Journalists Matter, Council of Europe Campaign for the Safety of Journalists
The Council of Europe encourages member states to transpose the Campaign to the national context. Without each member’s committed and effective effort at national level, through the development of the so-called ‘national chapter’, the Campaign cannot reach its goals.
In this section, we will present developments in Ireland:
National Focal Point
Ms Leah KIERAN, Media Policy, Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media
National Campaign Committee
In 2022, a Media Engagement Group (MEG) was established, with the aim of protecting media freedom by ensuring media personnel operating in the State are as safe as possible and feel safe in their employment. The MEG was established, and is chaired, by the an Garda Síochána (Ireland’s police force) and, in line with the European Commission’s Recommendation on the Safety of Journalists, provides an important forum for collaboration between media personnel, the an Garda Síochána, and Government Departments. The MEG provides media representatives with an opportunity to raise and discuss incidents involving media personnel and highlight any emerging issues or trends as they arise.
Meetings of the MEG are convened quarterly or extraordinary meetings of the group may be called if necessary and required, particularly if a matter requires urgent attention or escalation.
The formation of a new national chapter has not been considered necessary as it would potentially duplicate the existing work of the MEG, which has only recently been established and has been functioning well to date.
In response to concerns raised by media organisations, an Garda Síochána has established a dedicated incident report registration process for journalists and media personnel. Incidents, including online abuse, involving media workers are reported to a single point of contact (a dedicated Garda Media Engagement Officer) by gatekeepers within media companies.
The Garda Media Engagement Officer records the incident on a central database, to allow tracking of incidents involving media workers, and then ensures that the incident is investigated appropriately by the relevant local Garda personnel.
This mechanism has proved effective in ensuring that incidents are reported and satisfactorily followed up.
The MEG seeks to collaborate with online platforms, in an effort to tackle the wider issue of online abuse, and to develop a coordinated and standardised approach to incidents involving media personnel.
More broadly, the Online Safety and Media Regulation (OSMR) Act provides for a regulatory framework for online safety, which is applied and enforced by Coimisiún na Meán (Ireland’s media and online safety regulator).
As part of this, Coimisiún na Meán is currently developing its first online safety code, which will apply to video-sharing platform services established in Ireland and is expected to be adopted in the coming months. The broad aim of the online safety code is to provide for systemic obligations that protect online users, and children in particular, from some of the most serious forms of harmful online content and to ensure online services are operating suitable user reporting and redress mechanisms.
Ireland, National chapter
