Written question WQ99531
- Asked by
- Iain McIntoshReform
- To be answered by
- Trefnydd, Chief Whip and Cabinet Minister for Culture and Sport
- Tabled
- Due
- Answered
- Time to answer
- 8 days
Question
Further to WQ98670 and WQ99319, given that the Welsh Government considers an impartial media industry to be essential, but does not assess the impartiality of media organisations receiving public funding, what safeguards are in place to ensure public money is not being provided to organisations displaying political bias?
Answer
Answered by Trefnydd, Chief Whip and Cabinet Minister for Culture and Sport (Heledd Fychan)
A politically impartial media is critical to a functioning democracy, but in ensuring impartiality, it is not for the Welsh Government to determine what constitutes deviation from political neutrality by a media organisation or assess their impartiality.
Whilst we expect all media outlets in receipt of Welsh Government funds to adhere to this principle, formal concerns and safeguarding against any perceived bias of output by member print and online newspapers are handled by the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO).