Micheál Martin: Legislation being developed to support 'independent, mainstream, factual, objective-based media'

The newspaper industry should be supported with taxpayers’ money to challenge fake news, Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin has said.

Mr Martin has said his party is developing legislation to provide State funding to newspapers. It could be allocated by a merit-based system, by way of standard, base-line funding, or a mixture of both.

Currently, RTÉ is the only taxpayer-funded media outlet (through the TV licence fee), but it also relies on advertising revenue.

Arguing that State support should be widened to include newspapers, Mr Martin said: “In a world where democracy is under threat from fake news, exploitation of online media platforms by all sorts of forces and states, there is a need to keep an independent, mainstream, factual, objective-based media.

“We are coming up with legislation to create a system whereby the newsprint industry would be supported by taxpayers’ money, by the Government, because of the difficulties newsprint industry is facing.”

However, the Cork South Central TD stressed the importance of the Government remaining at “arm’s length” from newspapers and other media.

“I believe it needs to be like the French, and others who actually have a system that is at arm’s length from government, where there is no attempt to influence the editorial content or direction of media,” he said.

While Mr Martin said the details of the State funding would have to be finalised, investigative journalism should be especially supported.

“It could be to support good journalism and investigative journalism, the media could bid for funding or would get some base-line funding,” he said.

“It’s hard to retain quality journalists on reasonably good salaries that make it worth their while.

“The media world is under huge threat and we do need an independent media landscape, we do need good journalists, we need investigative journalists who speak truth to power, and I think that is coming under threat, with the change in the media landscape — it’s consolidating. The online issue is huge.”

Communications Minister Denis Naughten has previously raised the prospect of supporting newspapers.

“I think this is something that needs to be debated,” he told an Association of European Journalists conference in Dublin in October 2016. “I think we need to look at a broad debate in relation to journalism and content, because I think it is important that we have content that you can stand over. How that is transmitted is irrelevant.

“The public have respected institutions, like our national newspapers, like our national broadcasters. I think it is important that trust remains there, and I think it does need to be supported and that broader debate now needs to take place.”