Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the statement by Baroness Morgan of Cotes on 6 February (HL Deb, col 1937) that the Government “supported all the recommendations apart from one: the proposal to establish an institute for public interest news” and “the Government have decided that it is not for the Government to take that recommendation forward”, what assessment they made to inform that decision; what support they intend to give, if any, to the establishment by other organisations of an institute for public interest news; what discussions they have had with other organisations about establishing such an institute; and with which organisations they have discussed any such plans.

The Government acknowledges the value the ‘Institute for Public Interest News’, proposed by Dame Frances Cairncross in her Review, is intended to achieve, in bringing different initiatives together in order to amplify their impact, and acting as a channel for collaboration. However, the Government recognises the concerns of many in the publishing industry regarding the inherent challenge an organisation with such a purpose will face in defining what qualifies as ‘public interest’ news, and what might therefore be deserving of support. It is not for the Government to define what qualifies as 'public interest' news. While any institute would be at arm’s length from the Government, we recognise concerns that even an arm’s length relationship risks perceptions of inappropriate Government interference with the press. The Government has therefore decided that it is not for the Government to take the recommendation forward.

There are a number of existing initiatives set up by the industry in this area, for example, the Google News Initiative, Facebook’s Community News Project, the Public Interest News Foundation set up by Impress, and the BBC’s proposed Local Democracy Foundation — with more potentially under development across the sector. Parts of the sector have shown a desire to help share approaches and best practice. It remains open for the sector to support the existing initiatives or form others as they see fit.

Notwithstanding that it is not for the Government to play a role in leading or designing an institution, there are some challenges and functions that Dame Frances envisaged as potentially being undertaken by an institute that the Government is minded to support through other routes. A key function where we see a potential role for Government to support is the funding of research into news provision and its impact on communities. The Government has recently put out an invitation to tender for research to support policy development on news sustainability and will continue to explore how it can commission further research into these areas, to provide a solid evidence base for future policy interventions.