Dr. Julien Mercille:

With regard to the housing market, right now we do not have a huge national bubble. The coverage cannot be analysed in the same way we did before. There is a spike in Dublin prices but it is not a national issue like before. The media, in general, is the same, as the structure has not changed. There is still advertising and it is still corporate and government-owned. There are more articles of a careful nature. When one sees a boom in Dublin, a journalist does not necessarily jump on it as much as before because of the crash. Perhaps they are a bit more careful. I have not looked at it in any systematic way.

After the crash, the other issues became more prominent, such as austerity. When I or others say the media is in favour of government views, it is not something pulled out of nowhere. The media is very proud about that and says so explicitly. The Irish Timesindicated in 2008, right at the start, that it needed to educate the public about the virtues of austerity. There is no secret there and it was very successful in that task. The media performs extremely well in Ireland if it is judged from that standpoint. It has been very successful in telling people that austerity is the right way to go. There are crisis resolution points.

One can see reporting about vulture funds and other topics but not to the extent one would see if ordinary people's interests were considered to a greater extent. There is good reporting but that is a broader point. In the business press, for example, there is excellent reporting. The Sunday Business Posthas done very good studies on vulture funds because those journalists speak to the business community. Those people need good information and it is not just a case of propaganda being out there. Otherwise, a decision as a business leader or Government leader could not be made. There is very good reporting out there but the twist will usually be written for the interests of the elites. That does not mean it is wrong but it is a particular viewpoint.