We are celebrating the 2013 Argia Awards, and I assure you that the panorama seen from here is not small for the Basque culture. Whoever comes from outside and sees this event, will think about prosperity. But Basque culture is simpler than this reality reflects. Yes, it's pretty straightforward in material prosperity, and yet it's getting richer.

Argia won eight subscriptions in 2011 and we see it as a great achievement. In 2012, Athletic Club lost over 40 goals per game. We will try to recover it, of course, but the reality is that, both in our environment and in the media world. Does that mean that we make the light worse? I do not believe that, because of the messages we receive both in public and in private, we should make a good product. It means that people have to tighten their belts and prioritize products.

It's something that more than one tells me. “But how can you put so many free things on the Internet?” I am offering you a number of arguments that I will not repeat here. And today we believe that we have to do so. But then, how the hell are we going to get ahead? We have no answer.

Or yes, we have small answers. We’ve renewed the Internet Light and we’re happy. But we've set ourselves a big challenge. Our number of Internet readers is also increasing every year, fortunately. But the paradox is that, even if it's free, it costs a lot to increase the number of visitors. And here's a bigger paradox: for us it's not free. So for the first time, we've launched an Internet campaign, Turn On the Light, asking our visitors for help, because what they're reading or what they're seeing has their cost.

But on this uphill, we also have positive data, of course. For example, according to the CIES survey for the second semester of 2012, the weekly Argia has 1,000 more readers than in the first semester and, more specifically, the aggregates in Navarra. Hekimen has also emerged, and those of Argia have also been on the tip. It is not a joke achievement; we now have to show that it is a useful tool.

We have talked a lot about what Hekimen has to do and among them is the dialogue with the institutions for many things, but first of all to increase the number of subsidies and advertising. This is the first great and difficult challenge of our partnership.

We have to start talking about a huge imbalance in the funding of the public media and of the people’s means of initiative. In 2012, the Basque Government budgeted 132 million for EITB, 5 million for dozens of popular initiative media.

Some are public and we are not, but we are clear: ours is also a public service, and the contribution to linguistic normalisation is equal or more than that of EITB. It would be worth more than one university thesis: What have the public offered in 30 years, what popular initiatives? To see who is encouraged.

Do not misinterpret what I am saying. Those of EITB and those of popular initiative, the two of us are necessary, I do not want to go against it. I do not want the government to reduce the EITB budget, I am not asking for it. But I would find it a little more logical than in 2013, rather than 132-5, the disproportion out of 132-6. Will it be a lot? For the future, we must achieve that and much more, for our work in the construction of the people is fundamental, both from the point of view of linguistic development and from our contribution to the construction of the country vision.

Before I start the awards ceremony, I want to remind two people who have been very important to Argia: Joxemi Zumalabe left us twenty years ago, Inma Gomila left us last year. Much has been written about Joxemi, and I am not going to expand further here. Inma has taken care of our salaries for many years, and that is a very important task anywhere, but more so where there is little money. Thank you very much to both of you, wholeheartedly, and a hug to the family.