Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Wednesday, 17 January 2024
Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media
Non-court-based Conflict Resolution Mechanisms for Media-related Complaints: Discussion
Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source
The challenge is that the lines between what is print, what is broadcast and what is online now are blurring, and that might refer to some of the issues I will raise. Obviously, we now have the challenge of citizen journalists, as they define themselves, who do not necessarily follow the rules or standards of a lot of people with whom the witnesses represent or engage.
I find the idea of individual journalists being targeted chilling. It has a chilling effect, certainly in the case of Malachi O'Doherty. Rather than indemnifying individual journalists, I would encourage Deputy Daly, as his party's justice spokesperson, who is substituting on behalf of Deputy Chris Andrews, that rather than a member of his parliamentary party targeting an individual journalist with a defamation action - we know about the case - to reflect on the mechanisms we have discussed.
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