9 WORK IN A TIME OF PANDEMIC


Supporting journalism in difficult times


By Michael Foley By any criteria, the Irish media have so far done a good job covering the Covid-19 pandemic. It has used authoritative sources, has not hyped miracle cures or given credence to the social media conspiracy theories and has communicated important information accurately, reliably and in a timely fashion and has questioned both government ministers and


those advising government as is its role. It has helped that, unlike in Britain, health and


science correspondents have been to the fore, those with the medical and expert contacts who understand the context and know what a virus is. In Britain the pandemic is often covered as if it was solely a political issue rather than a public health issue. Journalists have, of course, covered the politics. It is the politicians who have to make the decisions following the advice of the medical experts, those experts who are now household names, thanks to the media. There is also the huge story of the government formation talks, so it is not exactly a slow news period. In more recent weeks some of the opinion pieces


have been pushing for a loosening of restrictions in ways that do not necessarily reflect the public mood. Well over half, according to an opinion poll for the Department of Health, are happy with the pace being taken towards normalisation. Only two months ago the discussion about the


future of the media was whether those getting their news on Facebook or Google would ever return to real journalism. Then came coronavirus and they did. Viewing figures for news and current affairs are up, online engagement with newspapers is enormous. The new subscription-led Irish Independent now has over 20,000 subscriptions; it was planning for about 8,000 by now, while The Irish Times has 120,000 subscribers, according to full-page adverts it has placed in its own newspaper. The problem is, as every journalist knows, media depends on advertising as well as an audience and advertising spend is way, way down, between 60 and 70 per cent down, and that cannot be sustained. Digital advertising has also fallen, but its market


share is increasing. This is not good news for Irish media, given Google and Facebook’s control of digital advertising spend. Advertising might come back, but will it be in time to


Michael Foley


rescue the media? Already there have been job losses and many journalists are taking pay cuts. The Journal.ie is seeking financial help from its readers. Every so often a government minister will say how important the media is for getting important information out, for unifying communities and also for asking the hard questions. But it goes no further than ministers tweeting stories from Susan Mitchell or other health writers.


Some small aid has been given to independent


radio, but RTÉ still face a financial crisis and newspapers, especially local newspapers, are facing an existential threat. The government could help but is showing little sign


that it will. The British government is spending up to £45 million as part of a three-month partnership called, All in This Together. One part of that was a wrap-around on every UK title entitled, “Stay at home for the NHS, your family, your neighbours, your nation the world and life itself”. There will be other initiatives getting important information to people through press and online advertising. Across Europe, measures have also been put in


place to aid the media at this time. News kiosks are allowed to remain open, in recognition of media and journalism being an essential service, while Belgium has launched a public information advertising campaign through the media. Denmark plans to compensate media organisations for revenue losses and Sweden is working on a state aid package to support the media. In the long term, a full inquiry into the future of the media in Ireland is necessary, but in the short term the NUJ has called for a crisis forum to include the government, the NUJ and media industry representatives to examine how a vital service can be protected. Ethical journalism survives when journalists are paid


properly and work for independent media. Some years ago, the International Federation of Journalists had a slogan that said ethical journalism was dependent on journalists having a decent wage and standard of living. Then it was assumed it referred to those working in emerging democracies, but now it might be something for us to take note of.


Michael Foley is vice chair of the Ethics Council, where he represents the Republic of Ireland


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