Media regulator, Coimisiún na Meán, is set to be given the power to select Audience Councils for both RTÉ and TG4 – a move described as part of the “continuing suffocation” of the concept of a free press by one TD.
The Audience Council is a requirement of the 2009 Broadcasting Act for both of the taxpayer-funded stations – and advises the Boards of RTÉ and TG4 on “specific issues relating to the stations’ “public service remit and audience needs”.