Mad About Media Episode 3: Who Controls the Story?

From social media bosses and algorithms to democracy and distraction, this episode looks at who decides what we see, who makes money from our attention and why it matters.

In this episode, students ask who owns the media we use, how much time we spend on our screens, and what happens when news, entertainment and politics all compete for the same attention.

Guest: Dr Roddy Flynn from DCU about media ownership, money, influence, social media platforms and why community media works differently.

Guest: Dr Rosemary Day from Mary Immaculate College, Limerick, on MeDeMAP, a Europe-wide project looking at media and democracy. The discussion includes online anger, entertainment, community media and why it matters that ordinary people get to be heard.

Theme: Media Power, Money & Democracy

Student challenge: Try to cut back. The students attempt to reduce screen time and limit app use, with mixed results, including doom-scrolling, ignored app limits, background Netflix and the question of whether all screen time is equally bad.

Listen if: you’ve ever wondered who decides what stories get heard.

In Near FM’s Mad About Media, students from FET College Dhúlaigh take on the big questions, interviewing journalists, academics, and experts about the forces shaping the media we consume every day and finding out how to navigate the world in 2026.

This series is co-funded by Ireland’s media regulator, Coimisiún na Meán and supported by your television licence fee.

Music credits: Demented Nightmare by Darren Curtis and Madness of Linda by Rafael Krux