Media is threatening the foundations of democracy

The power of the media in influencing our political attitudes will be measured by the survival or non-survival of the Taoiseach between now and the next general election.

Judging by its coverage the Irish media has as an objective to get rid of him from public life.

One sentence by a prominent commentator recently highlights that fact. That sentence says that if the Taoiseach “dared to subject himself to even a single one-on-one encounter any interviewer worth his or her salt would have destroyed him live on air”.

The implication of that sentence has a resonance which is much wider than our opinion of the present Taoiseach. Its implication is profound in terms of where power lies in a democracy.

The theory is that all citizens have an equal right to vote for people to represent them in government.

But according to media, if media themselves so decide, people who are elected can be destroyed live on air.

A. Leavy

Shielmartin Drive

Sutton

Dublin 13