The announcement reporting additional indicator is regulated in Article 68 of the Regulation on Official Announcements and Advertisements and differs from the others in two ways: it is open only to General Category online news sites, and its condition is not staffing or traffic but sharing on social networks.
The condition: at least three different announcements a day
The first paragraph requires this: sharing at least three different announcements each day, from among the announcements published on the Agency’s announcement portal, on its own accounts on social networks to be determined by the Agency, in the manner the Agency will determine. General Category online news sites doing so receive an additional indicator at a rate of 1/6.
| Element | Condition |
|---|---|
| Who | Only General Category online news sites |
| What | Announcements published on the Agency’s announcement portal |
| How many | At least 3 different announcements every day |
| Where | Social networks to be determined by the Agency, on its own accounts |
| How | In the manner the Agency will determine |
| Rate | 1/6 |
“Every day” and “three different” must be read together: sharing the same announcement three times, or making one bulk post a week, does not satisfy the condition. The sharing routine must be daily and varied.
The accounts must be shown on the home page
The second paragraph imposes a further obligation: those wishing to benefit from this additional indicator must state their social network accounts on the home page of the online news site, in a way visitors can easily see.
Sharing is therefore not enough; which accounts you share from must be visible on the site. Putting the social network links somewhere easily seen on the home page, rather than burying them in the footer, matters for satisfying this condition.
The sanction for breaching press ethics principles
The third paragraph provides a sanction specific to this additional indicator. Where it is established, of its own motion or upon complaint, that the content of the social network accounts of an online news site benefiting from this additional indicator breaches the General Assembly Decision on Press Ethics Principles referred to in Article 49 of Law No. 195, the site is deprived of the additional indicator by decision of the Board of Directors for a period not exceeding two months.
Conclusion
The announcement reporting additional indicator gives General Category online news sites a rate of 1/6 in return for sharing at least three different announcements from the Agency’s portal daily on their own social network accounts, with those accounts shown visibly on the home page. A breach of press ethics principles on the social account suspends the indicator for up to two months.
The other additional indicators are covered in the additional indicator guide and the press ethics principles in the press ethics guide.