Privacy and Press Freedom of Ireland

Seminar paper from the year 2012 in the subject Law - Media, Multimedia Law, Copyright, grade: 1,0, Dublin Institute of Technology (Journalism), course: Media law, language: English, abstract: For Irland’s history of newspapers and magazines the year 2008 will always remain a milestone. On January 1st the so-called Press Council and Press Ombudsman was inserted. This establishment stands for a very important development for the press industry. Acting Press Ombudsman is Professor John Horgan, who was elected on 14 August 2007 by the Press Council. Having a background in Journalism and Politics as Professor of Journalism at Dublin City University and being a member of the Irish Parliament he is now operating with the responsibility in the first press appeal mechanism that is free from the outside in the history if Ireland. (Press Council of Ireland, 17.11.2011, paragraph 3)Whether this establishment brings advantages or disadvantages for both the people and the media is a quite interesting question. In the following I will mostly elucidate the Press Council in relation to privacy. For this purpose I am going to discuss the possible strengths or weaknesses of this new appendage.