It is the public broadcaster that provides the most important way for the largest possible number of groups in society, among them (ethnic) minorities, to make their voices heard. Within the public broadcasting system of NPo 20 large and smaller broadcasting organizations divide air time on radio and television among themselves. of these 20 there are 9 large membership-based broadcasters, 2 task-based ones (i.e., responsible under the law for providing programs about news, art and culture and education), 7 smaller broadcasters with air time for religious denominations or other communities based on spiritual persuasions. The last-mentioned group provides limited space on radio and television channels to programs with a Hindu, Buddhist, Jewish or Islamist content. In addition, every five years prospective membership-based broadcasters can try to join the public broadcasting system; to this end they have to draw up a business plan and prove that they represent a given ideological trend, as shown by at least 50,000 paid-up members. Two ‘newcomers’, representing a more right-wing populist stance, joined the public broadcasting system in September 2010. one organization that aims to promote equal participation of ethnic minorities in the media is Mira Media, which sets up various activities that help to reflect the multicultural character of Dutch society. Mira Media regularly organizes workshops in which minorities can participate to increase their chances of playing a role as media professionals. An online initiative of the same kind is wereldjournalisten.nl, which comments on news from an alternative angle, for example by presenting journalists who have come to the Netherlands as refugees and report on news from their native country. The website was set up with the support of the Stimuleringsfonds voor de Pers (‘Press Fund’) and collaborates with ex Ponto, a magazine focusing on refugees and migrants. In spite of quite a number of subsidized actions undertaken to support newspapers for minorities, their future is far from rosy. The three main reasons for their scant success are the limited paid-for circulation, the extreme segmentation of the target group, and the unrealistic unbridled ambition of the publishers. For the time being, alternative media can continue to resort to temporary subsidies of the Press Promotion Fund; the scheme introduced in 2002 was extended for two years at the end of 2009, with a yearly overall maximum of €300,000. The condition for obtaining a grant is that the plurality of the press stands to be enhanced. It is not inconceivable that the temporary subsidization measures will be discontinued and that the grants will be transferred to a general subsidization facility.
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