Yesterday was an important day for journalism in Ireland. Plans to establish an independent office of Press Ombudsman and an independent Press Council of Ireland were announced to coincide with publication of the Government's Defamation Bill.
These are the first legislative changes in the libel laws for 45 years, and come 21 years after the then editor of this newspaper first proposed that the print media should set up a joint committee on the subject to pursue change. These welcome initiatives strike a good balance between the press's vital role to keep the public well-informed and governments and public bodies under proper scrutiny, on one hand, and protecting individuals' rights to their good name and privacy, on the other.
The press industry in Ireland is fully represented in this endeavour. National and regional newspapers and the Irish editions of UK newspaper titles have come together with magazine publishers and proprietors, editors and journalists to develop a flexible model for professional and ethical regulation. It could last for another generation if it is given a fair opportunity to bear fruit.
The industry's initial fear was that regulation would be imposed by the State in return for relaxing the highly restrictive libel laws. It would have been an unacceptable price to pay. Instead a different template has been created. It guarantees the independence necessary for effective media coverage of public affairs and citizen protection through a legal recognition of the new regulatory institutions which will be linked to the court system if required.
A subsequent fear has been that defamation reform would be linked to highly restrictive privacy legislation which would undermine good investigative journalism. That too would be unacceptable. It now appears as if the Government is willing to proceed without such a linkage. This would allow the ground rules for protecting privacy to develop on a case law basis through the operation of the Press Ombudsman and the Press Council, where the courts will take due account of whether print media have co-operated with these new processes.
It is much the better way to proceed. The new defamation legislation recognises a right of reasonable publication allowing that mistakes can be made and admitted even in a thorough investigation conducted in good faith. It is essential to protect this core function of journalism when public and private power is inclined to use the law against it. But most complaints to and about media are not so serious. They have more to do with correcting inaccuracies, prompt attention to complaints and speedy putting of the record right. This should be done credibly and without cost to the individual. The new system commits the press industry in Ireland to such procedures with undertakings to publish the outcomes. It begins with individual publications, then moves through the new Press Ombudsman and council and only then to the courts. These reforms are welcome and necessary.