Search for the word “media” in election manifestos and the first thing that becomes clear is how fond all political parties are of claiming they will do stuff “immediately”, right as soon as their canvassed-out feet have hit the ground.
The words “immediate” and “immediately” pop up so often, that a naive person might think Christmas, St Patrick’s Day and Easter have all been cancelled.
Sinn Féin’s desire to commission “an independent human rights and journalistic expert review into the objectivity of coverage by RTÉ of the Israeli genocide in Gaza and other international conflicts” is not one of the things it says it will do immediately, opening up the possibility that the “other international conflicts” on which it will be commissioning reviews haven’t yet erupted.
It’s just a little light peer review, “a trust and confidence building matter”, suggests Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald, though it comes across as the opposite.
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It comes across as a warning shot — not to the world’s war criminals and most brutal authoritarians, but to RTÉ and by extension all Irish media. European Media Freedom Act? What European Media Freedom Act?
Perhaps the party has just forgotten about the existence of the media regulator? It’s easily done. But, no, it also commits to ensuring Coimisiún na Meán is “equipped to fulfil its regulatory and media development roles”.
Pledging to equip Coimisiún na Meán is neither a headline-grabber nor a vote-winner, of course. Indeed, the setting of dangerous precedents aside, the parties’ preferred media policies seem unlikely to register much with voters.
And yet, in the spirit of political plurality, their manifestos display fundamental differences, as well as what can only be described as deepening polarisation about whether to spell the noun “licence” or go with the American variant “license”.
On the subject of how RTÉ should be funded, both Sinn Féin and People Before Profit (PBP) say the licence fee is a regressive tax that should be abolished.
Sinn Féin says it will invest “an additional €154 million of public funding” in public service media, presumably to make up the difference, while it, PBP and Labour say TG4′s funding should be increased to bring it in line with that of Wales’s S4C, as TG4 itself has urged.
PBP doesn’t just want to eliminate the licence fee. It also proposes that “all advertising and sponsorships should cease to restore and safeguard the integrity of public service media”. Yes, even those Millionaire Raffle ads would have to go.
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Under its vision, new corporate tax levies on the information and communication (ICT) sector and a Big Tech Tax on the profits of the largest ICT companies would raise at least €1 billion a year. RTÉ would get €500 million of this, while the other €500 million would be divvied up among the rest of the media.
Given that RTÉ's total revenue in 2023 from public and commercial sources was €344 million and this figure peaked in 2007 at €441.5 million, the PBP formula would comfortably deliver more money to Montrose than it has ever had. Still, best to cancel the champagne: executive salaries would be capped.
The Social Democrats plump for a three-stranded media funding model: exchequer funding, a public service journalism charge and a levy on social media companies.
As for what will definitely happen, the only thing we can know for sure is that the Defamation Bill won’t pass itself
Wisely, other than to say the journalism charge would be lower than the existing €160 licence fee, it has put no figures on this, simply expressing belief in a “polluter pays”-type principle. Much of public service journalism now involves “attempting to undo the damage” of social media misinformation and disinformation, it says, so it’s time for social media companies to pay up.
Fine Gael throws no curveballs. The vagueness of its “secure funding for public service broadcasting” manifesto line indicates it will continue with its recently announced arrangement to top up what’s left of licence fee receipts with guaranteed exchequer money so that RTÉ's total public funding arrives at €225 million next year, rising to €240 million and €260 million in the two subsequent years.
The rest is hazy. Fianna Fáil, for its part, says there will be “a mid-Government review” of the RTÉ funding model, though given the deal agreed was only for three years anyway, that’s more or less baked in.
Elsewhere, it promises to expand Sound and Vision, increase funding for local radio and newspapers, enhance support for Irish language content, grow the Global Ireland Media Challenge Fund for overseas reporting and set up a new scheme to encourage cross-Border journalism.
The Green Party — which wants “a large scale multiannual media fund” for the entire sector from 2028 onwards — and Labour are the two main parties that specifically state they will introduce a content levy on streaming services and broadcasters operating in the Irish market. Sinn Féin also alludes to one by referring to “much-needed investment” using the powers afforded by the EU’s Audiovisual Media Services Directive.
The Online Safety and Media Regulation Act 2022, which transposes the EU directive, already allows the State to follow the example of several European counterparts and introduce such a “Netflix levy” if it fancies it.
The upshot would be the creation of an Irish screen industry fund, managed by Screen Ireland, that at a rate of 3 per cent would deliver an estimated €25 million annually for the sector. The good news is that Labour wants a levy of 5 per cent or more.
As for what will definitely happen, the only thing we can know for sure is that the Defamation Bill won’t pass itself.
There’s no mention of this vital legislative reform — needed to protect publishers from attacks on media freedom — in the manifestos published by the Social Democrats, PBP or Sinn Féin. The others do reference it, with Fine Gael saying it will enact it “within 100 days”.
A new energy? Well, a new deadline, at least.
Promises, promises - compare the manifestos
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