This week's Independent News & Media Irish regional newspapers' column.
Michael Commane
I hear many people saying these days that they are zoomed out of it and I have to agree, an overdose of zooming is not good for you. But like everything in life, it has its positive side.
On Friday, March 19 The Future of Media Commission ran a webinar. I’d seen mention of it in a newspaper and signed in. The Commission was set up by Government last year to examine the future of the media in Ireland.
In a world of instant so-called free news, it’s vital that we protect Irish media outlets that tell the truth.
Social media and the Trumps of this world have given Terry Pratchett’s line, ‘A lie can run round the world before the truth has got its boots on’ a frightening reality. We see something on our phones or tablets and our instant reaction is to believe it.
Vincent Crowley, who is chairman of Newsbrands Ireland, formerly known as National Newspapers of Ireland, told the meeting that Google and Facebook made €403 million in advertising in Ireland last year, whereas indigenous media outlets made €23 million.
Crowley, who is a former CEO of Independent News & Media, questioned if it was a good idea that two large US behemoths should be able to take out of the country such a large sum of money.
Crowley also was critical of the nine per cent VAT the Government charges on newspapers. He said in most EU States there is no VAT on newspapers.
Blindboy Boatclub, aka David Chambers, one of the two Rubberbandits argued very strongly that public funding has to be invested in the Arts. He said that public service broadcasting cannot exclusively focus on popularity or profit.
He believes there has to be a place for failure within the world of Arts and to allow for such a possibility there has to be significant public funding.
It was my first time to hear the term publisher-broadcaster. It simply means a television or radio station buys in all its programmes from an independent agency. That’s how UK Channel 4 works.
It was argued by Susan Kirby of Screen Producers Ireland that in the long-term that’s what RTE should become, with the exception of news, current affairs programmes and some light entertainment.
Of course I’m biased but I think it’s fair to say that our media, print, radio and television do a decent job.
We’re fortunate to have a free press. The big worry these days is how do we protect ourselves against the world of vile and fake social media.
It’s important that we can trust our news sources.
There’s always the worry that media tycoons can influence their editors. The crass version of that is propaganda. It’s vital that media outlets are messengers when disseminating news. Of course they also express opinions, but opinions too need to be well-informed and sourced.
Might it be that that social media and the proliferation of news and gossip is showing us how gullible we really are?
It’s good that there is a discussion taking place about media in Ireland.
And trust me, everything I wrote here is true.
Then again, you might ask what is truth. I’m zooming out now, bye.
1 comment:
In 1960 Liebling wrote that the freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those who own one. Freedom of the press, as we normally understand it, does not guarantee access of the public to the press, nor the truth of what is written or said. The reality is that the press is not truly free. The media tend to be in thrall to their owners or shareholders. Business interests are consistently reflected in the choices media make when reporting. There is scant coverage of poverty. In fact, celebrities garner far more coverage than the poor or homeless. We have no guarantee that society will be well served by the press. Look at tabloid journalism in the UK, or Murdoch’s media empire in Australia, or the political cesspit that is AM radio in the USA. These are all perversions of what a free press ought to be, yet their outputs are consumed daily by millions.Ireland has already headed down the path of “infotainment” and so-called “reality tv”. Neither promises us much for the future.
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