The conflict-of-interest case involving pundit and media trainer Ivan Yates during the presidential election reveals a wider problem in Irish media. News outlets routinely fail to disclose when presenters and contributors have a potential stake in the issues being discussed. As a result, audiences are deprived of honest debate.
The dangers of vested interests are obvious. That’s why disclosure is a basic regulatory standard. The Press Council’s code of practice states that “readers are entitled to expect that the content of a publication ... has not been inappropriately influenced by undisclosed interests”. Coimisiún na Meán’s code requires broadcasters to “be aware of the relevant interests” of news and current affairs personnel and to inform audiences of “anything that might reasonably be perceived as calling into question” the fairness, objectivity or impartiality of a programme or item.
Yet, news outlets frequently platform people without revealing their affiliations. For example, Mandy Johnston, a public affairs consultant and former Fianna Fáil adviser, is a Business Post columnist and occasional Newstalk presenter. Until 2021, she was CEO of an oil and gas industry lobby group. This is clearly relevant to her strident criticisms of environmental policy. Yet, the Business Post did not disclose it in her August column on the need to undo the influence of the Green Party, which she compared to “knotweed”.
Anton Savage hosts a current affairs show on Newstalk, writes for The Business Post and is a director of the Communications Clinic, a communications, media training and PR firm chaired by his mother Terry Prone. The company website offers “experts who can generate positive media coverage”. The profile for Savage notes he has advised cabinet ministers and CEOs and is a “constant presence on radio and TV”.
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In contrast, the Newstalk website fails to explain that its presenter has a business interest in a company concerned with current affairs coverage. Savage is believed not to have given training to politicians in several years.
Media people often justify such omissions on the assumption that “everyone already knows” who these people are. Everyone knows that a particular person advised a political party or has professional interests in certain issues. Within the small, Dublin-centric world of Irish media, perhaps everyone does. Assuming the wider public knows, or worse, not caring whether they do, is elitist.
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Journalists may not see themselves as part of an elite; most earn far less than political or corporate leaders. But journalists have power: they decide which people and issues receive attention and how they are framed. PR and lobbying professionals exist to influence those decisions. When the news and PR sectors intersect to the degree that they do in Ireland, it becomes fair to ask whose interests the news ultimately serves.
Media training, PR and lobbying are legitimate enterprises and many practitioners do valuable work for clients across the country. But democracy requires standards that guard against hidden influence and the public has a right to know who is shaping the information they receive. It is remarkable that so many principled journalists and newsrooms are inattentive to this issue.
The failure to explain who lobbyists are is one way that journalism is inattentive to public needs. Terms such as “public affairs consultant” or “industry association” are often repeated without qualification. As George Orwell argued, when journalists and others avoid plain English, power and influence become harder to see.
Consider the continuing debates about data centres. In the week of October 13th, The Irish Times and RTÉ News Online both carried stories about Digital Infrastructure Ireland, the industry’s lobby group. While The Irish Times introduced it as “an industry lobby group”, the story on the RTÉ news website offered no explanation of what the organisation is and provided no counterpoint to its claims.
In the wake of its scandals, RTÉ introduced a register of staff interests and activities. However, data protection rules restricted the published data to a largely meaningless statistical summary. Kevin Bakhurst, RTÉ’s director general, explained that “the Data Protection Commission is firmly of the view that specific legislative authority is required to publish the level of detail originally intended” by RTÉ.
Providing legislative authority for transparency is a clear line of action for the Oireachtas Media Committee, which has invited Yates, the broadcasting regulator and PR specialists – including Prone and Johnston – to discuss transparency in media. Speaking to RTÉ’s David McCullagh on Monday, Yates said he will attend. He offered the view that Irish media outlets are “riddled” with conflicts of interest. The Press Council and Coimisiún na Meán might also explain what they intend to do about this.
Critics of mainstream media already highlight undeclared conflicts of interest as evidence of bias. Journalists may dismiss some of those critics as left-wing or right-wing cranks, but if the vested interests are real, they have a point.
Journalists and newsrooms should expect more critical opposition as media literacy is embraced across education, libraries and public policy. That means more people questioning the integrity of news. The news industry often misunderstands media literacy as a defence of traditional journalism. It isn’t. Media literacy encourages critical thinking about all media, prompting audiences to consider which outlets they trust and whether that trust is deserved.
Good journalism is vital to democracy and trust in journalism matters too. The Electoral Commission’s national election and democracy survey indicates that professional journalism is linked to higher trust in democratic institutions and a rejection of conspiracy theories. But trust in journalism should never be a given. Newsrooms and media companies need to demonstrate they are trustworthy.
The media – politics relationship is not a game, even if news commentary and “punditry” often make it sound like one. Yates made clear in his RTÉ interview that his media coaching business took priority over his public-facing role as a presenter, describing Newstalk’s pay as “derisory”.
The public deserves better. And so do the many good journalists who serve that public.
Dr Eileen Culloty is an associate professor of communications at Dublin City University, co-ordinator of an EU-funded project on disinformation and co-chair of Media Literacy Ireland
