The Catalan News Agency will gain in independence and budgetary stability

BarcelonaWhen talking about Catalan public media, it's easy to think of TV3, Catalunya Ràdio, and the other brands of the Corporation. But there is also the Agència Catalana de Notícies (ACN) which, since its founding in 1999, has undergone various ups and downs in its ownership model and, above all, its governance. The Government is willing to open a process to grant it more independence and is preparing a draft bill that it intends to bring to Parliament around November. If it goes ahead, and in principle there is political consensus for it to do so, the ACN would move forward in its de-governmentalization and would also have a program contract that would allow it to work with greater budgetary stability.

The most notable measure is the reformulation of the board of directors, which is the body that makes strategic decisions, to make it predominantly independent. Currently, the position of president of the ACN corresponds to the Secretary General of Communication, Carles Escolà, who, in a meeting with the press to present the draft bill, acknowledged that it was an anomaly to be resolved. The text of the new law provides for up to eight non-executive members, six of whom will be independent professionals with a minimum of ten years of experience, plus two positions that will correspond to the structure of the Generalitat (although in each of these categories there may be fewer members). The presidency will be rotational, but only among independent councilors, who will be appointed by Parliament by a reinforced majority of two-thirds on the first ballot or a simple majority on the second, with the aim of avoiding deadlock situations. Terms will be for five years, renewable for another five years.

From the implementation of the new model, which will be completed next year, the executive management of the entity will have to prepare an annual report of activities and account for it, at least, once a year before Parliament. Both the President of the Council and the CEO may be required to report on the fulfillment of the public service mission when parties request it, beyond this minimum annual appearance.

ACN has an approximate budget of 6.2 million euros, adding the 4.7 million contributed by the Government and the 1.5 million received from clients who contract its services. The new positions of independent councillors being considered are in no case equivalent to those of the Corporation, as they have exclusive dedication and receive a salary of around 128,000 euros per year. In this case, on the other hand, a much lighter structure is proposed, with partial supervision duties and compensation equivalent to one-third of the minimum interprofessional wage, intended for professionals who have a primary activity elsewhere. It is considered that it would not make sense to create an onerous management structure for an entity with a modest budget, where the bulk of the expense is the 75 workers, 65 of whom are journalists, with a strong presence in the regions.

The long road to stability

In its 27 years of history, the Catalan News Agency (ACN) has had several owners. It was born from the hands of the convergent deputations of Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona, with then-journalist Carles Puigdemont as its promoter and the Planeta group, which briefly joined with 75% of the shareholding. In 2002, it swung back towards the public sector when the Catalan Radio and Television Corporation (currently, the CCMA) entered as a shareholder until becoming the sole partner in 2005. Two years later, the Generalitat directly joined – through the company Intracatalònia SA – and assumed 70% of the capital. In this, the longest stage, the majority control was held by the Government, through the Presidency department, which was responsible for appointing the bulk of the Governing Council.

The last change occurred at the end of 2024, when the Generalitat retained 100% of the capital and promoted a first de-governmentalization reform that moved forward a public tender to appoint the agency's director, which was won in April 2025 by journalist Eva Arderius. The new ACN law does not entail a change at the head of the newsroom, as the director has a four-year mandate (of which she has consumed one), which is renewable twice, for two more years each time. However, with the new approach, the CEO position is added to that of director.

The new law also provides that the ACN can have a multi-year program contract that allows it to work with a budget set for several years ahead, as the Corporation does. This document arises from an agreement between the government and the ACN in which the management proposes the needs it deems necessary for the entity, the Generalitat sets what it expects, and a multi-year amount is resolved, which can be fixed or staggered. Beyond the budgetary stability that a program contract entails, Arderius expressed confidence that it will also imply an improvement in funding. “We need more staff, more personnel. And also to be able to undertake strategic projects, improve our verification branch, and fulfill the project with which I presented myself, which included audiovisual and technological innovation actions”.