Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 11 November 2021
135. Deputy Imelda Munster asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media her views on the Future of Media Commission’s report; the timeline for the publication of the report; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [54845/21]
View answerA strong and independent media sector is central to our parliamentary democracy, freedom of speech and to the provision of quality and impartial information. It is for this reason that the Programme for Government expanded the remit of the Public Service Broadcasting Commission to become the Future of Media Commission. The Commission was tasked with considering the future of print, broadcast, and online media in a platform agnostic fashion and with recommendations to put media on a sustainable footing over the next decade.
The Commission was chaired by Professor Brian MacCraith, and it included experts in public service media, independent journalism, social media, new technology platforms, media economics, culture, language, creative content, governance and international best practice.
The Commission engaged comprehensively with stakeholders, including broadcasters, journalists, publishers, regional media and the wider public. The first phase of the Future of Media Commission public consultation, which ran from December 12th 2020 to January 8th 2021, resulted in over 800 written submissions from stakeholder groups and the general public on a wide range of themes.
At the end of January 2021, the Commission began a series of thematic dialogues. In these online webinars, panels of experts explored key themes in more depth and answered follow-up questions from the virtual audience and the Commission members. The webinars and the public consultations are all available on the Future of Media Commission’s website.
The work of the Future of Media Commission has now been completed. The report of the Commission has been submitted to An Taoiseach and myself and we are currently considering its contents in advance of bringing the matter to Government, after which the report will be published.
