protecting the news

civil society and the media

This paper examines the relationship between media and civil society in the UK and Ireland in relation to news content and ownership. We suggest a number of ways in which civil society associations can play a role in ensuring a healthy diversity of viewpoints and arenas for dissent in the media. We propose a form of tax incentive in the case of local mergers, or joint operations, that increase relations with civil society in order to facilitate and maintain levels of news coverage in the public interest. Reliance solely on fully commercial enterprises for the delivery of news and current affairs journalism – that purports to be for the public good and in the public interest – has not proved satisfactory.