“The widespread dissemination of information is a priority of this government. For this, I want to express my appreciation to the Mayor of Rieti, Daniele Sinibaldi, who, through his intervention, prevented many municipalities in the Rieti region from being without newspapers due to the interruption of the distribution service.”
Thus the Undersecretary to the Prime Minister with responsibility for information and publishing, Alberto Barachini, commented on the affair involving numerous municipalities in Lazio's inland areas, reiterating the executive's commitment to the issue and illustrating the contents of the recent DPCM to support the newsstand sector, which provides a total budget of EUR 17 million.
“For the first time," Barachini added, "there is also specific support for distributors supplying municipalities in 2025, with a further increase in the case of Inner Areas under 5000 inhabitants, provided that compliance with the principle of non-discrimination in economic and delivery conditions is guaranteed.”
Satisfaction was also expressed by the President of ANCI Lazio and Mayor of Rieti, Daniele Sinibaldi:
“I thank Undersecretary Barachini for his concrete attention and for having fully understood the seriousness of what has happened in recent months. The issue of local press distribution does not only concern a segment of the publishing industry, but a essential democratic right, especially in the small municipalities, inland areas and islands of Lazio, where the newsstand is often the one-stop shop for information, culture and sociability.
As ANCI Lazio, we will continue to work to ensure that this issue is addressed in a manner structural, recognising the public function that these networks play in the most fragile territories.”
The appeal by the national government is in addition to the measure approved last April by the Lazio Regional Council, with an allocation of 150,000 euro by 2025 to support the distribution of the printed press in the small municipalities of Lazio, thanks also to the territorial mobilisation promoted by ANCI Lazio.