The most common form of local media are audio-visual media (radio and television). Communities in rural areas of Luxembourg are well served by local media outlets.   Luxembourg’s 19 local audio-visual media are divided between 11 in the South of the country^[1] and 8 in the North^[2]. This is why the infrastructure of local media represents a very low risk in Luxembourg (13%). In addition, dok den oppene kanal was a channel that operated a selection of programmes from local channels, which allowed Luxembourgers to have easy access to local news coverage, but which ceased broadcasting on December 31, 2023. These local media are important for the population because, according to the most recent Eurostat data, 32.9% of the population in the country was living in rural areas in 2020^[3]. Even if there has been a decline since 2015 (48.5% of the population then lived in rural areas), Luxembourg is still considered one of the most rural countries in Europe. However, the country is nevertheless very well equipped with infrastructure, and rural areas are not,strictly speaking, different from urban areas in terms of services. Concerning newspaper distribution, the country benefits from an offer of 72 kiosks^[4] (Valora group), of which 70% is dedicated to the press, with an expansion of news stands at the rate of two to three stores per year. However, there is an issue regarding mailing by post. The post offices are no longer sending subscribers’ weekly newspapers directly, without address labelling, which generated additional costs for the print media. A discussion is underway with the press council and the postal service to try to find a solution.^[5] 

Given that there is only one PSM radio, 100.7, in Luxembourg and considering the small size of the country, one cannot talk about local/regional correspondents for the PSM, but the geographical distribution of the news is adequate in practice. For example, there are live broadcasts from Diekirch in the North of the country, even if the radio studios are in Luxembourg city. Additionally, taking into account the law of 12 August 2022 on the organisation of the public establishment “Public Service Media 100.7” and amending the law of 27 July 1991 on electronic media, one of the missions of the PSM radio is to provide the entire population of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg with information on regional and local news.

^[1] Stengefort TV (channel of the municipality of Steinfort), Pétange Info TV, Esch TV, Dudelange TV, Radio Belle Vallée (Local Radio Bieles cultural association) (Belvaux), Radio Gutt Laun (Schifflange), Radio Diddeleng (Local radio of the City of Dudelange), LRB (Local radio Réiserbann -Betebuerg), Rádio Positiva Luxemburgo (universal reception center a.s.b.l) (Esch-sur-Alzette), Mamer TV, Radio Pétange/ Péiteng on Air (Radio-Tele Gemeng Péiteng a.s.b.l).

^[2] Nordliicht TV (Bettendorf near Vianden and Diekirch), Dikrich TV, Radio ROM (Radioorganisatioun Miedernach a.s.b.l) (Medernach, Ernz valley), Country Radio Gilsdorf (Country Radio Gilsdorf a.s.b.l), Radio Lora (Association for the creation and l operation of radio broadcasts by antenna and cable) (Diekirch), Radio LNW (Radio du Lycée du Nord) (Wiltz), Radio Aktiv (Echternach), Miersch TV).

^[3] Of the 106 municipalities in Luxembourg, 80 municipalities are classified as in rural areas and occupy 82.2% (2,125.4 km2) of the national territory (2,586.36 km2). Source: “Luxembourg – Rural Development Programme (National) “, Ministère de l’Agriculture, de la Viticulture et de la Protection des Consommateurs, n.d., https://www.reterurale.it/downloads/RDP/rdp%20Lussemburgo.pdf

^[4] L’équipe (F). Woxx. n.d., https://www.woxx.lu/lequipe-f/ ; K Kiosk. “Treat Yourself.” Valora Holding AG., n.d., https://www.valora.com/en/brands/kkiosk/  ; Le K Kiosk de la Gare Vit SES Derniers Jours. L’essentiel. 2023. https://www.lessentiel.lu/fr/story/le-k-kiosk-de-la-gare-vit-ses-derniers-jours-312058354061

^[5] R. Graf, director of the Woxx, 8/2/2023, online via Teams.

The indicator market and reach is scored as a medium risk (41%). The majority of local media are non-profit organisations (ASBL). Given their status, they are not permitted to make a profit and are distinct from commercial companies. Their annual accounts are filed with the Register of Businesses and companies (RCS) and not published. It is therefore noted a lack of transparency regarding local media revenues. Furthermore, the only data concerning advertising revenue published by adada.lu in the Adreport is limited to national media^[1].

