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The initial clash between Pat Rabbitte and Richard Bruton took place against the backdrop of the battle in the boardroom of INM, which saw Denis OBrien triumph over the OReilly family. Photograph: Dara Mac Dnaill

While the new guidelines on media mergers do not mention any person or individual companies by name, the shadow of Denis OBrien looms large.

The new media merger legislation and accompanying guidelines have been a long time coming and follow a tug-of-war between the Department of Communications and the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, under whose remit mergers initially fell.

The initial clash between Pat Rabbitte and Richard Bruton took place against the backdrop of the battle in the boardroom of Independent News and Media (INM), which saw Denis OBrien triumph over the OReilly family.

At Government level, the Department of Communications took charge of the new dual-notification system for media mergers at the end of October. Alex White, who took over from Rabbitte in communications, will decide if a media merger is in the public interest, while the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission will determine if a deal can proceed on competition grounds.

At the height of the OReilly-OBrien tussle for control of INM, many in Government felt it would be wise to steer clear and allow things settle down at the biggest newspaper group in the country.

That has happened, and a restructured INM with OBrien as majority shareholder with a 29.9 per cent has emerged. OBriens Communicorp group houses Today FM, Newstalk and other radio ventures. Newstalk also operates syndicated news for local radio stations.

Recently, the National Union of Journalists called on White to call a halt to what it saw as OBriens threat to media diversity. That plea from NUJ secretary Seamus Dooley came after Newstalk secured a deal to provide news to more stations, making it the largest supplier of radio news in Ireland.

Critics will argue White is closing the stable door after the horse has bolted but the draft guidelines appear to outline criteria which could limit room for manoeuvre.

The most obvious is setting a threshold of ownership judged to constitute significant interest which means a person or business has sufficient voting, financial or ownership strength within the relevant media business or media businesses to influence directly or indirectly, to an appreciable extent, the direction or policy of the media business or media businesses with regard in particular to news, current affairs or cultural content.

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Shadow of Denis OBrien looms over new media merger guidelines

Rockville, MD (PRWEB) December 08, 2014

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Insight 9 is loaded with advanced features that our customers are going to love, said Nick Beavers, Media Cybernetics Global Sales and Marketing Manager. This major revamping of Image-Pro Insight focuses both on improved user productivity and enhanced capabilities, he adds. The newly added prompts, warnings, and visual cues minimize user error and accelerate workflow. These include non-calibrated images, image magnification and zoom levels and dynamic feedback during measurement drawing, among others. Designed to be easily deployed as a multiple-user platform both in industrial and academic settings, Insights intuitiveness shortens the learning curve. We are grateful for the invaluable feedback from our customers, our dealers and our community of beta testers, and cant wait to get this product in the hands of all of our customers, Beavers remarks.

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For more information about Media Cybernetics, visit http://www.mediacy.com.

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Media Cybernetics Releases the All New Image-Pro Insight 9 Image Analysis Software

The National Union of Journalists and others have raised concerns about the levels of media ownership of billionaire businessman Denis OBrien. Photograph: Dara Mac Dnaill

New Government guidelines on media mergers say it is undesirable for one person or business to hold excessive influence and introduce a public value test for future consolidation in the industry.

The draft guidelines, which will apply across print, broadcast and online, also set out thresholds that specify how many shares or holdings are needed to be able to influence the direction or policy ... with regard to news, current affairs or cultural content.

They say that a holding or voting strength of more than 20 per cent ... will generally constitute a significant interest, while a 10 per cent share could also constitute a significant interest.

A significant interest is defined as having sufficient voting, financial or ownership strength to influence direction or policy.

The draft guidelines will be published today by Minister for Communications Alex White. A public consultation process will be open until next month.

The final rules will not apply retrospectively, but one source said that recent media acquisitions might not have passed the new test.

The National Union of Journalists and others have raised concerns about the levels of media ownership of billionaire businessman Denis OBrien.

Mr OBrien is the biggest shareholder in Independent News and Media (INM), with a 29.9 per cent stake, but he has been deemed by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland not to control INM.

Mr OBrien also owns Communicorp, the radio group that includes Today FM and Newstalk.

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Public value test to be introduced for media ownership

The National Union of Journalists and others have raised concerns about the levels of media ownership of billionaire businessman Denis OBrien. Photograph: Dara Mac Dnaill

New Government guidelines on media mergers say it is undesirable for one person or business to hold excessive influence and introduce a public value test for future consolidation in the industry.

The draft guidelines, which will apply across print, broadcast and online, also set out thresholds that specify how many shares or holdings are needed to be able to influence the direction or policy ... with regard to news, current affairs or cultural content.

They say that a holding or voting strength of more than 20 per cent ... will generally constitute a significant interest, while a 10 per cent share could also constitute a significant interest.

A significant interest is defined as having sufficient voting, financial or ownership strength to influence direction or policy.

The draft guidelines will be published today by Minister for Communications Alex White. A public consultation process will be open until next month.

The final rules will not apply retrospectively, but one source said that recent media acquisitions might not have passed the new test.

The National Union of Journalists and others have raised concerns about the levels of media ownership of billionaire businessman Denis OBrien.

Mr OBrien is the biggest shareholder in Independent News and Media (INM), with a 29.9 per cent stake, but he has been deemed by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland not to control INM.

Mr OBrien also owns Communicorp, the radio group that includes Today FM and Newstalk.

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New rules will focus on media ownership

Denis OBrien - Irelands wealthiest individual in Haiti in 2010. Photograph: Antonio Bolfo/Getty Images

Ireland, a country where one man dominates the media (and it isnt Rupert Murdoch, by the way), has finally drawn up guidelines on media ownership.

They say, according to an Irish Times report, that it is undesirable for one person, or a single business, to hold excessive influence. And they advise the introduction of a public value test for future media industry consolidation.

The draft guidelines, which will be published today by Irelands communications minister Alex White, will apply across print, broadcast and online.

They will set out thresholds that specify how many shares or holdings are needed to be able to influence the direction or policy ... with regard to news, current affairs or cultural content.

Doubtless to the relief of the man who bestrides the Irish media landscape, Denis OBrien, the rules will not apply retrospectively.

So he will not need to divest any of his holdings. He is the biggest shareholder in Independent News & Media (INM), which publishes Irelands two largest selling titles, the Irish Independent and the Sunday Independent.

Although he has only a 29.9% stake, he effectively controls INM. Through another company, Communicorp, OBrien owns two popular national radio stations, Today FM and Newstalk. The latter supplies news bulletins to some 20 local stations around the country.

Under the draft guidelines, his INM stake would be deemed as a controlling entity. The guidelines say that a holding or voting strength of more than 20% ... will generally constitute a significant interest, while a 10% share could also constitute a significant interest.

A significant interest is defined as having sufficient voting, financial or ownership strength to influence direction or policy.

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Ireland to introduce cross-media ownership rules