The UFJ, Federation of the Finnish Media Industry, Trade Union Pro and Industrial Union TEAM look to forthcoming government mandate to ease pressures on media sector.The four media sector unions have aimed their appeal at the coalition of political parties that will draw up the programme of the next government, which will be elected 19 April.They call on the parties involved in the negotiations for the new government programme to take account of the severe economic problems confronting the media sector, in particular in its stance on taxation.The Finnish media sector directly employs about 25 000 people and generates revenue of over four billion euros. The unions state that the media is important not only commercially but in upholding democracy, freedom of expression and cultural identity.Decisions on taxation and advertising restrictions will have a strong impact on how the media industry survives the on-going transformation of the sector.The unions stress that it is crucial for VAT on newspaper and magazine subscriptions to be kept as low as possible, and the VAT burden shifted to newsstand sales.