Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank our witnesses and guests. I also thank Senator Daly, not just for welcoming us here, but for his eloquent introduction. Given that there are quite a number of distinguished members of the fourth estate here, when the Senator stated that members of the Guinness and Jameson family provided the backbone for the start of the State, please be aware that they do not provide the libation for debates that go on for discussion here.

This is a critical discussion because it is not just around the future of the media. It is why we, as a committee, have spent so much time on this. This is very much around the future of democracy and the values that we all hold dear and very much to the point on reporting on those things that happen at a local level. However, much as we may disagree on different issues, there is a very important role about having a free media within any society. We sometimes perhaps do not appreciate how valuable that is. One thinks about the challenges facing journalists in other countries, and I am thinking about, for example, places such as Egypt, Belarus, Cuba and Myanmar, and particularly at the moment in China and Hong Kong. This is a challenge to the press to continue to highlight in even greater detail the threats to those journalists and democracy. We should realise the importance of what we have.

I wish to make a few observations that will lead to some questions. Mr. Purcell and others acknowledge the fact that the Government has made a number of significant efforts. There is an understanding now on the part of Government. There is the local media fund, the reduction in VAT and the investment in TG4, which will be significant. Keep coming with the ideas. I will not quite say "pushing an open door", but certainly from the perspective of our committee and the Government, there are many positives there.

There is a challenge, which someone referred to, in the diversity in media. I make the point that only one of the eight presentations was made by a woman. By the way, I am not pointing the finger at the media, because if one looks on the political side here, it is not exactly the most diverse either. However, it is a challenge that we need to address to ensure democratic values get addressed.

It is great to see so many representatives of local and national broadcast and print media. However, this is a bit like Hamletbeing staged without the prince. We do not have the social media giants and so on that are now very significant players in this space. I think the move will be to digital. What is important with regard to digital radio as well is around how we can continue to ensure that Irish voices get heard in that global space.

I will come to my question on funding, but to Dr. Wheatley’s point, I am that minority. I have local and national newspaper subscriptions, including to all the ones that are represented here. I have a number to magazines and I pay for stuff behind a paywall. I will stop at the idea of paying €8 a month for a blue tick. I will definitely not go down that road. However, it comes to my first key question, which is around what funding model we will use. As people will be aware, the Government accepted all of the recommendations of the Future of Media Commission, bar the one about the RTÉ funding model. What will we look at doing? If we do not go for the paywall model, how will we ensure it? The concern we hear is whether direct funding from the Government will in some way compromise the independence of the media, which is vital to democracy.

Is there a funding model on which the entire sector can agree that will also guarantee our independence?

Mr. Purcell referenced the OSMR Bill. This will now establish coimisiún na meán, which will be the most powerful regulator in the State. I do not think people quite realise how strong that is going to be. Some of us are still fighting to have a broadcasting committee as part of that. Given where the legislation is at, and I realise it is not yet finalised, how do the witnesses envisage that operating most effectively? I am not just talking about regulating the sector, and I get Mr. Dooley's point about the training side, but about guaranteeing those underpinning democratic principles in its day-to-day operations.

One of my concerns also speaks to Dr. Wheatley's point about our interaction with media. Sometimes I have a concern that in the, dare I call it, establishment media or traditional media, in order to compete with some of what is happening online, there is an element of dumbing down and there is a bit of clickbait journalism going on. That must be challenged to ensure we continue to have quality. There is also a broader challenge for society, for us as legislators and those in the media around digital and media literacy, so people will be able to understand and challenge. What are the witnesses doing to enhance levels of digital and media literacy?

My final question relates to the challenge of social media. Mr. Dooley spoke about the online abuse of journalists and intimidation, which we all condemn. We get it in politics as well, as the witnesses will be aware. It is important that we try to encourage good people into politics. There is a perception among many of us that elements of the media do not give us a fair deal. I am not arguing that we should get off lightly but the profession of politics needs the media to start encouraging good people to become involved and to defend the profession of politics. This is not about decisions we make and taking flak and deserved criticism but we need to start talking about upholding democratic values, the rule of law and those things that we value but in many ways take for granted.