Online: Requirements for registration in the List of Nationally Relevant Press Agencies

A list of News Agencies of national relevance has been established at the Department for Information and Publishing of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, which will make available to all Public Administrations and Constitutional Bodies general and special news of a national, international and regional nature, also in the form of photo and video reports. The purpose of establishing the list is to guarantee Public Administrations news bulletins produced by Agencies of national relevance that ensure comprehensive information from the widest plurality of sources.

Entities with the required qualifications will have the appropriate characteristics to contribute, according to pluralistic criteria, to the formation of national public opinion.

Requirements for access to the list of News Agencies of national relevance

The requirements that News Agencies must possess to be registered in the list are:

• Availability of journalists employed on a permanent basis equal to and not less than 50.
• Payment to journalists of a minimum salary established by the national collective agreement.
• Ability to guarantee at least 400 news releases per day.
• Proven ability to continuously deploy journalists throughout the national territory.
• Possession of a Consob-certified financial statement.
• Role of the information guarantor figure.
• Possession of a legality rating.

It will be possible to download from the website of the Department for Information and Public Publishing a template for the application that News Agencies must use to declare the possession of the requirements necessary for registration in the list.

Possession of the minimum requirements will allow a positive outcome of the procedure.

The fees due to News Agencies of national relevance

The annual financial fee paid by the Department for Information and Publishing of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers to News Agencies of National Relevance will be calculated individually for each news organization, based on the requirements and parameters actually possessed by the Agency itself.

The contract signed will be valid for one year and will be tacitly renewed for another two years if the requirements persist. Any changes or increases will in any case always be subject to the number of journalists hired by the news agency.

A transitional phase will see the recognition of an additional contribution, only if there is financial availability from previous years; at the end of the provisional phase the Decree will come into force as published in the Official Gazette no. 174 of July 27, 2023.

It will be the responsibility of the Department for Information and Public Publishing to update the list of News Agencies of national relevance annually. News agencies are required to promptly communicate any changes to their requirements and parameters, and it will be the Department's responsibility to update or increase the available resources or initiate the process for any deletions.

Local Authorities

It is specifically stated in the Decree of the President of the Council of Ministers of July 11, 2023, that all Local Authorities wishing to use the services of News Agencies registered in the list of national relevance, must use specific contracts, honoring the commitment with their own funds.

The dissemination and publicity of the procedures regulated by the Decree, as well as the information collected, will be published on the website of the Department for Information and Public Publishing.

It is emphasized by the Public Administration that this Decree, in line with savings for citizens, will not entail any additional costs for taxpayers.