Digital transformation and the challenge for Ireland’s public service media

Authors

  • Gillian Doyle University of Glasgow

Keywords:

public service media, PSB funding, digital disruption, media policy, Future of Media Commission

Abstract

Irish story-telling and audiovisual content are successful and popular both at home and internationally and, at the same time, appetites for news content amongst Irish audiences are exceptionally high. However, in striving to provide audience access to impartial news and distinctive high quality content, public service media (PSM) in Ireland have been hampered, in recent years, by an ongoing crisis in funding. Financial pressures at RTÉ, in part at least, reflect a crisis of its own making triggered by disclosures in June 2023 of poor practices on reporting of payments to star talent. But, more fundamentally, the funding predicament reflects forces that have disrupted the economics of television worldwide over recent years. This article analyses the challenges faced by PSM in the digital era and how these are being addressed by policy-makers in Ireland. Drawing on the author’s experience as member of the Future of Media Commission (FOMC)—a body set up by the Government in 2020 to consider and make recommendations on the future funding and sustainability of PSM and media more widely—this article considers how digital transformation is affecting PSM in Ireland and it asks to what extent PSM still delivers benefits that are valued by society. The main options for PSM funding are considered and, in the wake of publication of the FOMC Report, reflections are offered on the process of media and cultural policy-making in Ireland.

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Published

2024-07-30

How to Cite

Doyle, G. (2024). Digital transformation and the challenge for Ireland’s public service media. Irish Journal of Arts Management and Cultural Policy, 10(2), 8–21. Retrieved from https://ojs.tchpc.tcd.ie/index.php/ijamcp/article/view/2758