Sean Barrett (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I would prefer Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein who are also among Mr. Browne’s heroes.

Mr. Browne referred to the capacity of the public relations, PR, officers to give and withhold information that hard-pressed journalists require to do their work. He also referred to the growth of PR to being four times the number of journalists in the United States. I recall Mr. Browne’s distinguished predecessor, the late Paul Tansey, with whom I worked to reduce air fares in and out of this country. We regarded the PR outfits in the airlines as our enemies and were quite proud to treat them as such when we took them on. What has happened since in that now journalists reprint PR hand-outs as if they were real news?