The National newspaper and Newsquest publications spend: FOI release

Information requested

1. How much has the Scottish Government spent on The National newspaper, including any grants, advertising contracts and paid subscriptions? Please also detail any other payments made to the newspaper. If possible, please provide this information since 2014.

2. How much has the Scottish Government spent on Newsquest publications, excluding the above spending on The National to include any, including any grants, advertising contracts, paid subscriptions and other payments on other publications published by Newsquest? If possible, please provide this information since 2014.

Response

Spend relating to advertising contracts

1. Spend is recorded with the National newspaper as follows: April 2020-March 2021: The National £35,294 and National on Sunday £15,218.  All spend relates to Coronavirus (COVID-19) public information campaigns.

2. While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have some of the information you have requested. In many cases the Scottish Government does not place bookings with individual media owners, bookings are placed via the contracted media agencies via the Media Planning, Buying and Associated Services Framework Agreement – Ref: SP-18-007. Over the years in question, the appointed media agency has placed bookings with media sales companies including Mediaforce who in turn have made payments to news groups and titles including Newsquest and its associated publications. Negotiations and payments are undertaken directly between the media sales company and news groups and titles, therefore we do not hold this information. You may wish to contact Newsquest directly for this information.

Spend relating to paid subscriptions

1. The Scottish Government spent £13,740.25 on paid subscriptions to The National between 01 January 2015 and 30 April 2024 inclusive. Nothing was spent on The National during 2014.

2. The Scottish Government spent £113,221.65 on paid subscriptions to Newsquest publications, excluding The National, between 01 April 2014 and 30 April 2024 inclusive. In line with Scottish Government records retention policy, figures are unavailable for the first three months of 2014.

Spend relating to grants or any other payments

Beyond the information noted above, the Scottish Government does not directly provide investment or funding to media outlets, owners or channels. No funding beyond the marketing spend noted above is provided to print media outlets. You may also wish to contact media providers directly for further information regarding sources of funding.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.