Sir, – Conor Brady (Opinion, December 4th) asks if we want to see fines handed out to newspapers and journalists who abuse their position of power.
The answer is, emphatically, yes. The Medical Council, Standards in Public Office Commission and Garda Ombudsman independently regulate those professions and can hand down sanctions to those who abuse their position. The same standard should be applied to a press, which has shown itself capable of committing terrible wrongs. The price of freedom is eternal vigilance and the price of a free press is a vigilant watchdog with sharp teeth. – Yours, etc,