NewsBrands Ireland Calls for Stronger Safeguards and Supports for News Publishing Sector in Revised Broadcasting Bill

On Tuesday, 17 June 2025, NewsBrands Ireland addressed the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Arts, Media, Communications, Culture and Sport to share its position on the Revised General Scheme of the Broadcasting (Amendment) Bill.

Representing Ireland’s national news publishers, Sammi Bourke, Chair of NewsBrands Ireland, and Deirdre Veldon, Vice-Chair, reaffirmed our commitment to a free, independent press, public service journalism, and a competitive media landscape. Our members invest heavily in quality, fact-checked journalism that serves the public interest and strengthens the wider media ecosystem.

We welcomed the expansion of the definition of public service content providers and the move to a platform-neutral Media Fund. However, we remain deeply concerned by several key issues that have not been resolved since our original submission in November 2024:

Underfunded Media Fund: Allocating just 7% of net licence fee receipts is inadequate, given the broader range of eligible recipients and the absence of Exchequer support.

Design of the funding schemes: We support the Revised Scheme’s commitment to transparency and accountability in the administration of the Media Fund, including regular reporting and independent audit but further clarity is needed on eligibility, conditionality, application criteria, and assessment procedures. These should reflect the essential role of independent news publishers, without creating unnecessary regulatory or administrative burdens.

Key questions remain about the structure and KPIs of the schemes and whether they truly support the sustainability and growth of independent news publishers. For instance, the condition under the existing schemes that stories or content generated may feature in the paid-for print edition but may not be included as part of a digital subscription model is problematic in the context of publishers needing to generate revenue from their digital offerings. 

The allocation of €4m for digital transformation and news reporting is inadequate in light of the impact of Big Tech and the pressing existential threat posed by AI. Our members would welcome funding which enables them to accelerate the process of adopting AI tools to help them in improving their efficiency and reach in the processing, production and distribution of content, enabling better product, sales and customer service experiences, and in building direct relationships with their audiences in the context of the virtual disappearance of search as a mechanism to reach publisher content.  

Regulatory Overreach: Urgent clarification is required regarding the threat of statutory regulation of video content on news publishers’ websites. News publishers are already regulated under the Press Council’s Code of Practice – which includes video content. Extending statutory regulation to this content would create a dual regulatory regime and undermine editorial independence.

RTÉ funding: RTÉ’s funding model means it creates an imbalance in the Irish media market with a website that is free to view. Publishers have no alternative means of financing the creation and production of their journalism, other than to adopt business models that are dependent on strong traffic to their websites for advertising revenue and/or digital subscriptions. This traffic is being eroded by RTÉ’s dominant position. In addition, RTÉ is competing with independent publishers and broadcasters for the advertising revenue that has not been absorbed by Big Tech.

We urge the Committee to address these concerns in the final version of the Bill. Legislative clarity and fair financial support are essential to ensure that independent journalism – a cornerstone of Irish democracy – can survive and thrive in today’s challenging digital environment.