A lot of money is invested by newspaper owners on the assumption that newspapers influence the opinions of their readers.
In the early 1970’s every British national newspaper bar one came out in support of European integration, against a background of public hostility. 62 percent of the public were against entry to the European Economic Community according to a 1971 Harris opinion poll, but four years later 67 percent of Britons fell in line with the press and voted in favour of continued membership.
More recently a European Commission report cited the growth of British newspapers in Ireland as instrumental in shifting public opinion towards rejecting the Lisbon Treaty. UK titles accounted for 41 percent of newspaper sales in Ireland by 2007, with papers like the Irish Sun and the Irish Daily Mail taking a “campaigning Europhobic stance”.
Irish titles have becoming increasingly dependent on UK papers for their European news. The Irish Independent no longer has its own Brussels correspondent and gets its European political news from the Eurosceptic Daily Telegraph whilst the Times was rumoured to be refusing pro-European stories from staff
As Ireland’s press moved from being broadly pro-European to being more Eurosceptic so did the Irish. A connection can’t be proven because newspapers both form and reflect public opinion, but there can be little doubt that Irish Euroscepticism owes a debt to the British press.
(11 votes, average: 3.09 out of 5)
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How much do you think tabloids and other papers actually form opinion, and how much do they just supply the public with what they want to hear?
If there was a market in the UK for pro-EU newspapers, do you think that the media would exploit it?
I wonder if it is easier to get your point across in an article attacking the EU than it is in one supporting it. There is something about the anti-EU message that connects with people in the UK (although perhaps not so much in Ireland).
The introduction of the british owned press has given oxygen to irish euroscepticism. But the real spark was the lies of the yes campaign at the nice treaty. The so called irish owned papers take a firm pro-establishment line, the so called british owned papers (who have an independent editorial line by the way) are not pro-establishment. Before the arrival of the mail and the sunday times criticism of the government and cosy backroom dealing was non existant. The main political parties cannot control the mail and the sunday times in the way they can control rte and the ‘irish papers’. Thus irish euroscepticism cannot be kept under wraps anymore.
Hi, Irisheurosceptic!
I’m very interested: what IS the Irish eurosceptic position?
Does it want to give up the euro? Pull out of the EU completely? Or is it just against Lisbon and further European integration?
I was under the impression that the EU was broadly supported by the vast majority of the Irish public (the economic miracle of the “celtic tiger” and all that), but that there was a lot of scepticism about Lisbon.
Is this wrong?
Well, my understanding of the situation is that the Lisbon Treaty galvanised the Eurosceptics and a broad, temporary coalition was formed under the banner of opposition to it. This gained considerable support, partly because of press support and because the inadequacy of the Yes campaign to articulate its argument.
Other than that I suppose there are all sorts of Eurosceptics, all extremes… Would be interested to hear what the situation is post Lisbon treaty referendum from an Irish person…
Hi Irisheurosceptic,
Very interesting that you equate the euroscepticism of the Mail etc with good journalism. In the UK all too often it seems to be the case that it’s lazy journalism (e.g. lack of Brussels correspondent) and obviously slanted to the owners agenda.
As for whether the press feeds public opinion or the other way around, I would say its a feedback loop. A paper can’t sell copies saying something its readers don’t want to hear - e.g Liverpool’s long running boycot of the Sun over reporting of the Hillsborough disaster. - but over time newspapers change opinions as water overcomes rock. This pushes the paper to take an even stronger line, and so euroscepticism can become xenophobia.
Personally, I tend to read the Irish newspapers because, well, they tend to have more news content in them than British papers (especially international news). Compared to the British newspaper media in general (not just the tabloids), I think that Irish newspapers have more content on politics, etc. So I prefer them, and think that they are generally better on the “public interest” scale. But then I tend not to count the sex lives of celebraties as being public interest material, so I’m probably out of touch with the public.
@ Josef
I don’t think that there’s a single/unified eurosceptic position in any member state, including Ireland. (Can we say that there’s a single pro-European viewpoint?).
@ David
What do you mean by post-Lisbon referendum situation? If you mean support for the Treaty, then recent polls have shown that the public are more supportive of the Treaty now - but polls are polls, and I doubt they mean much. I don’t expect the Yes side to campaign much better than before… There is a new group called Generation Yes, though (generationyes.ie), just launched yesterday, who set themselves up because they were frustrated that the Pro-Lisbon case was being put so poorly. So pro-Lisbon campaigning may be a bit more diverse and effective next time.
@Eurocentric
Good point. I suppose I’m really trying to get Irisheurosceptic to define his own criticism!
It seems to me that Ireland has gained a lot from EU membership, and has a lot to lose by leaving the EU. But am I being too simplistic? Perhaps there’s a more sophisticated reading of the situation, which would give a good reason for Ireland leaving the EU. I’d be interested in hearing it, even if only to (if possible) criticise it.
To bring my point (kind of) on-topic:
Is there an argument in the mainstream press in Ireland to leave the EU? Or is it just anti-Lisbon?
70% of Irish people actively support the EU - according to Eurobarometer polls - and there is no group that I am aware of which actively campaigns for withdrawal from the EU.
There are various nationalist, religious and socialist groups which want greater national control of affairs within the EU, or to change the EU itself to better reflect their views.
The anti-Lisbon vote was, in part, an attempt to embarrass the establishment pro-European parties, in part, a claim to be able to negotiate a “better deal for Ireland” within the EU than that reflected within the Lisbon Treaty, in part a cover for genuine opposition to the EU as an agent of globalisation etc., but in very large part a protest vote (or abstention) against a complacent yes campaign and the perceived arrogance of the elite in foisting a Treaty on us which had been deliberately written (in part) to be as obscurantist as possible.
Lisbon will be passed the next time around (in October) but not without a further manifestation of anger at the political elite which has so badly managed our economy. That anger is generally not directed at the EU per se.
Cheers, Frank - nice analysis.