Fundraising campaign launched for the STA
Ljubljana, 3 May - A month-long fundraising campaign has kicked off in a bid to secure funding for the Slovenian Press Agency (STA), which has not received budget funds for the performance of public service for four months.
Ljubljana
The slogan of the fundraising campaign for the STA: "STAfriends #forSTAsurvival".
Photo: STA
Ljubljana
The front pages of national dailies carry messages in support of the STA as a fundraising campaign is officially launched. The headline reads "Media joining forces".
Photo: Daniel Novakovič/STA
Ljubljana
The front pages of national dailies carry messages in support of the STA as a fundraising campaign is officially launched. Dnevnik's headline reads "We are friends of freedom. Join us!"
Photo: Daniel Novakovič/STA
Ljubljana
The front pages of national dailies carry messages in support of the STA as a fundraising campaign is officially launched. Dnevnik's headline reads "We are friends of freedom. Join us!"
Photo: Daniel Novakovič/STA
Ljubljana
The front pages of national dailies carry messages in support of the STA as a fundraising campaign is officially launched. Večer's headline reads "Media joining forces".
Photo: Daniel Novakovič/STA
Ljubljana
The front pages of national dailies carry messages in support of the STA as a fundraising campaign is officially launched. Delo's front page reads "Free media don't exist in dictatorship".
Photo: Daniel Novakovič/STA
Ljubljana
The front pages of national dailies carry messages in support of the STA as a fundraising campaign is officially launched.
Photo: Daniel Novakovič/STA
Called "Za obSTAnek", the campaign aims to raise two million euros for the agency via small SMS donations and from potential larger donors and kicked off with a press conference in front of the STA headquarters on Monday. National daily newspapers carried front-page stories in support of the campaign as well.
"Its goal is to prevent looming insolvency hanging over the agency. The first reactions show that the decision is correct, and that many at home and abroad are siding with freedom of the press," said Petra Lesjak Tušek, the president of the Association of Slovenian Journalists.
"The STA is our common service, a compass in the media landscape. Broader mobilisation is urgent to prevent this pillar from collapsing. Perhaps it is not an exaggeration to say that this is the hill we die on."
The association acts as the nexus of several initiatives that have sprung up to help the STA offset the shortfall of public funding, which accounts for roughly half of the agency's overall revenue.
"If every citizen contributes one euro, we will have safeguarded the existence of a professional, independent and unbiased public service," the association has said.
STA editor-in-chief Barbara Štrukelj thanked the association for launching the campaign. "Sadly. the STA was a successful company at the end of 2020, now it is on the brink of insolvency - because of the government's ignorance of the law."
The details of the fundraising campaign are available at https://zaobstanek.si/.