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COMMUNICATIONS MINISTER PAT Rabbitte has said he does not believe some of the practices of British media that have been exposed by the Leveson inquiry into media ethics are present in Ireland.
He was speaking at the launch of the Press Council of Ireland and Office of the Press Ombudsman’s annual report for 2011 in which both the Press Council and the Ombudsman said that they would be considering the recommendations of Leveson.
The wide-ranging statutory inquiry is currently examining the relationship between politicians and the media in Britain in the wake of the phone hacking scandal. Today it heard evidence from former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Rabbitte said at the launch of the report that the inquiry raised questions about the relationship between politicians and the media which were worthy of debate but said it was his belief that much of what has been uncovered is not present in Irish media.
“It’s a dangerous statement but I don’t believe that some of the more odious practices exposed at the Leveson inquiry are present in Ireland,” he said.
“But it does raise some very major questions about the nexus between journalism and politics at the most senior levels and I think a debate on that is healthy.”
The annual report published today follows a similar trend to recent years with complaints in relation to truth and accuracy the most frequently cited, accounting for a third (33 per cent) of all complaints made.
This was followed followed by prejudice (23.5 per cent ), privacy (10.8 per cent) and distinguishing fact and comment (10.2 per cent). The increase in complaints under prejudice was accounted for by a large number of complaints about two articles which generated 64 complaints.
In total, the Press Ombudsman, Professor John Horgan, decided on a total of 42 complaints last year and upheld 40 per cent of them.
In 24 per cent of cases sufficient remedial action was deemed to have been offered or taken by the publication. Almost a quarter of cases processed were either resolved informally or successfully conciliated between the parties concerned.
(LtoR) Dáithí O Ceallaigh, Pat Rabbitte and Professor John Horgan at the launch of the annual report of the Press Council of Ireland and Office of the Press Ombudsman in Dublin today (Sasko Lazarov/Photocall Ireland)
The chairman of the Press Council, Dáithí O Ceallaigh, said that the findings of the Leveson inquiry “will be of great significance… for anyone who is interested in putting the all-important relationship between the press and its public on a new and better footing.”
“It goes without saying, therefore, that these findings and recommendations will be of interest to, and will be discussed by, the Press Council as soon as they are published,” he added.
O Ceallaigh also said that the chairman of the Press Complaints Commission in the UK, Lord Hunt, had recently been in Dublin to hold talks with him and Horgan “at which matters of mutual interest and concern were discussed”.
He pointed out that the Irish model of press regulation had been cited in a positive manner during the course of Leveson’s public hearings.
He added: “These discussions reflected the fact that Lord Leveson himself, and a number of witnesses at his enquiry, have already publicly expressed their interest in the origins, structures and functions of the Press Council of Ireland and the Press Ombudsman.”
Meanwhile, Horgan said that his office would be launching a new public awareness campaign in order to ensure that the visibility of his office is enhanced.
Horgan said this would include increasing awareness generally, ensuring the public and those working in the media were more familiar with the Ombudsman’s decisions, working more closely with those in the industry and exploring the potential use of social media.
He said the message that the campaign would be delivering would be that professional standards of journalism in Ireland are being maintained.
“This message is that, in an age of media fragmentation, the blogosphere, and web-based threats to the traditional economic model of newspapers and magazines, member publications of the Press Council uniquely proclaim, and agree to observe, professional standards of journalism which are not applicable elsewhere in the print media,” he said.
“These are standards which are intended to guarantee the reliability, credibility, and authority of all our members. This is, effectively, unique, and it is in our own best interests to make sure that it is as widely publicised as possible.”
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This president is amazing. MaryRobinson was a great for international relations but this little fella is what Ireland needs now. His articulation is perfect and his ideas are what we should be striving towards. BRILLIANT………..!!!
Nice planet you live on there Al – yourself and Michael D. If you manage to get back to Ireland 2013 join the protests tomorrow evening again austerity, cuts, water charges, evictions, emigration and property tax imposed on us by Michael D Higgins’ Labour, the 4.5% Party
Al, 100 per cent agree.
That flag needs to be out flying in the fields and roads of Ireland so we can reclaim this country from the failed politics of FF, FG and LAb.
These charlatans in the Labour Party have no concept of what the Starry Plough really stands for. The great men of the Irish Citizen Army would be appalled to be associated in any way with today’s Labour Party in any way. Just words from Higgins, if he meant them he would have taken a different journey than staying in the Labour Party for all those years
A new version of Irishness? Is that an app I can download or what? This guy is a joke and the biggest yes man going.
