Lynn Boylan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Yesterday, the Future of Media Commission was established. It is something that both the National Union of Journalists and I have sought for a very long time. Fully independent and sustainable media that hold those in powerful positions to account are vital to any functioning democracy and recently we have seen that important role played out in golfgate.

I welcome the establishment of the commission as a first step but I have some concerns regarding some of its terms of reference and some glaring omissions. There is no reference to media diversity, plurality or ownership structures. A 2016 report by the KRW Law-LLP firm found that Ireland had one of the most concentrated media markets of any democracy. Likewise, the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom has repeatedly flagged the lack of media plurality in Ireland. There is no mention of the role and impact of the digital search engines and social media platforms. The terms of reference also fail to mention the employment challenges facing those who work in the sector.

Journalism is increasingly becoming a precarious job and many young journalists have left the field in recent years. This leads me to my concerns regarding the make up of the commission, and I say this without questioning the calibre of those who have been appointed. The commission lacks anyone who has direct experience in the Irish news publishing industry at a local or national level. There is no representative of a digital news platform. There is no trade union representative who can speak to the employment challenges. There is no-one with a background in journalism education on the commission and that is for no shortage of the very fine schools of journalism in this country. Finally, I have grave concern about the absence of anyone from the local and community media sector. I fear that if they have no voice around the table, community and local media will be completely forgotten despite the hugely valuable role that they play. I urge the Minister to come before the House to hear these concerns.