The financial support provided by the government at national, regional, local or municipal level to local media is existing but not sufficiently transparent and anchored in a long time frame. Yet, the local media largely contribute to maintaining pluralism in the Luxembourg media landscape. Funding through advertising is limited and only non-profit associations can obtain permission to open a local radio outlet (art.17 Law on Electronic Media of 1991). As an example, NORDLIICHT TV is financed mainly by sponsorship, by advertising and by the support of the majority of the municipalities in the north of the country, as well as by the Ministry of State, Media and Communication department. Subsidies are regularly granted by the municipalities for this purpose (Bourscheid in 2019^[2], Reisdorf, for the amount of 700 euros in 2018^[3]). Several agreements have been signed, including an agreement in 2019 with the College of Echevinal and in 2018 with the municipality of Mertzig^[4]. As for Radio ARA, an agreement has been reached with the state for the period 2021-2025, securing funding of one million and 200,000 euros spread over 5 years. Advertising revenue is in fact described as “limited” by the status of a non-profit association. Local audio-visual media do not benefit from the aid programme of the law of 30 July 2021, which concerns the printed and online written press. Audio-visual media are in fact excluded because they are considered broadcast programmes and are covered by the amended Law of 27 July 1991 on Electronic Media (Article 2, Point 24^[5]). They therefore benefit from assistance on a case-by-case basis.

Luxembourgers have access to local news in the daily press media. Indeed, local news intertwines with national news. Among the 3 most widely read daily press newspapers  (print and online version included), two newspapers have a fee: the Luxemburger Wort and the Tageblatt^[6]. Although two paid newspapers are in the top 3 most read press in terms of local news, the free newspaper L’Essentiel ranks second in terms of readership. The majority of readers are not used to paying for local media, either for the audio-visual sector (local audio-visual media are free) or for the press sector. In addition, in 2019, the discontinuation of the weekly publication Le Jeudi, founded in 1997, reveals that the subscription and advertising-financed model is no longer viable since the digital transition. According to Editpress management, the advertising market has largely shifted from the print to the digital market and the revenue generated by voter subscriptions has not been able to compensate for the advertising deficit.

Generally, there has been a maintenance of the local media landscape over the past five years. For example, since 1992, Radio ARA has been broadcasting on the Luxembourg airwaves, despite a drop in audience for the local radio station Radio ARA in 2022. According to the Plurimedia study by the ILRES polling institute in 2021 for the first period of the study, Radio ARA lost audience numbers in 2021^[7]. Conversely, the local media Nordliicht TV gained in numbers^[8]. In 2022, the audience for this local media increased^[9].

Concerning the print press and online press, there has been an increase in the amount of financial support provided by the state to local media outlets in recent years, thus there is a very low risk reported for this variable.  To maintain and support media pluralism, the government passed the law of 30 July 2021 on an aid scheme for professional journalism by granting 200,000 euro per media with the condition of hiring 5 journalists on permanent contracts. This allows for the maintenance and development of the press. Each year, the media must meet the conditions required to obtain aid, which is why the amounts over the years are not guaranteed and may vary^[10]. For example, contacto.lu, which is a community media for the Portuguese community in Luxembourg, received 219,286.55 euro in 2021 compared to 387,082.93 euro in 2022 with the new press aid regime. The Mediahuis Luxembourg group was also able to develop Virgule.lu, a French-language information site for Luxembourg residents and inhabitants of the Greater Region.  Even if it is not strictly speaking local media,  due to its private for-profit economic model, the target audience is a well-defined local audience and responds to the  particular nature of Luxembourg in terms of demand for local information.

For the market and reach area, which has the highest score, the most problematic issues are the lack of data and transparency. Even if local radio stations are limited in terms of advertising, public data on these potential earnings and access to the precise ownership of local media is not available. For example, when accessing the RCS (trade and companies register), there is only access to the name of the company, its registered office, the legal form, the NACE code and the date of registration. Data on the weekly audience of local media is unavailable. The only data obtained concerns a period of 5 months with the Plurimedia study by the polling institute ILRES. Moreover, Luxembourg is not analysed in the Digital News Report by the Reuters Institute.

^[1] Adada, “Luxembourg ad’report 2022: Investissements publicitaires en Hausse de 4,3 millions par rapport à 2021, adada. 2023. https://www.adada.lu/2023/03/luxembourg-adreport-2022-les-investissements-publicitaires-progressent-de-43-millions-par-rapport-a-2021/ .

^[2] Séance du conseil communal du 25 octobre 2019, https://bourscheid.lu/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Aide-memoire-2019.10.25.pdf .

^[3] Conseil Communal Reisdorf – Séance publique du 22 mars 2018, https://reisdorf.lu/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Seance-du-conseil-communal-du-22-mars-2018.pdf .

^[4] Administration Communale – SÉANCE DU CONSEIL COMMUNAL (Mertzig, 20 April 2018), https://www.mertzig.lu/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/convocation-1.pdf .

