Norris criticises media standards

Senator and failed presidential candidate David Norris has claimed there is not a newspaper, radio station or television station which has not vilified, “blackguarded”, or defamed him.

Mr Norris made the claim in a speech fiercely critical of media standards during a Seanad debate on the same issue yesterday.

The senator was responding to Communications Minister Pat Rabbitte, who said that while the Irish media had been guilty of some oversights, it had in general done “a good job”.

Mr Rabbitte told senators that any modern democratic society needed an active, diverse and robust media sector: “It is a fundamental component of civil society”. The media fulfilled a critical role in holding those in authority to account, questioning the established order of things, and ensuring all in society could expect to have their situation reported, regardless of their position.

He acknowledged that history was “littered” with examples of media owners who had used their companies for commercial, personal or political gain.

He expressed concern, too, about the promotion in sections of the Irish media of what he termed “a politics of anti-politics”.

“By this I mean a contemptuous denigration and rejection of all politics.”

Mr Norris expressed disappointment with the minister’s speech, describing it as limp and saying it had failed to address the “serious problem of standards and ethics in journalism”.

Mr Norris, who was the subject of intense media scrutiny during his presidential campaign, said he had been warning in the Seanad since 1982 of the “malign influence” exerted by people like media proprietor Rupert Murdoch.

He asked Mr Rabbitte to address “not only the bullying of public figures and private individuals” by the media but the “bullying that takes place in every newspaper office”.