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THE MEDIA is the imperfect lens through which we perceive the world. Witnessing the lengths to which dictators and assorted thugs will go to throttle the free press is a reminder that a society without a vigilant, questioning media is a society without eyes and without ears, writes JOHN GIBBONS

Of course, the media also serves other, less lofty agendas. “The public have an insatiable curiosity to know everything, except what is worth knowing,” quipped Oscar Wilde. “Journalism . . . having tradesman-like habits, supplies their demands.” The acres of space recently devoted to one domestic tragedy on the Hill of Howth bears out Wilde’s observation.