Ciarán Lynch (Cork South Central, Labour)
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There is a commercial aspect for the media. These are privately owned companies that compete with one another. That is not to say we should not open up more information but is there any acknowledgement of the commercial aspect of the Freedom of Information Act and how the media engages with it? There is a paradox that if information was more open, the sorts of exclusives newspapers got through FOI requests, or the silly season stuff that comes out in the middle of July when there is nothing else to write about, would not be covered.

What ethics apply to freedom of information? Is there any code of conduct? The phone hacking scandal in Britain has been in the news, where the media themselves were withholding information that the public had problems accessing.