Public Interest Journalism Working Group recommendations: Scottish Government response

Recommendation 4 – Community ownership

The Working Group recommends that the Scottish Government should examine the feasibility of introducing provisions like those in the 2003 Land Reform (Scotland) Act, to give community groups the scope to take over a local news publication that is otherwise in danger of closing.

The right to buy is aimed at geographic communities taking on land or buildings and improving upon them to deliver sustainable development benefits for the whole community.

The Scottish Government believes that further investigation is required to establish what a right to buy for community takeovers of news publishers would achieve and how it could be delivered.

Scottish Government officials will open a dialogue with the industry and stakeholders in the coming months to establish whether community right to buy is an appropriate avenue to retain local news publications for their communities, and how best to take forward action if so.