The move was supported by the Charitable Journalism Project with such status increasingly discussed as a viable route to sustaining public interest journalism.
The process for the online newspaper joining the charity register took several months of dealings with the Charity Commission.
“This development should act as a signpost for other, similar public-interest news organisations," said Tom Murdoch.
“The aim of public interest journalism is to provide us, as citizens and members of our local communities, with the reliable, accurate and unbiased information that we need.
“CJP has played a central role in promoting charitable journalism. It’s not for all – some provide news for profit and other purposes – but charitable status is now a practical possibility for suitable public interest news providers across the spectrum.”
Martin Giles, the Guildford Dragon’s editor told Civil Society that he hoped other publications would be able to follow suit.
He said: “It wasn’t a simple task. Now, the fundraising work will need to begin to make the Guildford Dragon News sustainable so we can continue to serve our borough with a local news service.”
Lexie Kirkconnell-Kawana, chief executive of Impress (the Independent Monitor for the Press) said in the Civil Society article:
“I am thrilled the Commission has recognised the public benefit of journalism to communities with this decision. For the public to regain trust journalism, accountability to high regulatory standards, is essential. We look forward to the Dragon continuing to produce high-quality ethical journalism as it embarks on this new journey as a charitable organisation.”
Jonathan Heawood, executive director of the Public Interest News Foundation (PINF), said:
“It's great to have confirmation that local journalism can be charitable. At PINF, we believe that many other local news outlets could become charities, which would open up new revenue streams from foundations and individual donors. At a time when millions of people in the UK live in news deserts, without access to relevant and reliable information, the need for high-quality local news is greater than ever. Charitable journalism might not be the solution to all the challenges facing local news, but it is a crucial part of the mix, and we congratulate the Guildford Dragon, the Charitable Journalism Project and their legal team for making this possible.”
Read the Civil Society article here and Tom’s blog on the story here.
Stone King specialises in charity, education, business & social enterprise, faith and personal law.
Stone King is at Bateman House, 82-88 Hills Road in Cambridge and operates nationally with offices in Bath, Birmingham, Leeds, London and Manchester.
