The rise and fall of the public sphere? Public Service Broadcasting in Ireland, a wasted opportunity?

Abstract

The following thesis has set itself the task of answering the following questions. Does RTEs news and current affairs constitute a public sphere? Does it provide the viewer or listener with a detailed, substantive analysis of the issues it covers, providing the viewer with an arsenal of political facts in the process? Do we emerge at the end of any given broadcast a better-informed electorate? Or is the station guilty of the charge levelled against it by many of its critics, namely, that in the search for ratings, it has jettisoned its public service remit to deal with the issues it covers in a detailed way, and instead embarked on a “dumbing down” or tabloidisation of this aspect of its output