Coronavirus: Media sector companies ask for government assistance

Thirty-six companies that operate in the media sector have written to Prime Minister Robert Abela asking the government for direct assistance to help overcome the difficulties brought about by the coronavirus pandemic.

These signatories include advertising agencies, news providers, marketing companies and public relations firms.

The companies said that nothing takes precedence over the preservation of human lives and that they will carry their share of the burden to keep the country going.

They noted that the sector is an important one in conveying information to the public, but is also fragile.

“The fragility of our businesses is something we are used to, the butterfly effect arising from the slightest threat to our clients’ confidence has an immense impact on our survival. This is compounded by the fact that our only, invaluable, resource and indeed livelihood, is the time of hundreds of outstanding humans. But this is different. We see this storm fast approaching, each month of ‘runway’ burns away faster and louder.”

The industry could simply fade away, they warned, “here today gone tomorrow, without so much as a whimper.”

They appealed to the PM to “deliver measures that will put a few more precious metres between us and this storm, that we may catch our breath and use our wits and resolve to give us a fighting chance to come out of this unusual ordeal with the least possible harm.”

Noting that other countries have already put in place farreaching measures for the media sector, they put forward a number of suggestions to reach some measure of burden sharing.

These include direct assistance of at least 50% of the payroll incurred by the companies for the months of April and May 2020, following which a reassessment will be made for a possible automatic extension.

They also asked for a government subsidy on bank interest for any business facility used to maintain ongoing business, as well as a direct subsidy to go against current rental expenses.

Another proposal is for a temporary adjustment to employees’ tax rates.

Quarantine leave should be carried by the government, they said, while there should also be a temporary six-month suspension or downward revision on VAT.

The companies asked for confirmation that the recently announced deferral of fiscal payments and any subsequent measure in this regard will also include their sector or indeed all the service sector.

The final proposal is for a deferral of any fiscal payments will not incur interest and/or penalties.