Broadcasting in Ireland: Public Service Media Policy as Cultural Policy

Broadcasting plays an important social, cultural, and political role in the functioning of democratic societies. This chapter considers broadcasting in Ireland, and places a particular focus on Public Service Media as a form of cultural policy. Ireland’s broadcasting policies are analysed to ascertain how Public Service Media contributes towards delivering an overall cultural policy for Ireland – with the argument made that it is a central yet under-resourced part of national cultural policy. The main Public Service Media organisation in Ireland is RTÉ, which is discussed in relation to the financial and governance problems at the broadcaster in order to address the sustainability of the current Public Service Media framework. The chapter concludes by arguing that better integration into Ireland’s overall cultural policy planning and design would be mutually beneficial to both the Public Service Media organisations and for wider cultural policy, and that governance at RTÉ must operate at the highest standards of propriety. The chapter also shows that funding reform at RTÉ is a long-overdue conundrum, that this or future Governments of Ireland must solve.