Congratulations are in order to Ciara Phelan, from next week assistant press secretary to the Government, and one of the chief advisors to the new Taoiseach, Simon Harris. Until two days ago, Ms. Phelan was the special correspondent for the Irish Examiner. She is the latest person to entrench the relatively new tradition of Irish journalists spending time writing about politicians before accepting objectively well-paid jobs serving those very same politicians. She will be working in her new job for the Government Press Secretary himself, who is to be one Chris Donoghue. Irish radio listeners might remember Chris as Ivan Yates’ co-host on Newstalk Breakfast some years ago – and another to have made the journey from interrogating our political leaders to helping them survive interrogation.
When these two former journalists take up office in Government buildings next week, answering to the Fine Gael Taoiseach, they will join others late of their trade who are in the service of Fianna Fáil and the Green Party. The Greens are ably assisted by one Aiden Corkery, formerly a reporter with the Sunday Business Post, while Fianna Fáil calls on the service of Paul Clarkson, the one-time editor of The Irish Sun.
Government departments, too, are littered with one time hunting dogs turned guard-dogs: The Minister for Health is served by two ex-senior journalists, Paraic Gallagher, the former Newstalk political editor, and Susan Mitchell, once a renowned health reporter for the Sunday Business Post. The Business Post is also represented in the Department of Education by its former political editor, Michael Brennan. Meanwhile, another former Irish Independent reporter Niall O’Connor – author of a glowing biography of Leo Varadkar during his time in the media – is now a senior advisor to Fine Gael Minister Heather Humphreys. Juno McEnroe, once the well-known roving political correspondent for the Irish Examiner, now works for Minister Catherine Martin.
The Chief Whip, Hildegard Naughten, is advised by Paul Melia, a former senior reporter and environment editor with the Independent. The Irish Times, meanwhile, lost some of its old clout in Government at the start of this year when its former political correspondent, Fiach Kelly, ended his service with the Minister for Justice. Nevertheless, the old lady of Tara Street can be satisfied that another of its alumni, Sarah Bardon, will accompany Simon Harris from his current position into the Taoiseach’s office.
On a purely financial and career level, none of these people have done anything irrational: Government advisor jobs pay substantially more money than journalism does, and even leaving those considerations aside, there is likely an excitement to getting to steer affairs from inside the tent rather than reporting on the outside on the rustling noises within the tent.
It does raise questions, though, I think, about the independence of the media.
Ministerial advisor jobs are rarely advertised. They are, almost always, in the gift of the politician who appoints people to advise them. Politicians, generally, will appoint people with whom they have good relationships and, perhaps more crucially, who they believe can improve their standing with the media. What are these journalists offering politicians, that makes them so attractive as potential hires?
One obvious thing, I would think, is relationships with their former colleagues who are still journalists. Having worked for several years now with my colleague Ben Scallan, for example, it is highly unlikely that a day will come where I would ever refuse to take his call. We are friends, as well as colleagues. Thus, were he to switch job and become an advisor to a Minister, he would be better placed to persuade me of the newsworthiness of something the Minister was doing than almost anyone else that Minister could hire. Indeed, imagine the roles were reversed: that it was I who ascended an advisory throne, while he took my place in this job – would Ben really turn down a favour requested by his old boss? Note how many of the journalists hired as advisors, as an aside, are former editors. Quite a few.
The other issue here is the good relationships that are helpful in securing these jobs in the first place: Human nature being what it is, people are less likely to hire those who have been harshly critical of them in the past. Human nature being what it is, people prefer well-paid jobs with good pensions to poorly-paid jobs with, often, no pensions. How many current journalists aspire to jobs as advisors? How does that impact the force of the punches they throw at politicians?
Finally, there’s another question: How well is this working out for our politicians, exactly?
This Government is served by more ex-journalists than, I believe, any in Irish history. Yet, for all the supposed communications expertise this brings, this Government is one of the least-loved of recent times. If the politicians are benefitting, then it is not via that traditional political measure of success – public acclaim.
Indeed it may well be doing them harm: At least one senior TD, who I spoke with at length this week, points out that many of these journalists do not know the Fine Gael organisation, or indeed the Fianna Fáil organisation. He points out that the most reliable political feedback often comes from the grassroots activist with his ear to the ground, rather than the journalist who lives in a world of spin and briefings. The net effect of all the advisors, this fellow claims quite convincingly, is to cut politicians off from people who actually talk to voters on a daily basis.
As for the media, well. Once the public begin to suspect that you’re no longer telling them what you think, and you’re instead writing things that some politicians might wish to read, your relationship with the public will suffer. On a side note, almost every measure of public trust in the media has been pointing downwards for more than half a decade now.
When politics and journalism becomes a self-reinforcing echo chamber, with each side adopting the attitudes and opinions of the other, that’s good for neither. Simon Harris had an opportunity for a fresh start. He has provided a fresh start, certainly, to Ciara Phelan – and good luck to her – but he has not, I’m afraid, provided with this appointment much of one for the country.