NEXT week the Falkland Islands newspaper Penguin News will increase its cover price to £2.50. It’s not a decision I’ve taken lightly, but is one I believe is necessary. For the past two years the newspaper has received a relatively small but quite important subvention through the Falkland Islands Government’s funding of the Media Trust. Following this year’s budget, that subvention to the Media Trust was reduced, as were the allocations made to other organisations and government departments.
The latest allocation was intended solely for Falklands Radio. The Media Trust nevertheless offered, generously and fairly, to share a small proportion of that funding with Penguin News.
I have decided that we will not accept that offer.
Instead, Penguin News will stand on its own feet. The increase in the cover price (there has been no increase for 8 years incidentally) is intended to replace that income and maintain the newspaper’s financial independence. It will still be a very close run thing but with a part-time third news team member instead of full-time and some other cost cutting exercises we should be able to do it.
Some readers may wonder why I would refuse funding at a time when every £1 matters. The answer is simple. Independence is not only about whether a newspaper is free to publish what it wishes. It is also about being free from financial arrangements that create uncertainty about where influence begins and ends.
In recent discussions, Members of the Legislative Assembly have suggested ways in which the Media Trust’s organisations could operate more cheaply. Those suggestions have included sharing journalistic resources between the newspaper and radio station.
I do not believe those suggestions were made from malice. I suspect they were offered in good faith as ways of reducing costs. But they illustrate precisely why government funding of independent media requires great care.
Decisions about how journalists gather news, how newsrooms are staffed and how editorial resources are used are not matters for politicians. They are operational and editorial decisions that belong to editors, managers, and trustees. Governments are entirely entitled to decide how public money is spent. They are not entitled to shape how independent journalism is carried out. These types of decisions very much impact editorial content.
The distinction may appear subtle, but it is fundamental.
A newspaper’s first duty is to its readers. It must be able to scrutinise government, question decisions, investigate failures and praise successes without any suggestion that its financial security depends upon the goodwill of the very people it reports on.
That is why the appearance of independence matters almost as much as independence itself. Public confidence is easily damaged if readers begin to wonder whether financial support carries expectations, however well-intentioned they may be.
This decision is not a criticism of the Media Trust, which acted fairly throughout, nor of MLAs. It is a statement of principle. Independent journalism works best when there is a clear and unmistakable distance between government and those whose job it is to report on government.
Penguin News has served the Falkland Islands for many decades now. We intend to continue doing so as an independent newspaper, supported by our readers rather than dependent upon public funding.
That independence has a price and I truly hope you will continue to support us by paying the extra 50p.
Thank you for your ongoing loyalty.
