Laoise de Brún has accused the Irish media of “manufacturing consent” on contested social issues, arguing that “they prepare the ground for Government policy by manufacturing consent and amplifying the official narrative around the issues of the day”.
Writing in this paper about her experience campaigning on gender policy, Ms de Brún says that after founding The Countess in 2020, Amnesty Ireland, Transgender Equality Network Ireland and the National Women’s Council co-authored a letter demanding her organisation be “denied media and political representation”. She writes that “for the most part, this order was followed by the national media”.
“The Irish media operates like a club and you are an insider or an outsider,” she writes, asking: “But what does that mean and who decides?”
Ms de Brún argues that journalists increasingly behave as “true believers”, writing that the media no longer acts as the Fourth Estate, but instead “does the exact opposite”.
