Irish media ombudsman: how the market acts as a press censor

"Best professional practice in journalism grows like coral on the seabed – slowly – and it forms a vital part of an ecosystem which is continually changing and adapting to the circumstances in which it finds itself."

Wise words delivered this week by John Horgan as he prepares to depart from his post as Ireland's press ombudsman.

He was speaking in Dublin at a seminar organised by the National Union of Journalists to mark World Press Freedom Day.

In pointing out that the word "regulatory" appears only once in the articles of association for the Irish press council and office of the press ombudsman, Horgan argued that "this is a good thing."

Why? "Because it recognises that our mission, which I like to think of as the maintenance and development of best professional practice in journalism, together with mechanisms for accountability and redress, is at its heart a cultural and societal project, not a legal or political one."

He went on to illustrate the virtues of an ethical journalistic code that is more fluid than the law. For example, when dealing with invasions of privacy, press council interpretations of the code provide greater redress, and understanding, than is usually possible through legal action.

The most interesting aspect of Horgan's speech concerned press freedom during which he raised two "fundamental questions". What is press freedom for? And freedom from what? Here are his challenging thoughts on that second question:

"Press freedom is typically understood to mean freedom from state control. So far, so good. But perhaps it is also time to discuss the elephant in the room.

This is the inescapable fact that, where the press is concerned, the power – the unacknowledged power - of the market is, if anything, greater than the power of the state, and that it is a power which needs to be seriously considered in any discussion of the freedom and the responsibility of the press.

A fundamental characteristic of the modern liberal market economy is that it regards people as consumers rather than as citizens. In this context, press freedom from state control, it has been argued, 'fails to recognise the reality of the incentives and restraints inherent to an environment of market competition that guide journalistic [and, I might add, editorial and ownership] behaviour.'

To put it more bluntly, the market is also a censor of the press, a permanent, sharp but invisible limitation on the power of the press which insufficiently scrutinised, by the press itself or by anyone else. This power of the market can also be seen as undermining – often critically – the view of the press as a watchdog independent of economic interests.

And it is a power which increases exponentially as the economic model supporting the press is eroded by national, international and technological factors to which we have yet to find an adequate response."

(Comment: This is a perfect reflection of my own viewpoint as my City University students of the past 10 years know all too well).

Other contributors to the seminar were Ireland's chief justice Susan Denham, who stressed the vital role of journalism in a democratic society; Kevin Bakhurst managing director of RTE news and current affairs; Michelle Stanistreet, the NUJ's general secretary; and the union's Irish secretary, Séamus Dooley.

"There is much to celebrate in Irish journalism," said Dooley. "The standard of journalism in Ireland is extremely high and most professional practitioners operate within an ethical framework and are motivated by the public interest."

But he registered concern about the slashing of editorial budgets and the consequent failure of local papers to cover local authority meetings and district courts.

Another example, as Horgan would surely acknowledge, of the effect of the market on the capability of journalists to hold power to account.

Source: Speeches provided by the NUJ