widespread models: there are cooperatively organized media around the world, and the first experiences date back approximately a century. They are often local or regional media, although there is also state coverage, such as the German newspaper Taz and the Italian Il Manifesto.
Cooperativism in the media in Catalonia
In Catalonia, the extensive tradition of cooperativism belatedly bore fruit in the media sector. Thus, just after the Transition, the first press cooperatives were founded, many of which were short-lived or were converted into conventional companies. Apart from some isolated experience at the beginning of the 21st century, it was not until the global recession of 2008 that cooperative media re-emerged. Spurred on by the crisis of the journalistic business model and the diminishing credibility of traditional journalism, groups of professionals and readers founded media cooperatives or co-operativeized pre-existing media. Well-known examples are Directa and Crític, dedicated to investigative journalism, and newspapers specialized in economics such as Alternativas Económicas, Opcions and premium.cat, the latter focusing on ESS.
Local cooperative media
However, where more headlines are concentrated is in the field of proximity: Som Anoia -which appeared for only a few months, in 2012-, L’Independent de Gràcia -published by a cooperative until 2014-, the local newspapers Som —integrated in Abacus—, Surtdecasa, Fetasantfeliu, La Fura, El Jardí de Sant Gervasi and Sarrià, Malarrassa, Setembre and District 7. The analysis of this article focuses on these media.
Characteristics of cooperative journalism
Cooperative journalism emphasizes quality and critical vision, as well as ensuring that public interest sets the agenda. Likewise, it has the particularity of continuous attention to the social and solidarity economy, of which it is part. This can lead to eventual conflicts of interest in professionals who are, at the same time, workers and owners of a medium, as well as activists for the ESS. The differences in the news agenda between the cooperative media derive mainly from the position occupied by each header. Those who live with well-established newspapers and weeklies tend to focus on social movements and follow little of the institutional agenda, while those who compete more directly with other private media balance their gaze on local reality.
Financing models
In the economic section, they present a remarkable diversity of financing mechanisms. There are cases in which advertising is the main source – Som, La Fura, El Jardí -, while in others there is more of a balance between advertising, subsidies and contributions from readers – Malarrassa, Fetasantfeliu, Surtdecasa, Som Anoia and L’Independent of Grace For its part, Setembre and District 7 incorporate as a source of income the provision of communication services to ESS entities, a route that La Fura also began to explore. However, there is no medium that is predominantly dependent on the contributions of the reading and partner community.
Social support and challenges
In this sense, social support is decisive. It links directly to the seventh cooperative principle, that of community interest, which must be translated into positive impacts on the environment. Many of the local Catalan cooperative media seek to inter-cooperate with other ESS projects and energize local life with cultural proposals. However, difficulties are detected when it comes to extending social support to the heads, which can compromise its sustainability.
conclusion
Ultimately, the cooperative is a model with potential to renew and diversify our local media ecosystems. It has allowed the launch of projects with their own profile, which operate with parameters far removed from the logic of the traditional journalistic company. However, more work needs to be done – inter-cooperative, of course – so that they take root strongly as informative references for citizens looking for critical journalism and for social transformation.
By Eloi Camps Durban, journalist and PhD in Communication (UPF)
