The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) has called for a joint campaign, with media owners, for reform of the laws of libel and for the creation of a press ombudsman reporting to an independent board as the best means of regulating the media.
At the union's Irish conference at the weekend the Irish organiser, Mr Seamus Dooley, said that the libel laws were in urgent need of reform. The laws operated as a form of self-censorship and as a disincentive to investigative journalism. Speaking of the reluctance of successive governments to reform the laws of libel, as has been recommended by the Law Reform Commission, Mr Dooley said: "In a year where investigative journalism has yielded a rich harvest, despite our libel laws, it is not difficult to see why those in positions of power and authority are slow to empower investigative journalists."
That the public did not identify libel reform as important was an indictment of the NUJ, he said. "We need to convince the public that a media, freed from the chains of repressive laws, is good for democracy. We ought not to seek reform as a favour to journalists but rather as a right so that democracy may be enhanced for the good of all citizens."
Mr Dooley also urged journalists to use the Freedom of Information Act as it was only then that shortcomings would be identified and highlighted.
There was no reason why the Garda Siochana or education committees were exempt from the Freedom of Information Act and the exclusion of the President was "another nonsense which ought to be rectified without delay", he said.
The theme of the NUJ's activities this year was "Access All Areas", which was a campaign highlighting the fundamental tenet that the administration of government, national and local, must be conducted in public and that the media, acting on behalf of the citizens of this State, must be granted access to the decision-making process at every level.
Mr Dooley denounced the practice of local authorities holding meetings "in committee" and thereby excluding the press. Kilkenny County Council actually held a briefing on Freedom of Information in private, he said.
The NUJ, he said, would be bringing proposals to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment and Local Government to eliminate such practices.
Mr Dooley proposed that a meeting be arranged for next year between the NUJ, RTE, local radio stations and newspaper proprietors to plan a campaign to reform the laws of libel.