Brian Leddin (Limerick City, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I commend my party colleague, the Minister, Deputy Catherine Martin, for setting the terms of the review of the public service broadcaster. That is a significant and welcome step and we look forward to the outcome of the review.

The events of the past three weeks have amplified a niggling concern I have had for quite a while. Last year, I proposed that the Joint Committee on Environment and Climate Action would hold a series of public sessions on the role of media in climate action. I was in no doubt as to the influence of media on public acceptance of climate change. Generally, however, it has not been too bad in this country and research by the Economic and Social Research Institute, ESRI, tells us we do not have a significant climate denial movement in this country, unlike in other countries. One of the reasons for that is that the public service broadcaster has largely been good and responsible when it comes to the issue. Excellent programmes, such as "Eco Eye", have informed our people of the challenge of climate change and the solutions to it.

The niggling feeling is that with some aspects of our media's approach to climate, much is left to be desired. Too often, we see a false balance approach whereby a topic is discussed by people with opposing viewpoints but where the quality of those views is not equal. For example, in a debate on the climate, pitting an expert who has arrived at conclusions through years of research against somebody who simply disagrees or has a vested interest is not a balanced approach. Any politician in this House will know the drill involved in doing radio interviews. You get a call a few minutes beforehand, chat briefly with the producer and sound technician, and wait to be called to go live. You sit through advertisements for cars, insurance and fuel. You listen to the jingle as the show resumes and it tells you it is sponsored by a car company. You then go on to be interrogated on climate policy. To what extent is the listener influenced by the content of the interview and to what extent are they influenced by the advertising that is pushed at them relentlessly?

The Joint Committee on Environment and Climate Action had some fascinating sessions with media experts at the end of last year and we also had representatives of RTÉ before us. We heard from them at the time that:

...RTÉ remains the most trusted news provider in the country. Over 92% of the Irish public use one or more of RTÉ’s services each week. With this large audience also comes a strong sense of responsibility.

Of interest to me was that the witnesses from RTÉ emphasised that advertising was solely the remit of the commercial side of the organisation and did not influence content creation or editorial decisions. Yet when asked about programme sponsorship, they answered that there was editorial representation on an internal sponsorship committee. In other words, there is not a clear delineation between the two. The events of recent weeks show a murky relationship between our public service broadcaster and some of the entities that fund it. This raises important questions of the influence of these commercial entities on the programming that is produced and on influencing public opinion.

Our world is on fire. We need to do everything we can to cut our emissions. There is no silver bullet. There is no one thing that solves this. The problem is not data centres, agriculture, transport, heating or aviation. It is all of these and more. Climate action is hard and that is why we cannot afford to have a public service broadcaster that is not doing everything it can to help bring this country on the challenging journey we must undertake. Properly engaging the public and ensuring that individuals and communities understand the significance of actions necessary for climate action, such as changes in transportation, heating, electricity generation and food production, is a critical element in addressing climate change. There is, of course, a role for the Government in designing communication strategies but second only to the Government, the media play a crucial role in climate action. Its role with respect to advertising and editorial policy in ensuring balance is achieved and that climate action is ultimately successful cannot be overstated. I sincerely hope that any decision-making regarding corporate influence through sponsorship and advertising in content and editorial is reviewed, not alone to restore confidence in our public service broadcaster but so that accurate and balanced programming is produced such that we, as a country, take the decisions that are critically necessary in this fight for our children, our grandchildren and our planet.

See this speech in context