Politics and cynicism - The worst response to failed system

An overdue discussion about politics, politicians and how they are depicted by the conventional media and ever-evolving social media has opened.

Minister for Communications Pat Rabbitte has been in the vanguard arguing that a lot of commentary is too cynical, too selective, too hateful, too personalised and far too subjective. Mr Rabbitte has argued, and not without some justification, that the line between objective and fair engagement and personalised vitriol has become too blurred and is far too quickly crossed.

This discussion runs parallel to the debate about how private individuals can be protected from the excesses of anonymous and poisonous individuals using social media to bully piteously and how national governments can oversee what is essentially a global business.