Irish Examiner view: Public service broadcasting must be protected

It is in everyone’s interests that RTÉ, in whatever guise, is strong enough to offer a credible warts-and-all view of society

A report to Government says short of increased borrowing or seeking permission to use the proceeds from the sale of land to cover current-account deficits... RTÉ will need to be rescued.

There are few enough foundation ideas as contested today as truth. Our capacity to accept objective facts or analysis is challenged every day. Doubt and disengagement are the consequences of myriad views fighting for acceptance. Trust in impartial agencies is deliberately undermined to make room for one tin-hat fantasy or another.

The anti-vaccination voices undermining efforts to quell the pandemic may be today’s loudest example of this chorus of corrosion. That Trump’s legacy and lies have achieved such a presence, such a lasting force in a society that should know better, is another disconcerting example. Greenwashing, as climate collapse accelerates, is another. This week’s publication of the Government’s Food Vision 2030, a plan that envisages food exports rising from €14bn today to €21bn by 2030, despite climate obligations, must be seen in that context.