ANALYSIS:New legislation creates a single broadcasting authority and speedy redress by right to reply, writes Harry McGee.
IT SEEMS astonishing that 28 years separated the first and second major pieces of broadcasting legislation in Ireland in 1960 and 1988 (the first establishing RTÉ television, the second paving the way for the independent radio stations). Since then, the intervals have reduced to 13 years and seven years - as legislators have scrambled to keep pace with an industry that increasingly displays the characteristics of a runaway train.
The Broadcasting Bill 2008, published yesterday by Minister for Communications Eamon Ryan is a comprehensive and thoroughly up-to-date piece of legislation that displays flexibility and innovation in regulating a sector that is evolving and changing at a rapid pace.
However, officials yesterday accepted that the interval between this and the next Bill will be smaller. Before he outlined the provisions of the legislation yesterday, Ryan brought us back to that first piece of broadcasting legislation and to Éamon de Valera's address from the opening night of RTÉ television on New Year's Eve in 1961: "Never before was there in the hands of men an instrument so powerful to influence the thoughts and actions of the multitude."
There are new "quick fix" mechanisms for redressing wrongs, the introduction of a "right of reply" process which must be broadcast by the offending station, and very stiff fines of up to €250,000 for breaches of codes.
While there are many eye-catching initiatives in the Broadcasting Bill, its major provision is the creation of a single overarching authority - the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI). This will replace the RTÉ Authority and that of TG4, as well as the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI) and the Broadcasting Complaints Commission (BCC). RTÉ and TG4 will have boards but they will be more like the commercially driven boards of semi-State companies. All regulatory and complaints functions have been transferred to the BAI.
With it come enforcement powers with real teeth. Under the old system, when a broadcaster frequently infringed licence or code requirements, the only remedy the BCI had was the Armageddon option of revoking the licence. The new Bill provides for a more graduated set of censures.
And in an almost direct mirroring of the new Press Council, the legislation introduces a "right of reply" process that affords a speedy mechanism of redress. When a person complains their reputation has been damaged by an incorrect assertion, they can contact the broadcaster which must make a decision on a "right of reply" within 15 days. The principal difference is that there is no ombudsman and the complaint is dealt with by the Compliance Committee of the BAI.
As one senior independent sector executive said yesterday, the provisions for the appointments to the boards of the BAI, RTÉ and TG4 were "very Eamon Ryan". Each of the three boards will have four members nominated on the advice of the Oireachtas Committee on Communications, a radical departure from the traditional selection process which vested the power exclusively in the Minister or in the Cabinet.
That opens the possibility that at least one member, and more likely two, of each board will be chosen by the Opposition.
The Bill gives a firm date - September 2012 - for the switch-off of analogue transmission and the nationwide rollout of digital platform DTT. This will open up the way for the emergence of two important new public service broadcasters.
While the prospect of Oireachtas TV hardly sets the heart pounding, it is an important addition in opening up the democratic system to the public.
The announcement of the Irish Film Channel was widely welcomed yesterday as a means of showcasing Irish work.
Ryan has also targeted advertising directed at children. He effectively confirmed the Bill's advertising code for children will ban junk food adverts for children, a worthy addition that will have commercial implications for broadcasters.
RTÉ fought tooth and nail against the abolition of its authority but will take solace from key provisions that widen its remit. For the first time, it will be able to fund its internet development from the licence fee, and its independent production unit has had its budget increased to €40 million per annum.
But there are tougher new provisions to deal with a recurrent complaint by TV3 - to ensure RTÉ's activities as a commercial broadcaster and as a public service broadcaster are as mutually exclusive as possible.
And as for the licence fee? "It is not envisaged that devices other than a television will require a licence at this stage," said Ryan.
However, with internet radios already available in the shops and with the phenomenal take-up of the BBC's internet television service "iplayer", it is clear the platforms and formats are rapidly converging. If there is a significant transfer to the internet, it is going to be almost impossible for the State to regulate standards, and perhaps even to collect licence fees. This Bill will be enacted later this year.
But it is possible that a new Broadcasting Bill may be required by the time the Government's terms of office ends in 2012.
Harry McGee is on the Political Staff of The Irish Times