^[5] Law of 27 July 1991 on Electronic Media, art. 2, pt. 24: “a) any program, in particular broadcast radio, television or teletext, which is transmitted using a Luxembourg broadcasting frequency, as defined in paragraph (1), even if such a program occupies only part of the bandwidth of this frequency or only part of the available airtime, or if it uses other means of transmission in parallel; any program, in particular broadcast radio, television and teletext, which, without being transmitted using a Luxembourg broadcasting frequency, requests and obtains a concession in accordance with Article 9, paragraphs (1) and ( 3), by agreeing to submit to the provisions of this chapter”.

^[6] The Luxemburger Wort (print and online) ranks first with 130,500 readers (i.e., 24.5% of the population), L’essentiel or e-paper L’essentiel is 2nd with 95,700 readers (i.e., 17.9% of the population), in 3rd position is the Tageblatt or e-paper Tageblatt with 32,300 readers (i.e., 6.1% of the population) and in 4th position Le Quotidien or e-paper Le Quotidien attracts 14,800 readers (i.e., 2.8% of the population).

Source: TNS ILRES, “Communiqué de presse : Etude TNS ILRES PLURIMEDIA LUXEMBOURG 2022.I “, 2022, https://ilres.com/media/1824/communique_de_presse_etudeplurimedia_2022i.pdf (accessed 9 February 2024).

^[7] 7,700 listeners listened to the radio (i.e., 1.7% of the Luxembourg population) compared to 4,900 listeners in 2022 (i.e., 0.9% of the population). Source: TNS ILRES, “Communiqué de presse : Etude TNS ILRES PLURIMEDIA LUXEMBOURG 2022.I “, 2022, https://ilres.com/media/1824/communique_de_presse_etudeplurimedia_2022i.pdf ; Ilres, “ILRES – Etude TNS ILRES PLURIMEDIA LUXEMBOURG 2021.I.” Ilres, 2021, https://ilres.com/news/ilres/2021/etude-tns-ilres-plurimedia-luxembourg-2021i/

^[8] In 2021, 8,700 viewers (i.e., 1.7% of the Luxembourg population) followed the local channel in the north of the country. Source: Source: TNS ILRES, “Communiqué de presse : Etude TNS ILRES PLURIMEDIA LUXEMBOURG 2022.I “, 2022, https://ilres.com/media/1824/communique_de_presse_etudeplurimedia_2022i.pdf ; Ilres, “ILRES – Etude TNS ILRES PLURIMEDIA LUXEMBOURG 2021.I.” Ilres, 2021, https://ilres.com/news/ilres/2021/etude-tns-ilres-plurimedia-luxembourg-2021i/ (accessed 9 February 2024).

^[9] With 13,100 viewers, or 2.5% of the population. Source: TNS ILRES, “Communiqué de presse : Etude TNS ILRES PLURIMEDIA LUXEMBOURG 2022.I”, 2022, https://ilres.com/media/1824/communique_de_presse_etudeplurimedia_2022i.pdf; Ilres, “ILRES – Etude TNS ILRES PLURIMEDIA LUXEMBOURG 2022.I.”, Ilres. 2022, https://ilres.com/news/ilres/2022/etude-tns-ilres-plurimedia-luxembourg-2022i/

^[10] Data.public.lu, 2022, https://data.public.lu/fr/datasets/r/0116f309-36f4-40a7-bbdf-ee42180bb6cb

The conditions of employment of journalists in the media are quite good, in particular the stability of employment (hiring of journalists on permanent contracts). The new press aid regime also promotes this stability since the hiring of journalists on permanent contracts is one of the conditions for obtaining aid. To be a freelancer is a choice. Nevertheless, it should be noted that remuneration is quite low in comparison with the average income of Luxembourgers.

The only available list of journalists from the Press Council^[1] does not mention either the evolution of the number of local journalists over five years, or their location. This lack of data constitutes a low risk for transparency for monitoring the conditions of journalists and journalism.

The Association of Professional Journalists (ALJP) is present at the local level and is effective in guaranteeing editorial independence and/or respect for professional standards for local journalists. Local journalists and newsrooms are committed to ethical journalism principles and adhere to specific codes of ethics or conduct. According to interviews conducted for this research, local journalists respect the ethics and deontology of journalism in the same way as national journalists. The journalists interviewed^[2] working for local and community media make it a point of honour to respect professional journalistic standards because of the greater concern of the public and the importance of maintaining a closeness and a link of trust with their audiences.

