Press Releases

The Chair of the Press Council of Ireland, Rory Montgomery, will today (Wednesday, 4 October) say at the launch of the 2022 Annual Report of the Press Council of Ireland and Office of the Press Ombudsman that  “dramatic events at RTE over the summer have brought the question of the funding of public service media into renewed focus” and that the funding of the Press Council and Office of the Press Ombudsman is suffering a knock-on effect from the loss of revenue within the press industry, its sole funder.

Hard times have become normal times for the press in Ireland.  But there is no greater threat to the freedom of the press than the intimidation of journalists, and there is no greater threat to the truth the press exists to tell than the spreading of disinformation, and these are issues with which we are now also faced, as recent scenes outside the Houses of the Oireachtas made all too clear.

Welcome to all, especially Deputy Smyth.  We look forward to hearing from her very shortly.

PRESS RELEASE

NEW CHAIR OF THE PRESS COUNCIL ANNOUNCED 

PRESS RELEASE 

Submission by the Press Council of Ireland and Press Ombudsman

When Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc first came on the scene social media, as they came to be called, were a phenomenal success. They allowed ordinary people to have a voice and to exchange ideas. Everybody embraced the new means of communications as an exciting development. Social media was seen as a liberating means of communication for everyone.   Social media was unregulated, this was seen as freeing up comment from those in power, providing unmediated platforms for people to express their views. It was seen as a democratic force for good.   What could go wrong?