Neoliberal bias in the Irish media during the 2007 collapse of the private-banking sector

Neoliberalism has found a willing and receptive environment in Ireland. The country is praised for its policies concerning deregulation, low taxation and importing direct foreign investment. However, the catastrophic economic crash in 2008/09 should have concluded this experiment, but it did not. This dissertation will examine the role of the Irish mass media in shaping attitudes toward neoliberal policies. By analysing the media’s reporting of the bailout and subsequent austerity and examining if alternatives were marginalised, this dissertation will seek to determine if the Irish media held, and continue to hold, pro-neoliberal biases. Drawing on theoretical and methodological approaches rooted in the critical-Marxist tradition, this work will conduct a qualitative content analysis of news articles in The Irish and Sunday Independent newspapers and The Irish Times. The assessment will explore the role of Ireland’s agenda-setting newspapers in shaping public discourse on the state’s economic policy response to the drastic failure of the private financial sector. It will also provide an understanding of how newspapers colluded with governments in setting the political and economic agendas.