Menu
Ireland's political and cultural magazine
— April – May 2013
leader
T
HERE is no perfect, rational or obvious
way to regulate the press. Democracy
balances two forms of liberty- freedom
of expression and privacy. Both have
become iconic manifestations of the evolving
sophistication of modern society and have been
developed in unforeseen and wonderful ways
over the last generation. But they make press
regulation difficult.
If a democracy values freedom from intrusion
more than freedom of expression, it needs state
regulation. If it regards the press as so important
that freedom of expression must be protected at
all costs, then it will avoid state regulation. Each
democracy must decide whether society gains
more from a free press than it loses from its tab-
loids’ abuse of defenceless people. Perhaps a wise
resolution will depend on the mores and media
behaviour in each country.
German newspapers must print corrections
with the same prominence as the original report;
Scandinavian countries have acts of parliament
overseeing press ethics; France has tough privacy
laws. But parliamentary control of the press is
anathema in Britain, which has a long tradition
of light-touch self-regulation. The British gov-
ernment takes all this very seriously and has just
agreed to establish a National Press Regulator
(NPR) set up by a royal charter, underpinned by
statute. It will impose punitive damages on any
misbehaving newspaper that has elected not to
join the new system. In return the libel system
will be simplified. Arguably, all this still falls just
shy of anathematic press regulation by parlia-
ment. But it should avert a repeat of the hackings
that led to the Leveson Inquiry which recom-
mended statutory press regulation to replace the
feeble and press-dominated Press Complaints
Commission.
The balance has in general been well struck
in Ireland. There has not traditionally been a
problem with a licentious press. Long ago Seán
Lemass saw RTÉ as “an instrument of govern-
ment policy” and for a long time the media
here were enmired in the sexless pre-Late Late
Show ethos of old-fashioned morals. But the
era passed. For years, there was a perception
that Tony O’Reilly’s Independent Newspapers
group (INM) pursued some of his personal agen-
das, at least at the edges, but there have been
less benevolent Press barons and he has been
sidelined. There are serious problems of media
ownership. RTÉ dominates television. INM titles
still account for over % of all national news-
paper sales and just three groups own of our
radio stations. Most recently the problem in
Ireland has been a cowed media. This is partly
for financial reasons, and partly due to the fall-
out from the Moriarty Tribunal.
Television is doing well internationally: the
average Briton for example watches four hours
of it every night - on a multitude of devices - half
an hour more than in . At
$bn annually, twice as much
is spent on television advertising
as on internet advertising (which
is around the same as newspaper
advertising), though the pro-
portions are changing fast. RTÉ,
however, is beleaguered with
imploded revenue from adver-
tising, adverse publicity from
inflated celebrity salaries and
delinquency in current affairs
programmes. Most local radio is
predictable and loss-making.
Almost all of the Irish print
media lose money, driven by the
rise of on-line alternatives and
the recession. The Irish Times
made unwise boomtown investment decisions
and its product, online and in print seems to he
somewhat stale; INM has suffered from fractious
boardroom battles and has unwisely mooted
a constricting editorial charter; the Thomas
Crosbie Holdings group is in the throes of a con-
troversial examinership.
Struggling under the collapse of advertis-
ing and sales revenues, newspapers have all but
suspended any effort at original investigative
reporting, instead usually relying on informa-
tion gleaned from official ‘political’ and ‘security’
sources, public relations and celebrity guff and
what are euphemistically termed analysis and
opinion pieces.
During her recent visit, a UN Special
Rapporteur received information about the
reported use of litigation and the threat of legal
action to intimidate journalists. As a result, she
“underlined the importance of the role of the
Press Ombudsman and the Press Council, estab-
lished to safeguard and promote professional
and ethical standards in Irish printed media, and
which can resolve complaints about the accuracy
and fairness of coverage”.
Essentially, what is needed is a robust regu-
lator that is independent of both the media and
politicians. This characterises the Irish system
and is what appealed to Leveson about it. But,
crucially, the system is optional, depending on
the compliance of the wronged reader.
As the Village April-May edition moved
towards print it became clear that Denis O’Brien
is exercising a significant chilling effect on Irish
media. His obsession with negative reporting
of his travails in the Moriarty Tribunal has
silenced a range of commentary. The chill has
stricken veteran journalists
and broadcasters, Éamon
Dunphy and Sam Smyth, who
felt unable to write any sort
of article about the media for
Village, because of – perhaps
conservative - legal advice
about litigation initiated by
Denis O’Brien. It affected
Vincent Browne whose col-
umn on Denis O’Brien the
Sunday Business Post would
not publish, and who has
received legal threats. It has
taken out academic Elaine
Byrne whose orientation on
transparency attracted legal
proceedings from O’Brien and
who has, as a result, left the country. It muzzled
a recent Sunday Times exposé of the confidential
business relationship of O’Brien with property
developer, Paddy McKillen.
