Voices in the crisis: The role of media elites in interpreting Ireland’s banking collapse

Abstract

This article focuses on the experts chosen as sources in radio news coverage at the start of Ireland’s financial crisis in 2008. The study examines which source categories were afforded opportunities to discuss this major international news story at the start of the European financial crisis. Access to these news programmes allows guests to shape public discourse, while the range of voices influences the character of wider policy debate. We find an elite-orientated coverage with official sources having strongest access in the 3-month period after the announcement of the controversial bank guarantee. While there was a marked business elite focus in sources selected, we also find strong evidence of ‘interpretative journalism’ in the presence of reporters as programme guests. There was a very clear gender bias. The results raise important issues about the nature of democratic debate in a mediated political environment as the selection of a narrow range of voices limits alternative perspectives in public debate.