Public Interest Journalism Working Group minutes: 30 August 2022

Attendees and apologies

• Emily Green, Chair, Scottish Government  
• Rhiannon Davies, Greater Govanhill
• Rob Edwards, The Ferret
• Rachel Hamada, Bureau of Investigative Journalism
• John McLellan, Scottish Newspaper Society
• Joyce McMillan, Independent Journalist,
• Frances Rafferty, National Union of Journalists
• Denise West, Media Consultant
• India Divers, Secretariat, Scottish Government 
• Jane Holligan, Scottish Government
• Peter Millar, Scottish Government 

Items and actions

The Chair and new Scottish Government attendees introduced themselves.

Apologies were noted from Jonathan Heawood.

It was noted that Stuart Birkett had stepped down from the Public Interest Journalism Working Group. He was thanked for his contribution.

It was agreed the date for the Roundtable should be decided via Doodle poll.

Action: Secretariat to circulate Doodle poll for working group members to complete

It was agreed that the Working Group should lead on what the day and Roundtable would look like. It was also noted it was important to look at the governance and structure of the group and to find a Chair for the Steering Group going forward.

It was agreed that the Scottish Public Interest Journalism Institute had to be independent of Scottish Government, not an arms-length body. It was also agreed that the Roundtable was a partnership between the independent Steering Group and Scottish Government. Scottish Government was using its good offices to put the Steering Group in touch with partners to take forward the development of the Institute.

Some members wanted to have the Steering Group in place by the time of the Roundtable. This would allow the Steering Group to have a clear ask to present to potential partners. Given the complexity of issues, it was important for the Steering Group to be clear about what it wanted from partners at the Roundtable. Some members also raised the importance of hearing from other perspectives at the Roundtable, and incorporating those inputs into plans for the Institute.

The Working Group noted it had a list of objectives for the Roundtable in draft form. The secretariat asked if this could be shared with them.

Action: Working Group to share its list of objectives for the Roundtable with secretariat

It was suggested that having a number of Working Group meetings, both with and without Scottish Government present, in the lead up to the Roundtable would facilitate the Working Group in clarifying issues around the structure and governance of an Institute. This would allow them to have a clear proposal to present at the Roundtable as the basis for further development, as well as consider the transition to a Steering Group and to identify a Chair.

Actions:

• Working Group to set up a meeting without Government attendance, to discuss the transition to a steering group, identify a Chair, and further consider development of the Roundtable
• Secretariat to set up a meeting, including Scottish Government, to continue discussions around the Roundtable

It was agreed there should be a focus on funding at the Roundtable. It was proposed that at the Roundtable, part of the day would examine the roles and interests of potential partners, and how they might engage with the Institute, as well as  partners could contribute in terms of funding. It was agreed that funding was critical for the Institute to be a viable organisation, both in terms of its operation and in its proposed grant-making capacity.

It was noted that it was important to gather views on the institute from a wider range of journalists and industry, academia, and others. The Group agreed that it was important to invite potential collaborators to the Roundtable as well as potential funders.

It was noted there would be secretariat support from Scottish Government to organise the Roundtable. While the structure, attendees, speakers, and content of the Roundtable would be guided by the Working Group, supporting tasks such as sending out invites, approaching potential speakers and funders, and booking venues would be done by the secretariat.

The question of remuneration for Steering Group members was raised. Officials advised that they were actively looking into the possibility of remuneration and would get back to Working Group members as soon as possible. 

Action: officials to find out if remuneration can be offered to members of the Steering Group and inform Working Group members

The Working Group agreed it was important to discuss invitees to the Roundtable. Several suggestions from academia were made. Some of the academics suggested had links in to funding routes. The Carnegie Foundation and Nuffield Foundation were suggested. In terms of groups, it was suggested there were four categories: foundations and charities, academic partners, industry partners, and partners from the diversity of journalism e.g. the Independent Community News Network and trade unions.

It was suggested Ofcom could be invited as well as mySociety, an organisation that did work around freedom of information. Kezia Dugdale from the John Smith Centre was suggested as a potential speaker. Professors in academia would be useful to invite as they would have ideas about different models for the Institute. The Group noted the role of Government in bringing influential attendees to the Roundtable.

It was asked if there was an upper limit in terms of numbers of invitees. It was thought at this stage that the list of suggested invitees not be limited, and could be narrowed down if required at a later stage.

Actions:

• Working Group to provide any further suggestions of invitees to secretariat via correspondence
• Secretariat to generate a list of potential attendees, funders and speakers that Scottish Government could approach
• Working group members to share any links into potential attendees, funders and speakers that Scottish Government might approach with secretariat

It was agreed that the Working Group would discuss keynote speakers at a future meeting.

Action: Working Group members to send the secretariat ideas of keynote speakers via correspondence

Summary of actions:

• Secretariat to circulate Doodle poll for working group members to complete
• Working Group to share its list of objectives for the Roundtable with secretariat
• Working Group to set up a meeting without Government attendance, to discuss the transition to a steering group, identify a Chair, and further consider development of the Roundtable
• Secretariat to set up a meeting, including Scottish Government, to continue discussions around the Roundtable
• officials to find out if remuneration can be offered to members of the Steering Group and inform Working Group members
• Working Group to provide any further suggestions of invitees to secretariat via correspondence
• Secretariat to generate a list of potential attendees, funders and speakers that Scottish Government could approach
• Working group members to share any links into potential attendees, funders and speakers that Scottish Government might approach with secretariat
• Working Group members to send the secretariat ideas of keynote speakers via correspondence