Liam Cahill memorial lecture ‘Public Interest Journalism: Bulwark of Democracy or a Lost Cause?’

We continue the series (begun last year by Fintan O’Toole) in honour of the distinguished Meath journalist Liam Cahill. Public interest journalism currently faces grave threats. Domestically, the ongoing turmoil in RTE and lack of debate on the future of public service broadcasting, deepening concerns over the ‘toxicity’ of public life due to online behaviours, the rise of xenophobia and repeated warnings over the impact of social media on youth wellbeing are to the forefront. Internationally, the US presidential election and the seemingly unstoppable advance of Trump and his ‘alternative facts’ coupled with the already pervasive disinformation campaigns in the run-up to the EU parliamentary elections are raising profound questions as to the very future of Western liberal democracies and the future of free speech. The speaker is Séamus Dooley, Irish Secretary of the National Union of Journalists.