However, there were 3 cases of threats to the physical safety of three journalists in Luxembourg. However, these three journalists work at the national newspaper Tageblatt, the investigative online platform Reporter.lu and radio 100.7, so they do not work for local media. Regarding the legal framework, Luxembourg is perhaps looking towards drawing inspiration from France^[3]. Currently, it does not have a specific legal framework concerning the prosecution of threats against journalists^[4],  and the ordinary Criminal Code applies. According to the data obtained, there have been no cases of SLAPP involving local journalists. Only the national newspaper Tageblatt had received letters from a lawyer requesting a right of reply as

well as demands for compensation amounting to 150,000 euro. Currently, Luxembourg does not have a specific legal framework concerning SLAPPs.

^[1] Press.lu, “Liste des journalistes officiellement reconnus au grand-duché de Luxembourg”. Conseil de presse – press.lu., n.d., https://www.press.lu/journalistes/liste-des-journalistes/

^[2] Melody Hansen, editor-in-chief of Letzebuerger Journal, 21/06/2023, online via Teams.

   Franziska Peschel, journalist of Radio Ara, 22/06/2023, online via Teams.

^[3] Schnuer, C. “Une protection des journalistes d’inspiration française”. Paperjam News. 2022, https://paperjam.lu/article/protection-journalistes-inspir

^[4] Sam Tanson a participé à la Réunion du Conseil ‘Justice et Affaires intérieures’ De l’union européenne à Bruxelles. gouvernement.lu // Le gouvernement luxembourgeois. 2022, https://gouvernement.lu/fr/actualites/toutes_actualites/communiques/2022/12-decembre/09-tanson-jai.html

Political control of local media by ruling parties (local or national), partisan groups or politicians is unregulated, but effectively prevented in practice.

State subsidies (direct and indirect) are not distributed to private local media equally and transparently. They are made on a case-by-case basis and, in addition to not being distributed in the same way, the amount is also not transparently disclosed for all local media. For example, the precise total amount received by Nordliicht TV is not known. Admittedly, it is possible to observe that a certain number of subsidies are regularly granted by the municipalities.

No data on the distribution of state advertising to private local media is available, raising a medium-risk level in terms of transparency.

By looking at the extent of commercial influence over editorial content, it can be stated that this happens rarely. According to the legal framework of article 17 of the law of 27 July 1991 (amended and applicable on 21 August 2022) on electronic media, local radio services do not have the right to have a profit motive and must limit advertising messages. Local audio-visual media content is monitored by ALIA to check commercial influence. Journalists interviewed have confirmed that the content is clearly separated from marketing advertising and other commercial activities[1]. The present research has observed a single decision DEC011/2023-P028/2023 of 9 October 2023 of the Board of Directors of the Luxembourg Independent Audio-visual Authority concerning a complaint against the .dok service regarding the dissemination of communication commercials in the 21 February 2023 broadcast of Dikrich TV.

According to the law of 27 August 2013 creating the public establishment “Luxembourg Authority audio-visual independent”, the local media is independent from political influences. Local audio-visual media content is also monitored by ALIA to check political influence. However, despite this legislation and the self-regulation in place, some cases do occur, as demonstrated by a case of political pressure in the coverage of the news of a municipal council, which emerged thanks to the interviews conducted for the scope of this research[2].

The Luxembourg Independent Audiovisual Authority (ALIA) has a remit over 19 local audiovisual media. ALIA’s missions include the a posteriori monitoring of the contents of local audio-visual media. Strictly speaking, its mission is not to guarantee a safer environment for local media; this is more the responsibility of the Media and Communications Service according to the regulation of 14 September 2022 establishing the organisation of the Media and Communications Service. No cases of concern regarding the authority’s independence were detected.

Radio 100.7, the only PSM radio in Luxembourg, is independent from the government or any other form of political influence in practice. Concerning the private media RTL, which also has public service missions, respect for autonomy and editorial independence are guaranteed by the supervision of the independent Luxembourg audio-visual authority ALIA, which receives complaints.

It can be stated that local media provide a diverse scope of stories, viewpoints and tone of reporting, although sometimes the respect for contradiction specific to professional journalism is not always respected (ALIA 2023^[3]).

[1] Melody Hansen, editor-in-chief of Letzebuerger Journal, 21/06/2023, online via Teams.

   Franziska Peschel, journalist of Radio Ara, 22/06/2023, online via Teams.

[2] Melody Hansen, editor-in-chief of Letzebuerger Journal, 21/06/2023, online via Teams.

   Franziska Peschel, journalist of Radio Ara, 22/06/2023, online via Teams.

^[3] L’Autorité luxembourgeoise indépendante de l’audiovisuel (ALIA), “Rapport sur la campagne electorale médiatique pour les elections communales du 11 Juin 2023”, https://alia.public.lu/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/ALIA_Rapport_Campagne-electorale-Communales-2023.pdf.

