A MINISTER of State has called for the creation of a "media council" to promote "best practice guidelines" in Irish journalism.
Mr Gay Mitchell, Minister of State at the Departments of the Taoiseach and Foreign Affairs said yesterday the Irish media had become an " unelected and powerful institution" which was typically liberal on social issues and conservative on economic issues.
He proposed the creation of a non statutory media council "representative of society as a whole" which, he said, "should not seek to shackle the media but should seek to unshackle it by promoting standards which would enhance real freedom and Justice".
Mr Mitchell said "bank balance journalism" had become the order of the day in the Irish media. "What the marketing manager wants is more likely to determine the contents of a piece of journalism that the search for truth in the news."
He said most media sources were indifferent to the need for social justice. "The symptoms of injustice, like crime and drugs, are regular news stories, but there is little editorial thought given to the causes."
His proposed council would "lay down standards", issuing publications on the role, purpose and state of the media.