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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to provide financial support to (a) smaller and (b) independent media organisations during the covid-19 outbreak.

Small and independent media organisations provide a vital service - supplying information about local public affairs, holding decision-makers to account, and helping to ensure the healthy plurality of our media.

It has been a priority for the government to support such organisations during this crisis, including local newspapers and commercial and community radio. In terms of financial support, the government brought forward the zero-rating of VAT on e-newspapers to May 2020 and we have also brokered significant support from the transmission operator, Arqiva, for small local commercial radio stations. We have also made available a small grant scheme for commercial stations that do not use Arqiva’s networks. In addition to these financial support measures, some media organisations have benefitted from government advertising campaigns, which is designed to deliver important messages to UK citizens on coronavirus. Over 100 independent newspaper titles are included in the partnership, and the majority of expenditure, 60%, is allocated to regional, local and BAME titles. Government messaging has also been delivered through a targeted partnership with small commercial and community radio stations serving BAME communities.

In addition, small and independent media organisations may have been able to receive support from wider government measures, such as the job-retention scheme which the Government has extended until the end of March 2021.

We continue to work closely with stakeholders from across the media landscape regarding the ways in which the Government can support them through the current crisis and beyond.