If Leo thinks the media is out to get him, he will need a thicker skin
HEALTHY tensions between the media and government are to be expected in a functioning democracy. The media plays a critical role in holding government to account. Essentially this means that it has to ask awkward questions about controversies, pursue ministers for answers and show them up sometimes when they don’t have the required answers.
It is not just government that faces this gruelling treatment, it is applied to all public representatives, institutions of the state, civil society and business. The media keeps citizens informed and it is through this process that accountability is delivered in a democracy.
Because the media forms one of the crucial pillars of democracy, its independence and impartiality are critical. Citizens must be able to trust the information that they receive as it shapes their values and views about politics and the political system. Citizens must be assured that nobody is interfering with the press or restricting its ability to scrutinise what is happening.
Ireland does very well in evaluations of its media environment. It is ranked 16th in the World Press Freedom Index and citizens are reasonably trusting of the information they receive. The recent abortion referendum was controversial, but data from the RTÉ-Universities exit poll showed that citizens had quite high levels of trust in newspapers and the broadcast media. This is vital because citizens must be informed, and feel informed about the decisions they are making.
Ireland may be reasonably secure about its media freedom but, around the world, the free press is under attack. And it is not just in authoritarian states – increasingly, democracies have questions to answer on this front.
Donald Trump, both during his presidential campaign and since taking up office, has been aggressive in undermining the media, criticising content and labelling coverage that is critical of him as ‘fake news’. In Europe, serious restrictions have been placed on the media in Hungary and at the end of last year an investigative journalist was assassinated in Malta. A free media environment is not guaranteed in a democracy, it must be protected and supported.
And this is why it was a bit bizarre for the Taoiseach to engage in media bashing at a private lunch meeting in New York earlier this week. The relationship between the press and the Government should be an uncomfortable one, but supporting the principle of a free media is very important.
The Taoiseach seems to be establishing a pattern of putting his foot in it every time he travels to the US and then spending days upon his return explaining his way out of the latest self-inflicted controversy.
Leo Varadkar has a track record of speaking off the cuff about issues and events outside his immediate brief. As a government minister, he was often commended for his sharp analysis of political controversies.
But he has been slow to learn that you can get away with throw-away remarks when you are a minister, but that luxury is not available to the Taoiseach.
At the lunch on Tuesday, it is reported that the Taoiseach made critical remarks about the Irish media and political journalists in particular. And he reportedly sympathised with Donald Trump’s views on the media. These were strange assertions to make. The Taoiseach should be more attuned to the global environment where the free press is under increasing strain. In some cases, the challenges come from within the political system but around the world, digital technologies are transforming the media environment. Online apps and social media sites are changing how news is created and reported. And as material gravitates online, questions about who will pay for the journalism of the future are front and centre of these debates.
THE meeting where the Taoiseach made his remarks took place at the end of a highprofile trip to New York to promote Ireland’s campaign for a seat on the UN Security Council. Ireland has a great case to make as we have so much to offer in international affairs; an old democracy, a post-colonial State and a free and prosperous State.
What was the Taoiseach thinking with his ramblings about how the media is only interested in gossip and sometimes get it wrong? This is neither the image nor substance that Ireland wants to be presenting in its UN campaign. Our main competition are Norway and Canada. The Ireland team needs to be promoting its global support for democracy, self-determination, human rights and press freedom.
The Taoiseach was addressing a group of young Irish people working in New York, hardly an audience that would be receptive to sympathy for Trump or open to criticism of the free press.
And any objective evaluation would have to conclude that the Taoiseach has had a very easy time in the Irish media. He is a politician of the digital age, an effective communicator, articulate and frequently in tune with the public mood. His personal coverage has been very positive.
Perhaps the Taoiseach hasn’t been happy with how controversies such as the strategic communications unit have played out. But if that is the case, he will struggle in the times ahead. Taoisigh need a thick skin and the capacity to absorb negative coverage and not react. Leo will have to eat humble media pie for a few weeks to makeup for his ill-advised remarks.
He has been slow to learn you can get away with throw-away remarks when you are a minister, but that luxury is not available to the Taoiseach