Concerning social inclusiveness, the level of this indicator is at low risk (30%). In Luxembourg, the three official languages are Luxembourgish, French and German. Beyond these three official languages, there are many minority languages. The communities that do not understand Luxembourgish or that do not use it as their main language of communication constitute the biggest type of minority in Luxembourg^[1]. Luxembourg presents a very paradoxical situation in which the sum of its linguistic minority groups will soon become the “majority”. Private media outlets and services (TV, radio, press, online) are offering news services in minority languages. PSM does not have national news available in minority languages. The only PSM, Radio 100.7, has a programme of national news essentially in Luxembourgish, thereby excluding half of the country’s population. To offer its public service to a larger part of the population, the director of 100,7 wanted to create a French-speaking programme. The discussion is still ongoing between the director of 100.7 and the president of its board of governance, and ALIA and the government of Luxembourg.

It should be noted that this absence of airtime for linguistic minorities in PSM is partly compensated by the services offered by RTL television and the RTL website, within the framework of their public service missions. Indeed, RTL television offers a daily information programme in Luxembourgish with French subtitles and a short information programme (around 2-3 minutes) in French. In addition, a lot of effort has been made over the last few years to develop a digital product offering in French and English (RTL Infos & RTL Today). According to the director of RTL Luxembourg, these platforms are now within the scope of the public service agreement that came into effect on 1 January 2021. In this dynamic, RTL Today Radio, was transmitted in March 2022 to address the general public in English via the web. Chronicle.lu offers an online information service targeted towards the international community across Luxembourg and the Greater Region, and specifically at those who use English as a first or second language in their social and/or working lives. Luxembourg Times and Delano also offer news in English. For the French community, there are a lot of offers such as L’essentiel (free newspaper and radio), Le Quotidien, Virgule.lu (French speaking media from Luxemburger Wort), Les frontaliers & residents, Paperjam, Woxx (some articles are also written in French). For the Portuguese community, there is also a media outlet offer, such as Contacto and Radio Latina (Mediahuis group).

According to the interviewees and observations, the main Luxembourg media cover news about marginalised groups when there is news about them. However, they find that this should be considered more as the norm and no longer as something marginal.

Since their audience is made up of a small, well-defined community, local media should meet the critical information needs of the communities that they target. Local journalists interviewed are aware of the importance of maintaining a closeness and a link of trust with their audiences[2]. Plurimedia study shows that local media have a small audience (Radio ARA, 0,9%; Nordliicht TV, 2,5%; Uelzecht Kanal, 1.2%;  .dok, 1,1%, see Plurimedia 2022.I). Local media therefore need to connect more with the public to maintain and perhaps increase their audience.

^[1] La Diversité Linguistique. Statistiques. 2023, https://statistiques.public.lu/fr/recensement/diversite-linguistique.html

[2] Melody Hansen, editor-in-chief of Letzebuerger Journal, 21/06/2023, online via Teams. Franziska Peschel, journalist of Radio Ara, 22/06/2023, online via Teams.

In Luxembourg, there are indeed media organisations that are experimenting with innovative responses to improve audience involvement. This is the case of Forum magazine, which describes itself as an open and participatory media. Forum^[1] regularly invites civil society to participate in debates on social issues. The local radio station Radio ARA participates in events like the Migrations Festival and International Bazar^[2]. Within these events, local radio is present to perform on live shows in order to get closer to people, get them involved and make the radio known to increase their reach. Regarding innovative journalistic formats, the implementation of podcasts and videos on demand is increasingly common in local media. According to our interviews, local media are connected to their community and in most cases, they interact with their audience[3]. Indeed, either individuals contact them directly to inform them of a subject to be treated or they go to the field in search of subjects that may interest their audiences. Social networks are also invested in uniting audiences, in particular through the creation of content specifically dedicated to social networks. For example, the Lëtzebuerger journal has started creating Tik-Tok content to be closer to young audiences.

^[1] Forum.lu. (n.d.). https://www.forum.lu/fr/le-magazine-forum/objectif/

^[2] Bazar International di Luxembourg, n.d., https://www.bazar-international.lu/ ; Festival des migrations, des cultures et de la citoyenneté, ARA City Radio, 2023, https://aracityradio.com/features-blog/2023/2/16/festival-des-migrations-des-cultures-et-de-la-citoyennet .

[3] Melody Hansen, editor-in-chief of Letzebuerger Journal, 21/06/2023, online via Teams.

   Franziska Peschel, journalist of Radio Ara, 22/06/2023, online via Teams.