Sentence:  British journalists shun complete respectability, feeling a duty to be ready to savage the mighty, or rummage through their bins. Elsewhere in Europe, government <WSD>contracts</WSD> and subsidies ensure that press barons will only defy the mighty so far. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  An agreement between two or more parties, to perform a specific job or work order, often temporary or of fixed duration and usually governed by a written agreement.