A lot of vitriol in these comments towards Michael D. Higgins who is just about the last person in the sphere of Irish politics who deserves it.
Agree with you Al, but in my opinion he wasted as president, feel like he has a lot more to say but can’t go that far
It must be so easy for Higgins to lecture us, the plebs, on morality and hardship with his 6 digit salary and pension. Then again I can’t say I am surprised, he is in Labour after all.
What do they mean by the ‘conservation’ of the flag? Are they repairing the original one or is it a special ceremony or what?
A new version of Irish ness? One that includes jailing bankers, not paying back illegal gambling debts, and taking care f our citizens first?
Good God…this man reminds me more and more of Uncle Albert every day! How much does the office of President cost us again?
I have a yearning that politicos would cease these meandering, worthless discourses on claptrap like “renewing Irishness” and actually come up with something tangible and workable for once.
Whenever I hear a politician talking about Irishness, I know meaningless navel-gazing waffle is forthcoming and plenty of worthies will be having a good old jaw over four course dinners on the topic, itself a complete abstract and totally irrelevance.
Enlighten us with your philosophy. Anything positive to say?.
That Communist prat is way by his sell by date. He’s not supposed to be “political” so how come he’s not fired.
@William the fact that you call him a communist shows that you have absolutely no clue what you’re talking about
What’s the difference between Higgins and a Communist then?
Higgins constantly talks about being a social democrat for one. He often refers to the need of a defined “social floor”, a floor that people in our capitalist society should not be allowed to fall under. Words over actions aside, he seems fine with the capitalist system as long as there are those safety nets for the most vulnerable in our society. How does that make him a “communist”? (switch off Fox News pal, it hinders your perception)
The only real communists on this planet are Buddhists William, you may have noticed our Uachtarán lives in a big house in the middle of town.
Love that prez
I hope the champagne socialist didn’t show up.
I can only imagine how our Irish Citizen Army heroes feel about how Labour had turned there back on the working classes since the 1980s!
That man lives in a Fantasy world far removed from what’s going on outside the Park
Even though i voted for Mr Higgins it was by process of elimination rather than any admiration,i knew his ideas were socialist left,and me being a free market man who provided employment for people in my life,i still cant get my head around the fact that Ireland admires such people as poets more than those that create the wealth the country needs for its citizens.
Nobody needs wealth Richard. What we need is stability, security and freedom from the shackles of past ideologies. Creating wealth got us into this mess, and it’s not going to get us out. What’s wrong with admiring Poets? I have to say that Higgins was not even on my radar as a politician, but as Uachtarán I think he has come of age.
because the propagators of the free market only care about personal profit. They’re hardly going to be popular in a country where people are directly paying for the collapse of a unregulated the neo liberal, free market economy. I can see where you are coming from in relation to the “wealth creators” but the balance of regulation is so important. A balance that protects the ecomony from wreckless, short term profits while at the same time ensuring that the market is not over regulated, stifling investment and expansion of the private sector. I’m living in Canada at the moment and you can really see how this method (particularly in their banking system) had worked for them in comparison to the “free market” Americans.
Sounds good but the fact is we will only survive as a country by creating jobs for our people.
There is unfortunately no alternative to capitalism as an economic system. It promotes innovation and is highly ptoductive, even Marx acknowledged that in his Manifesto. It is the type of capitalism that we allow that is the problem. Unregulated and unhindered by trade unions it will devour itself. In the USA fir example the average industrial wage has remained static while the income of the top decile has increaded by about 23 per cent. In the globalised labour force capital can be shifted around electronically , undermining the economies of nation states and exploiting poor workrrs, resulting in disasters like that collapsed building in Bangladesh. I for one think President O Higgins is on the money. He is a welcone voice out there in a cacophony of neo liberalism.
I hope he is right in what he says. Capitalism doesn’t believe in society but I do.
Irishness: does he mean the gombeen tendency or the sheep like obedience to the master?
Ya ya ya…… Zzzzzzzzzz.
Although I am not a Socialist, I admire Michael D and I consider he to be the best President for Ireland in these difficult times. The Plough and the Stars is a wonderful historical flag and reminds us of the land where so many of us have come from and the Stars which we look up to on a good night.
Great insightful speech by President Michael D.
It more like we’re yearning for a revolution
I remember last year some criminals sawed off the stars for scrap. Good to see the statue back to its original glory, never gets enough attention.
In what sector in Irish is individualist? The govenment grew under the PDs.
It’s good to see that the president is addressing the important issues facing Irish society today.
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