RTÉ has defended its use of advertising from “fossil fuel” companies, which are worth almost €20m a year to the organisation, writes Jada Bas.
The national broadcaster also said that its viewers are “ambivalent” about the climate crisis and take the view that “it’s somebody else’s problem”.
It comes after weekend revelations that RTÉ has received upwards of €700,000 in Government funding towards its coverage of climate issues.
Quizzed by TDs and senators yesterday, RTÉ’s head of news Deirdre McCarthy admitted the station struggles to engage its audience on climate issues.
She told the committee: “There’s a huge amount of ambivalence in the audience towards the climate crisis, climate change, their role in it and whose role and responsibility it is.
“There’s also a huge amount of resistance to it so far as they don’t care, it’s nothing to do with them, it’s somebody else’s problem.
“We recognise that it is still …