Leveson asked to consider charitable status for public interest journalism

Governance | Vibeka Mair | 3 Sep 2012

The Bureau of Investigative Journalism has written to Lord Justice Leveson saying that charitable status should be available to not-for-profit organisations that provide public interest journalism.

The Bureau of Investigative Journalism, which has had its application for charitable status turned down twice by the Charity Commission, makes the call in a written submission to Lord Justice Leveson as part of his inquiry into the culture, practice and ethics of the press.

In the submission, the Bureau warns that a dwindling paying market has resulted in most media outlets pursuing populist subjects rather than public interest stories.

It says the Bureau, which was launched in 2010, has sought to redress this. However, it has been turned down for significant funding as it lacks charitable status.

The Bureau, which is not-for-profit, argues that viable civil society organisations, which do not seek to generate profits or create shareholder value, and do not wish to rely upon state subsidy, must be capable of attracting and accepting philanthropic support.

The promotion of investigative journalism is not a charitable purpose in itself; therefore, the Charity Commission has turned down two applications from the Bureau for charitable status.

However, the Advisory Group on Journalism and Charitable Status - co-chaired by the Bureau, law firm Bates Wells & Braithwaite and Wilkes - has urged the Charity Commission to publish detailed guidance on citizenship and public benefit that would aid a journalistic organisation seeking charitable status.

Earlier this year, the House of Lords Select Committee on Communications said investigative journalism should be considered a charitable activity. However, in written evidence to the Lords committee, the Secretary of State wrote that: “There have been no calls from the public or charity sector to recognise investigative journalism as a charitable purpose so…government is not currently inclined to legislate.”

Directory: Bates Wells & Braithwaite | Charity Commission

Comments

[Cancel] | Reply to:

Name *

Email *

Organisation

Job Title

Comments *

Verification *

* Please read our Community Standards

Close »

Community Standards

The civilsociety.co.uk community and comments board is intended as a platform for informed and civilised debate.

We hope to encourage a broad range of views, however, there are standards that we expect commentators to uphold. We reserve the right to delete or amend any comments that do not adhere to these standards.

We welcome:

Robust but respectful debate
Strongly held opinions
Intelligent relevant discussion
The sharing of relevant experiences
New participants

We will not publish:

Rude, threatening, offensive, obscene or abusive language, or links to such material
Links to commercial organisations or spam postings. The comments board is not an advertising platform
The posting of contact details for yourself or others
Comments intended for malicious purpose or mindless abuse
Comments purporting to be from another person or organisation under false pretences
Gratuitous criticism, commentary or self-promotion
Any material which breaches copyright or privacy laws, or could be considered libellous
The use of the comments board for the pursuit or extension of personal disputes

Be aware:

Views expressed on the comments board are left at users’ discretion and are in no way views held or supported by Civil Society Media
Comments left by others may not be accurate, do not rely on them as fact
You may be misunderstood - sarcasm and humour can easily be taken out of context, try to be clear

Please:

Enjoy the opportunity to express your opinion and respect the right of others to express theirs
Confine your remarks to issues rather than personalities

Together we can keep our community a polite, respectful and intelligent platform for discussion.