Newspaper Watch: Privacy for high society

In July, when the government published a draft privacy bill, Fine Gael's justice spokesperson, Jim O'Keefe, expressed his party's "reservations about the need for such a bill". By Sunday 1 October, after "Bertiegate" had received 10 consecutive days of frontpage headlines and blanket coverage across the media, O'Keefe's reservations had turned into denunciations that echoed those of the media. The privacy bill was "dangerous and should be scrapped" and was motivated only by the fears of "nervous Fianna Fáil ministers who need to cover their tracks".

Whether the hardening of O'Keefe's position on the bill was motivated by a desire to say thank you to the media for its taste in investigative scoops, or whether it was an opportunistic move to win over the crucial newspaper-owning sector of the electorate, or whether it was simply considered scrutiny of the text is difficult to know.

Nevertheless, with the opposition and the media now staunchly opposed to it, Michael McDowell unenthusiastic and Fianna Fáil weakened from the damage of Bertiegate, the privacy bill's passage is far from certain. Thus far, the only champion of the bill has been John Waters, who has repeatedly denounced the media's intrusiveness and their campaign against the legislation.

Although Waters' argument that the media is excessively intrusive is difficult to disagree with, he fails to make any case that this particular privacy bill is likely to improve the situation. It may be self-interested, but the media's argument that this bill is likely to be used as a tool by the wealthy and powerful to suppress information that they would prefer to keep secret – regardless of whether it could be considered remotely private – is persuasive. The current libel laws are often abused in such a way. Furthermore, the majority of the population has, in practice, no access to the protection that such laws offer, since cases are so costly to pursue.

It is also worth noting that invasiveness into the personal lives of public figures is not entirely media-driven. Politicians and their spin doctors are learning from the strategies of Big Brother contestants and becoming adept at presenting a scripted version of their private lives to the media. For example, although much of the coverage during Bertiegate referred to details of his private life, particularly the difficulty of his separation, these details were mostly introduced by Bertie himself.

His media strategy was to appeal directly to the public on a personal level. He used his platforms in the Dáil and the media to explain the payments in terms of simple values like friendship and offered tearful glimpses into the misfortunes of his private life, while denouncing his media detractors who were resolutely concentrating on the ethical principle at stake.

Although in modern politics it is safe to assume that such moments of intimacy with the public are part of a carefully constructed media strategy and might be only vaguely related to reality, at least they provide some interesting soap opera-style plots. Spontaneous whip-rounds to raise £8,000 for a down-on-his-luck minister for finance. Thirteen-year loans with no repayments. Mysterious savings. Jobs for the boys.p