Joan Vall Clara: “Subscribers are our main source of funding”

Joan Vall Clara: We paid tribute to the 34,000 people who contributed financially to the newspaper when it was founded. It is important to remember that work on the project began in 1970: an association was created, funds were raised, and eventually the newspaper was launched in 1976. That shows it was not a bourgeois newspaper, as some people have claimed over the years. People from all social classes contributed. Sadly, most of those supporters are no longer alive.

Vall Clara: That is true. At the time, we survived thanks to civil society. Last week we held a concert attended by 7,000 people, most of them subscribers. Some have been subscribing for 40 or 50 years, and it was important to celebrate with them. Over all these years we have produced a Catalan-language newspaper rooted in a particular kind of journalism.

Vall Clara: A huge impact. Language was what united everyone. Before the Spanish civil war there were Catalan-language newspapers, but the Franco regime shut them all down. During the dictatorship, some magazines began to appear in the 1970s. And this is the truth: when people see that a language is under threat, the reaction can be extraordinary. That is why Avui was created.

Vall Clara: The original idea was to keep both newspapers running separately. But the acquisition took place in November 2009, right in the middle of the economic crisis. Three years later, the two newspapers merged completely. That was not the initial plan.

Vall Clara: We print around 14,000 copies. Online, we have about 700,000 users, but the question is: how do you monetise that?

Vall Clara: Those were the four editorial foundations of El Punt when it was created, and we have stayed true to them.

Vall Clara: This year, because of the anniversary, we expect some good advertising income for the print edition. Online, our turnover has never been especially high, so there have not been major fluctuations. But we do not survive on advertising. Our main source of funding is subscribers. After subscription and kiosk sales comes advertising, and the fourth pillar is public funding.

Vall Clara: I have announced that I will step down in 2029, when El Punt turns 50. But I will never be able to sever ties completely, because I remain the majority shareholder. At the moment I am fully immersed in the newspaper’s innovation process, and I enjoy that part of the work. Another editor oversees the day-to-day running of the newsroom. I believe newspapers like ours have two choices: renew themselves or die. Even renewal is no guarantee of survival.