Public Interest Journalism Working Group recommendations: Scottish Government response

Annex A

Key Points

• The Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution, External Affairs and Culture welcomes the recommendations from the short-life Public Interest Journalism Working Group and its report, Scotland's news: towards a sustainable future for public interest journalism.
• We thank the members of the Working Group for dedicating their time and invaluable industry expertise to produce the recommendations and report.
• We recognise the impact of the changing media landscape, rise of digital technology and the Covid-19 pandemic on the sustainability of the public interest journalism sector.
• We believe it is essential for public interest journalism to be independent of government and for public interest news providers to have the freedom to hold government to account.
• We recognise the value of a Scottish Public Interest Journalism Institute but agree with the working group that its credibility will rest on it being independent.
• We will support the industry and stakeholders with the next steps needed to develop the working group's proposal for an independent Scottish Public Interest Journalism Institute into a business case, by using its convening powers to bring together key stakeholders to scope out the options for taking forward a Scottish Public Interest Journalism Institute.
• We will facilitate a cross-industry roundtable in Autumn 2022, to help transition the idea of a Scottish Public Interest Journalism Institute into a deliverable project and to determine ownership for that project.
• Decisions on charitable status are for OSCR, the Scottish Charity Regulator, in line with the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005. OSCR are independent of Scottish Government and report directly to the Scottish Parliament.
• It is outwith the Scottish Government legislative powers to create a new legal status, with similar tax benefits to charitable status, for public interest news providers.
• The Scottish Government has no plans to amend the charity test which sets out the 16 charitable purposes under the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005.
• We agree there is a need for improved media literacy in Scotland. The Scottish Government would provide any steering group taking forward the Scottish Public Interest Journalism Institute with relevant contacts to media literacy organisations so that it can consider the Scottish Public Interest Journalism Institute's role in promoting media literacy. We will also engage with relevant stakeholders to understand what support could be taken to support the further embedding of media literacy in the school curriculum.
• Scottish Government officials will speak with industry and stakeholders to establish if community right to buy is the best way to support community takeovers of news publishers.
• The Scottish Government already spend a significant sum of money on marketing in the press, the annual figures of which can be accessed on the Scottish Government Marketing Spend webpage. However, we do not deem it appropriate to invest a set percentage of the marketing budget in public interest news providers, as marketing decisions are based on the best return of investment of taxpayer funds.
• We will engage with public notice procurement and local authorities to establish if anything further can be done to increase the reach of public notices.
• Scottish Government officials will discuss with UK Government colleagues what action can be taken to address the concerns raised by the Public Interest Journalism Working Group that the Digital Markets Unit Bill does not go far enough, including the potential for the Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution, External Affairs and Culture to write to the Secretary of State for Digital, Media, Culture and Sport to express these concerns.
• We will review the effectiveness of creating tax incentives for businesses to advertise with public interest news providers. If deemed effective, we will engage with UK Government to propose a scoping exercise on the policy.
• In the areas where we cannot take specific proposals forward, either because it is not appropriate for the Scottish Government to do so or where other restrictions or reasons apply, we will continue to work with industry and stakeholders to support journalism.