SPD on culture and media

The SPD wants a state fund to support local newsrooms and nonprofit journalism. It backs a digital levy on large platform companies and wants to strengthen film and games funding as well as the state media authority.

The SPD wants to help local newsrooms. The state should set up a fund for this. A fund is a pot of money. Big internet companies should pay a levy. Schools should teach how to deal with media and news.

The fund would enable investment in local newsrooms and support nonprofit journalism. Platforms that sort news would have to disclose their criteria. Media and news literacy would be taught in schools and adult education centers to counter disinformation and hate speech. The Medien- und Filmgesellschaft Baden-Württemberg (state film and media agency) would be strengthened so the state catches up with the leading states in film and games funding. The Landesanstalt für Kommunikation (state media authority) would get more resources to counter online hate and promote media literacy; the SPD considers a capable public broadcaster essential.

The SPD wants reliable funding for the arts and more transparent grant rules. A new fund would pay for investments in cultural institutions, such as renovating venues. The platform justifies this by pointing to the financial pressure on the state's cultural sector.

The SPD wants to give more money to the arts. There will be a new fund for investments. It can pay for repairs to theaters, for example. The SPD says the arts in the state do not have enough money.

Funding criteria would be reviewed and made clearer, and private theaters would get more money. A grant program would strengthen migrant perspectives and artists with a migration background. Accessibility is to be taken into account when cultural venues are renovated or built. The SPD wants to reassess the plans for renovating the Stuttgart opera and build a new opera house instead of an interim solution. It also backs provenance research so that unlawfully acquired colonial artifacts can be returned, and wants to support clubs, culture protection zones and temporary use of vacant buildings.

The SPD wants more support for local customs and amateur arts groups in the state. Volunteer-run clubs would be relieved of red tape and costs, including by having the state cover their GEMA (music licensing) fees as a lump sum.

The SPD wants to support local traditions and clubs. These include choirs, music clubs and shooting clubs. The state will pay the GEMA fees for these clubs. These are fees for playing music in public.

The Swabian-Alemannic carnival is to receive special protection and funding as cultural heritage. The platform counts choirs, music clubs, intercultural associations and shooting clubs as amateur arts. The lump-sum coverage of GEMA fees would follow arrangements in other German states. In rural areas, the SPD wants targeted funding for small stages and new cultural venues to revive village centers.

The SPD wants to improve working conditions for people in the arts. Employees should be paid according to collective agreements, and adequate fees should become a condition for projects that receive state funding.

The SPD wants better pay for people who work in the arts. Staff at theaters and orchestras should get union-scale pay. Freelance artists should get fair fees. This should apply to projects with state money.

Pay under collective agreements is to apply above all to theaters and orchestras. Exhibition fees are to be extended for freelance artists who work with state museums or other funded cultural venues. Adequate fees would become a requirement for state funding. The SPD also wants to support the digitalization of the work of self-employed artists.

The SPD wants free admission to the permanent exhibitions of the state museums and a culture pass for young people. The aim is to give everyone access to art and culture.

The SPD wants entry to state museums to be free. This applies to the permanent exhibitions. Young people will get 100 euros once for culture. This is called the culture pass.

The statewide culture pass would give young people a one-time credit of 100 euros for cultural offerings. Culture ambassadors would be sent into schools. All-day schools are to cooperate with cultural institutions. The SPD will also examine a state library law to strengthen libraries.