nd communication
technologies will create new jobs, whereas unions are sure of the contrary.

Heinz-Uwe Ruebenach, of the Federal Association of German Newspaper Publishers
(Bundesverband Deutscher Zeitungsverleger), carried out an inquiry relating to
the on-line services and the staff of European newspaper publishers.

"The responses revealed that in the United Kingdom, Denmark, Sweden, Finland and
France there were on average three employees, that is journalists, in each
on-line service. These were newly employed people who had not originally come
from more conventional newspaper activities. In Germany, an average of six
permanent jobs are created per on-line service and roughly five freelance
positions as well. There were no jobs lost in publishing houses as a result of
the new activities of newspapers in on-line services. These figures, while not
totally representative or complete, do indicate a general trend, which is that
when newspapers add on-line services to their activities, jobs are created."

However it is difficult to admit that the information society would generate
jobs, and it is already stated worldwide that multimedia convergence leads to
massive loss of jobs. In the same Symposium, Michel Muller, Secretary-General of
the French Federation of Book, Paper and Communication Industry (Federation des
industries du livre, du papier et de la communication), stated that, in France,
the graphics industry had lost 20,000 jobs - falling from 110,000 to 90,000 -
within the last decade, and that very expensive social plans had been necessary
to re-employ those people. He explained:

"If the technological developments really created new jobs, as had been
suggested, then it might have been better to invest the money in reliable
studies about what jobs were being created and which ones were being lost,
rather than in social plans which often created artificial jobs. These studies
should highlight the new skills and qualifications in demand as the
technological convergence process broke down the barriers between the printing
industry, journalism and other vehicles of information. Another problem caused
by convergence was the trend towards ownership concentration. A few big groups
controlled not only the bulk of the print media, but a wide range of other
media, and thus posed a threat to pluralism in expression. Various tax
advantages enjoyed by the press today should be re-examined and adapted to the
new realities fac