The outstanding problem in Ireland, in a sys-
tem that has overall worked relatively well down
the years, is that deploying the mediating serv-
ices of the Press Council and Press Ombudsman
are optional. In his recent action against the
Irish Daily Mail, Denis O’Brien, Ireland’s most
influential media owner, who is moving towards
control of Ireland’s largest press company, INM,
seemed tellingly uninterested in availing of the
services.
While it may be held against litigant that they
did not avail of this service, there is no evidence
that in practice it makes any difference to juries.
Village believes this must change. Perhaps a
formula expressly suggesting that it is against
the public interest for the litigation to have
bypassed the Press Council and that damages
should be reduced accordingly, should be con-
sidered by the courts in defamation actions
Ireland is a small country, labouring under
a colossal recession in part brought on by poli-
ticians who were too close to the construction
sector, and facilitated in large part by a dormant
or compliant media. It cannot afford the cosi-
ness of media cartels. And it cannot afford silent
media.
Frightening
Ireland’s media are in difficulty due to finance, ownership and … Denis O’Brien
Complete rubbish: the only
problem we don’t have
Village is Ireland’s
Political Magazine
Village is published on the first Friday
in April 2013 and the first Friday of
every second month after that (6
editions in 2013). The cover price
is €3.95 in the Republic and £3.30
in Northern Ireland. A subscription
for ten editions costs €39.50 in the
Republic and £33 in Northern Ireland.
Village pays for postage.
A Village subscription is an ideal gift.
Village is published by Ormond Quay
Publishing, 6 Ormond Quay Upper, Dublin 7.
Email: sales@villagemagazine.ie;
Tel: 01-8735824
RECIPIENT
First name ............................................
Surname ...............................................................
Address ................................................................
.............................................................................
.............................................................................
Tel ........................................................................
Email ....................................................................
⁄
I enclose a cheque for € .........
(Make cheque payable to Ormond Quay Publishing)
Please send to:
Ormond Quay Publishing, 6 Ormond Quay Upper, Dublin 7
We also accept bank transfers.
Tel: +353-1-8735824; sales@villagemagazine.ie
Ireland’s political magazine www.villagemagazine.ie
Hi s 1 9 71 tr i p
to Ir e la n d
In t er v ie w ed
Nov – Dec 2012 Issue 20
Re s ta u ra n t
re v ie w er s
Ce n tr a l B an k l e ts
do w n S ug a rm a n
En d a’s u s el e ss
op t im i sm
CR H – 40 Y EA RS O F SC AN DA L
• Ju dg e’s C RH sh ar eh ol din g
• Th e ce men t bi lli on ai re s
• Ou r bi gg est c om pa ny: a h is tor y
PH IL H OG AN – B IG MA N DI GS
• A pr ofi le o f o ur c on tro ve rsi al
En v ir o nm e nt Mi n is t er
• U- tu rn o n Poo lb eg i nc in era to r
€3.95 // £3.30
Ire land ’s p oliti cal maga zine www.vi llage magaz ine.i e
Bleeding
the rich
Bleeding
the rich
Ensure that th ose w ho can
best afford to pay for this crisis
actually do so – Tom McD onnell, TASC
They already do
– Constanti n Gurdgiev, TCD
Ensure that th ose w ho can
best afford to pay for this crisis
actually do so – Tom McD onnell, TASC
They already do
– Constanti n Gurdgiev, TCD
Vi ll ag e th ro ws
sh ap es
An on ym it y:
it ’s O K
Feb – Mar 2013 Issue 21
Lockout still
re le va nt
Ke vi n O’ Su ll iva n
di sa pp oi nt s
R T É T V po li ti ca l
sa ti re
E NV I RO NM E NT S P EC I AL
• Donegal pla nni ng: an ox ymoron
• Fra cking in th e W est
• Peter Sweetm an int ervi ewe d
OU R STRE SSE D PL ANE T
• Mary Ro bin son inte rv iewed
• Joh n Gibbon s: we’re d one fo r
• Ian Lumley o n o ur finite wo rld
21
9771649 574818
€3.95 // £3.30
Doom*
* cometh climate change
