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

Mr. Daniel McConnell:

I use the phrase "near-daily" complaints. If you look across the industry, there are near-daily complaints to national newspapers with legal letters arriving. From a Sunday newspaper perspective, as we are in the Business Post, traditionally, we deal with more investigative work or more sensitive stuff. You often get a legal letter before you have even gone to publication because they are trying to muzzle you in some way or they do not want you to publish what you are trying to do. It is on an ongoing basis and a difficulty. As we said in our address to members before Christmas, such is the pressure on us from a resource perspective that you do not just think about how to defend it from a journalistic or legal perspective, you look at how to minimise your financial exposure, which is not how it should be.

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