Public service - A vital tool in protecting democracy

IN a world where information was never more readily available an effective, independent, reliable and properly funded public-interest broadcaster is a vital player in the public life needed to sustain a strong democracy.

Without this vital piece in the mosaic of challenge and accountability, robust debate and the provision of credible information, we would be far less able to play an informed part in an active democracy. The existence of a strong public-interest broadcaster is as good an indicator, as good a defining quality, of a democratic society as any. That is why it is so very important that RTÉ fulfils that primary role. Our national broadcaster is facing many challenges and has made some progress in confronting them.

Tuesday night’s speech in Dublin by RTÉ director general Noel Curran, in which he said the station may lose some of its most popular broadcasters because of a 30% pay cut, alluded to another small step in that difficult journey. He also acknowledged that, like the rest of us, RTÉ had made many mistakes, including paying their top presenters too much, being too conservative and lacking in transparency. RTÉ is not alone in this and those three issues more or less define everything that has gone wrong in this country.

Commendably, RTÉ has cut costs by 18% in two years, considerably more than the 4% cuts imposed by the BBC and Channel 4. Despite this, our national broadcaster will lose in the region of €17 million this year, but still hopes to break even within two years.

RTÉ has always enjoyed dual funding streams — advertising revenue and the mandatory licence fee. This unique position has provoked anger across the media and this situation is likely to become even more volatile as RTÉ uses material generated in a subsidised environment to great commercial advantage on its websites.

Though RTÉ defends this, saying the arrangement plays a vital part in Ireland maintaining its information independence, the process should be reviewed. Funding models from a time before the internet, no matter how comforting, have no relevance in today’s utterly changed information landscape.

This does not mean throwing RTÉ to the wolves but rather finding a way to secure the organisation’s public service remit without undermining other media outlets. That may involve a lot more than running the risk of a few of the brasher goldfish threatening to leave the Montrose goldfish bowl, but so be it.

Mr Curran’s commitment in six areas: investigative journalism; arts and culture; innovation including science and technology; children and young people; 24-hour news; and national events, including major sports events, augers well for the organisation and for its public service remit, and deserves to be supported. That support, however, may depend on the organisation more accurately reflecting the society that supports it and the pay scales normal in that society.

Pay is just one of the many pressing issues in the RTÉ conundrum but one thing is certain. Just as next week’s referendums are about accountability, just as the Freedom of Information Act is about accountability, so too is a vibrant public service broadcaster. There was never a time when it was easier to argue for one.