Media organisations banning journalists will be in breach of licence – SF Bill

No Government or private corporation should have the ability to manipulate the media and censor or silence journalists, the Dáil has been told.

Sinn Féin TD David Cullinane made the remarks as he introduced debate on a Bill he introduced after Communicorp Media banned journalists from The Currency and The Irish Times from appearing on its radio stations.

The 2017 ban was lifted two years later for The Currency's journalists and for Irish Times journalists in June this year when Bauer Media Audio Ireland bought the radio group that includes national stations Newstalk and Today FM.

Mr Cullinane published the Broadcasting (Amendment) (Protection of Journalism) Bill in 2019 when the issue became public, but under the lottery for private members’ legislation, it was only selected for debate this week.

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The legislation will make it a breach of a media organisation’s licence to ban a member of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) based on their occupation, employer or employment status.

Minister for Culture and Media Catherine Martin said however that the Bill should be deferred for 18 months to ensure it is "suitably robust" and effective.

She pointed out that since the ban had been lifted there was no urgent requirement “for legislation of this nature. What matters more is that we get it right.”

Ms Martin said other legislation currently being drafted provides for a media commission to be set up. “Once established, it is my intention to consult the Media Commission on this important issue.”

The ban was put in place by the company’s former management in October 2017 after columnist Fintan O’Toole wrote that Newstalk was “staggeringly and systematically sexist” and that it was time for “anyone with a conscience to stay out of its airspace”.

The column was written in the wake of a controversy about opinions expressed on air by then Newstalk presenter George Hook about rape and responsibility.

Mr Cullinane said “it was extremely disconcerting when one of the largest media corporations in the State was able to ban respected journalists from respected institutions, whether this was to protect commercial interests or for something else.

“Large media conglomerates are becoming more dominant, and more globally intertwined.” He added that the State’s laws “must be robust to ensure protections for a free and open press in a more global, and less accountable, environment”.

The scope of the Bill is limited to NUJ members because professionalism in the media is essentially governed by the terms of membership of the union, he said.

He pointed out that there is no definition of “journalist” in law and applying it more broadly could result in “frivolous cases being taken that are designed to punish broadcasters for what might be a genuine reason for not including a person on a show”.

Ms Martin agreed that “the banning of journalists by media organisations raises serious concerns” and the freedom of journalists to perform their jobs without fear of reprisal such as bans should be safeguarded.

It was however also important to take account of the right of broadcasters to determine the type of programming and content they wish to broadcast.

She also said that in the 2021 World Press Freedom Index Ireland ranks 12th in the world out of 180 countries listed, “just two places outside the top 10.

“This, I believe, serves to emphasise the high regard with which we hold press freedom in this country.”