The threat to the independence of editors is greater today than at any other time in the history of newspapers and broadcasting, Geraldine Kennedy, a former editor of The Irish Times has warned.
Speaking at her inaugural lecture as adjunct Professor in Journalism at the University of Limerick, Ms Kennedy last night said commercial interests to grow readers, coupled with the “stealing” of stories from newsrooms and making them available to recipients for nothing pose a serious challenge to the guardians of editorial interests.
In her lecture entitled “Challenges to Journalism” Ms Kennedy warned the media was under a greater threat of regulation than ever due to a range of factors such as monopoly ownership and the new charter for journalists “overriding the authority of editors” at Independent News and Media.
The charter requires journalists to get permission from the managing editor before writing any series of stories critical of public figures.
“Spewing out content”
She said there is less time for the editor to be an editor, rather they are seen more as the head of the production floor “spewing out content on whatever platforms are the vogue of the moment”.
“The threat to the independence of editors is greater today than at any other time in the history of newspapers and broadcasting. There is regulation of a legal and other nature; there are the competing commercial interests to grow readers/audiences to survive; there are the advertising auctions between media outlets; and there are the multiplicity of internet and other platforms ‘stealing’ stories from expensive conventional newsrooms which have big editorial budgets and making them available to recipients for nothing,” she said.
According to Ms Kennedy a new definition of news is emerging, as it did after the advent of television in the 1960s.
“But this time it is designed to suit its producers for cost reasons rather than its recipients . . . There is no doubt that there has been a dramatic change in the principles, practice and delivery of journalism. . . There has also been a decline in standards . . . But, in this most challenging environment, I would not be as pessimistic about the lifespan of newspapers as many of my peers,” she continued.
The former chairman of the Press Freedom Committee of the National Newspapers of Ireland accepted it is difficult to attract younger audiences to pay for a newspaper but she still believes there is a section of society that is interested in buying newspapers.