Beyond clickbait and commerce

Jonathan Heawood
Regulating ethics: A way forward
for charitable journalism
In this paper, I review the decision of the English Charity
Tribunal to grant charitable status to the Independent Press
Regulation Trust and argue that, by recognising the existence
of a distinct body of journalism ethics, the tribunal has
opened a way forward for charitable journalism.
Key words: press regulation, ethics, charitable journalism,
Charity Tribunal, Independent Press Regulation Trust
Introduction
There have been sustained calls in recent years for journalism to
be recognised as a charitable activity in England and Wales, as it
is in the United States (Smith et al. 2011; Levy and Picard 2011;
Heawood et al. 2012; House of Lords 2012; Moore 2014; Radcliffe
2015). Charitable status would allow non-profit news organisations
to raise funds through charitable donations, which would in turn
help to diversify the range of voices represented in an otherwise
highly concentrated news media sector.
In its capacity as the ‘fourth estate’, journalism undoubtedly plays
an important public function. Journalists hold powerful groups
and individuals accountable for their actions, expose wrongdoing
and disseminate information of social value. Journalism does
good, therefore news organisations do good, runs the argument.
Charitable status is appropriate for organisations that do good,
therefore news organisations should be charities. In practice, the
legal reality does not permit this simple conclusion.
The requirements of charitable status do not coincide neatly with
the practice of journalism. Under English law, charities must exist
to pursue exclusively charitable objects, such as the advancement
of education, citizenship or community development; they must
provide demonstrable benefit to the public and they must not exist
to achieve a political purpose (Maclennan 2007). Traditional news
publishers tend not to meet any of these criteria. They are highly
politically partisan – a fact which was recognised and welcomed
in the Leveson Report: ‘It is the prerogative of a free and partisan
88 Copyright 2016-2/3. Ethical Space: The International Journal of Communication Ethics. All rights reserved. Vol 13, No 2/3 2016