Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank all the witnesses for joining us today. I could not agree more. At a time when people urgently need access to factual and trustworthy information, the output of the witnesses and their colleagues is critically important to the production of such information and its consumption by readers. This is probably the most challenging time for those for whom the production of that factual, trustworthy information matters.

The establishment of the Future of Media Commission is a significant milestone in determining how exactly we are to address the challenges the witnesses face. The recent appointment of Ms Siobhán Holliman is critical in bringing real-world experience, particularly of working in local print media. That the challenges faced on the front line can be reflected in the work commission represents a really important move.

I have two observations. In a former role, I visited a country a long way from here that I will not name because I do not want to embarrass anyone. Each morning, I received under the door of my hotel bedroom a copy of the equivalent of one of our national newspapers here. On day two, I began to notice the distinct lack of criticism of any government, politician or policy emanating from the government. I happened to ask our ambassador based in the country why the newspaper was just full of glorious and effusive praise of politicians. It was quite alien to me, as those present will have to admit. The ambassador said that if I had a newspaper that was almost wholly funded by the government and I needed to apply for a licence at the beginning of each year to continue printing, I would be producing output of exactly the same nature. I fully support the concept of this country establishing some sort of dedicated funding mechanism for all our media, both print media and the media of the gentleman who attended earlier. How do the representatives feel we can preserve that most crucial of things, journalistic integrity, and the production of factual, trustworthy information in a world where media are increasingly reliant on state funding to survive? How does one draw the line? Where is it drawn in the sand? How do we ensure that we can continue to have robustness and integrity in our journalistic output?

I have been looking at examples of newspapers that have gone digital in recent months. Consider what The Washington Posthas done, albeit with the support of Mr. Jeff Bezos, which is helpful. The Guardianis another wonderful example. We are seeing some incredibly good examples, including now in Ireland, of newspapers moving behind a paywall and successfully bringing their loyal print readership with them. Do the witnesses envisage an opportunity to avail of specific State funding to assist print media in making this transition successfully? Whatever about my generation, my son's generation is consuming everything it knows about this country and the world on a digital device. My son, who is 24, has never bought a newspaper and never will. How do we assist those people we rely on for information to migrate to digital and to do so successfully? Is there a mechanism elsewhere in the world that we could replicate here?