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:
From a national perspective, there was a high-profile case last year. I tweeted that night "but for the grace of God" because it could happen to all of us. What was impressive was how the editor in question, Mr. Ruadhán Mac Cormaic, handled the situation. He fronted up and took responsibility as an editor. The publication addressed the issue pretty quickly. It was a wake-up call for the industry that if you are going to accept a piece, particularly from an outside contributor, make sure you have done your checks, dotted the i's and crossed the t's. Heading into an election, it is not only the threat of AI we need to worry about. We need also to worry about the role of foreign actors coming in, as we have already seen in elections in the past five or ten years. All of those threats are part and parcel of our due diligence heading into an election and how we do out coverage, what checks and safety mechanisms we, as an editorial team, have in place. It is a live concern.
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