The media shaping the agenda - The Guardian's 'Tax-Gap' series

The Guardian has been running a series of features under the name ‘Tax-Gap’ over the past couple of weeks. I have read a number of the articles which show how companies based in the UK are avoiding UK tax contributions by locating parts of their business, such as trademarks and brand names, in low duty countries such as Ireland, Switzerland and Holland.

The campaign has impressed me because the Guardian has actively put on the news agenda an issue that is of interest to the public especially in the current economic climate in which tax payers money is being used to stabilise the economy. But what power do the media have in prompting action by the government in relation to the issues it raises?

On the front of the Guardian on Thursday 19th February, nearly two weeks after the ‘Tax-Gap’ series started, the leading story was titled, “Brown targets Switzerland in global tax haven crackdown”. It reports that Gordon Brown has been negotiating with world leaders a tough regulatory system for tax and banking that will cover every country. The framework is likely to be discussed at the G20 summit in London in April, which Brown will chair.

It would be niave to say that Gordon Brown’s action is a direct result of the Guardian’s campaign or that it is just a coincidence that the story appears on the front page. However I think it is fair to say it makes a difference by putting the issue in the public realm and creating a feeling that this is something the public want addressed. The government will have been well aware of the Guardian’s campaign and the potential feelings the campaign invokes in the public.

This is where the media plays a vital role in holding government accountable in a way the average Joe never could. The homepage says: “[The series] has taken a team of specialists more than three months and involved checking scores of trademark registers and sets of company accounts in Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Ireland.”

In the ‘Reaction to the tax-gap series’ page on the Guardian website one commenter says:

“What you are doing is what I feel is one of the primary reasons for papers to exist. Keep up the good work" Alan C Rollins, Tallahassee, Florida, 8 February

I would tend to agree.