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FUTURE OF MEDIA COMMISSION A paper without a headline


Former sports journalist Shane Cassells strongly supported the inclusion of the NUJ on the commission in the Seanad.


Seanad leader Regina Doherty shared in the cross- party consensus after Cassells declared that “the absence of anyone from the National Union of Journalists, NUJ, on this commission is akin to printing a paper without a headline”. “We would not establish a commission on the future of agriculture, pack it full of stockbrokers and have no one from an agricultural background on it,” he added, stating that the NUJ knew at first-hand the real problems and challenges facing the media sector, in particular in the past 15 years, as well as the broken funding model afflicting it. Stressing the need to assist regional papers Senator Cassells warned that the local press is “on its knees”.


Shane Cassells: local press ‘on its knees’. Taoiseach questioned in Dáil about composition of Commission


Last month, Fine Gael TD Paul Kehoe and Fianna Fáil TD Dara Calleary questioned the Taoiseach about the composition of the commission, with Calleary asking whether consideration would be given to including a representative with local media and news publishing experience.


Micheál Martin said members “were appointed by


Government with regard to the particular mix of skills and experience that the Government considers


Boylan seeks broader remit


Sinn Féin Senator Lynn Boylan has supported the NUJ’s call for wider terms of reference for the commission and has also slammed the exclusion on the commission of union and community media representation. She told the Seanad that she had concerns regarding


some of its terms of reference and some glaring omissions: no mention of the role and impact of the digital search engines and social media platforms and no reference to media diversity, plurality or ownership structures. On the makeup of the commission Senator Boylan said:


“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,” she said.


Senator Lynn Boylan


appropriate to the work of the commission. The composition of the commission represents a balanced mix of experts in public service media, independent journalism, social media, new technology platforms, media economics, culture, language, creative content, governance and best international practice.” The commission, he said, had been constituted as an


expert group, rather than a stakeholders’ representative body.


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