Taxpayers have paid out almost £140,000 to sponsor Isle of Man Newspapers’ (Media Isle of Man) annual Awards for Excellence in the last five years.
This includes £9,700 for compere Monty Halls, who has since gone on to be contracted by the government as an ambassador to highlight the island’s UNSECO Biosphere status.
Since 2020, the Department for Enterprise has acted as a main sponsor for the show, paying out £25,000 in 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2024.
In 2023 the funding rose to £30,000 plus £9,700 for Mr Halls.
In documents also released under FoI, the DfE said its sponsorship comes with tickets to the show and sponsorship of an award.
It also ensures that the newspapers deliver a campaign to “reinforce the ambitions of the Island Plan and Economic Strategy, to ensure the key messaging aligns to that of government’s ambitions and promotes positive news in the local economy”.
The documents list as a benefit of this: “Involvement in the campaign provides opportunity to influence and shape the narrative of the event, ensuring the values of government are represented in the discourse surrounding achievements of the community.”
Headline metrics show that the campaign has attracted a total of 536 award nominations since 2006, achieved an average of over 880 event attendees each year and a live streaming audience of 2,500 in 2023.
The campaign is bolstered by a digital campaign, achieving a combined social reach of 181,300 in 2023, delivering 30 dedicated articles in local print which it is said reached 85% of the island’s population.
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