The Press Card Regulation lays down no single quota rule. It uses a different measure for each type of publication, and calculating a quota without knowing the measure is impossible.
Four Different Measures
| Type of publication | The measure that sets the quota | Article |
|---|---|---|
| Newspapers | Total surface area of the pages (square metres) | Arts. 19-22 |
| Magazines | Page count | Arts. 20-22 |
| Internet news sites | Number of employees insured under Law No. 5953 | Art. 27 |
| Radio and television | Scale of broadcasting (national, regional, local) | Art. 26 |
| News and photograph agencies | Number of contracts and size of staff | Art. 24 |
Newspapers: Surface Area
Art. 19/2 sets the tiers for daily political newspapers:
| Total surface area of pages | Quota |
|---|---|
| More than 1.20 m² | No limit for staff in domestic bureaux |
| 0.80 - 1.19 m² (local) | Owner or representative + 8 employees |
| 0.60 - 0.79 m² (local) | Owner or representative + 3 employees |
| 0.40 - 0.59 m² (local) | Owner or representative + 1 employee |
| 0.39 m² or less (local) | No application accepted |
| 1.19 m² or less (national/regional) | No application accepted |
Foreign bureaux are governed separately: there is no limit for the foreign bureaux of national and regional newspapers, while for local newspapers cards are issued to at most 25 per cent of the staff of a foreign bureau. Where the surface area is 1.19 m² or less, no cards are issued to foreign bureaux at all.
Magazines: Page Count
For weekly political magazines the measure is page count (Art. 20/2-b):
| Page count | Quota |
|---|---|
| 100 or more | Owner or representative + 25 employees |
| 60 - 99 | Owner or representative + 9 employees |
| 30 - 59 | Owner or representative + 2 employees |
| 29 or fewer | No application accepted |
Internet News Sites: Insured Employees
Art. 27/2 uses a single measure - the number of employees insured under Law No. 5953:
| Insured employees | Quota |
|---|---|
| 4 | Licence holder or representative + 4 employees |
| 5 - 9 | Licence holder or representative + 9 employees |
| 10 and above | No limit |
Radio and Television: Broadcast Scale
| Broadcast | Quota |
|---|---|
| National radio/television | Board chair + no limit |
| Regional television | Chair + 19 employees |
| Local television | Chair + 10 employees |
| Regional radio | Chair + 7 employees |
| Local radio | Chair + 2 employees |
The Commonest Error in the Surface Area Calculation
A Quota Is a Ceiling
Summary
- Quotas are set by surface area for newspapers, page count for magazines, insured employees for internet news sites, broadcast scale for radio and television, and contracts and staff size for agencies.
- A quota is a ceiling, not an automatic entitlement.