THE Taoiseach has been insulting journalists, and his Minister for Finance has been trying to influence them.

On RTE television last weekend, a tired but triumphant Bertie Ahern seemed to equate journalists with whores. He told Mark Little: "If you are earning good money and you are told what you have to say and, right, you have to do it. I mean, I suppose that is what happens in the world: you don't want to lose your job and I would not expect any right-thinking journalist who has a very good salary and expenses to throw it all away."

On RTE radio the following Sunday, Mr Ahern denied to Gerald Barry that he had been angry, claiming that "98 per cent of the media I have no problem with whatever. There is just a handful."

Politicians frequently feel the media is nasty to them. But what makes the Taoiseach's comments especially piquant is his supposition that "right-thinking" journalists simply write as they are instructed by their employers.

This view was expressed by the leader of a government whose Minister for Finance, Brian Cowen, had a meeting before the election with Sir Anthony O'Reilly, the proprietor of Independent News & Media, the main newspaper group in Ireland.

Such a meeting may be "private", as Cowen reportedly described it, but it can feed rumours. Cowen says it was simply about "Fianna Fáil putting its position formally to a proprietor of newspapers, to see what way we can get our message across". He said "discussions take place all the time with proprietors, presenters and everybody". Other parties have them, too.

This is no surprise to those who work in the media. For example, RTE bosses regularly greet top politicians who arrive to take part in programmes, and both sides use such meetings to make their points in the RTE hospitality suite.

There is nothing new about high-level contacts. During 2005, it emerged that contact had been made 20 years earlier, between the editor of the Sunday Tribune (not then connected with the Independent group) and Taoiseach Garret FitzGerald. Editor Vincent Browne wanted FitzGerald to facilitate a meeting with the Revenue Commissioners to discuss the paper's tax liabilities. Charles Haughey was also involved in discussions with editors and owners.

There are also indirect connections between the Taoiseach and Rupert Murdoch, owner of the Sun, News of the World, Sunday Times and Sky, whose book company, HarperCollins, signed a lucrative publishing deal with Ahern's daughter Cecelia.

In 2002, Labour leader Ruairi Quinn described the Murdoch group as being "very close to the Fianna Fáil party". On May 20, the News of the World ran a two-page editorial spread calling on its readers to "let Bertie finish the job he started", and condemning Enda Kenny and Pat Rabbitte as "both birdbrained".

In July 1996, Sir AnthonyO'Reilly met the then Taoiseach John Bruton. It was subsequently claimed, by one of the Rainbow Government's advisors, Sean Donlon, that Sir Anthony's displeasure at how the Government was treating his commercial interests was made clear.

However, Sir Anthony rejected suggestions that he had made comments to the later discredited Minister for Communications Michael Lowry or to Taoiseach John Bruton about his consortium's application for the country's second mobile phone licence.

He said that any contact related to his frustration at the Government's failure to shut down pirate microwave TV systems, when the Independent group had invested millions in support of the State's licensed MMDS system.

Some people have suspected a connection between those complaints and thespecial, front-page editorialof the Irish Independent headed: "For years wehave been bled white - now it's pay-back time", that appeared in support of Fianna Fail on June 5 1997, the day before a general election. Editor Vinnie Doyle denied vigorously that his editorial had been influenced by commercial interests.

Following the recent meeting between Mr Cowen and Sir Anthony, the Independent group certainly did not consistently support Fianna Fáil.

Before the election was called, the Sunday Independent heavily criticised Fianna Fáil over stamp duty. It also ran Jody Corcoran's account of allegations by theTaoiseach's former driver about a suitcase full of cash, among other negative news and comment.

Later, a couple of its columnists came out in support of Bertie but others continued to criticise Fianna Fáil.

The Taoiseach gave an exclusive interview to the paper, which is the most popular Sunday broadsheet in Ireland across all social classes. Other party leaders were also interviewed prominently by the Sunday Independent in the run-up to the election.

What the Sunday Independent (and some other papers) did not do was to publish information on Ahern circulated in confidence by the Mahon tribunal. Its editor says that he received a two-page legal opinion which indicated that he could not publish or use the material. The Sunday Independent had previously published leaked tribunal documents and had been forced to give a legal undertaking that it would not do so again, and was still bound by that.

I understand that the editor considered the recent and related Supreme Court decision in favour of the Sunday Business Post but was told this had no merit in his case.

Bertie Ahern was especially annoyed at The Irish Times for earlier publishing details of certain leaked documents about his finances. In my opinion, Geraldine Kennedy, the editor of The Irish Times, acted professionally and in the public interest in publishing uncontested and significant financial information about the Taoiseach thathad come to her attention. She now faces the legal consequences.

The Taoiseach is entitled to object to intrusiveness into personal matters. Moreover, that "raw aggressiveness" that he has said he experienced from some "huddles" of journalists who confronted him during the campaign can be an unattractive aspect of modern media packs. It tends towards sensation rather than illumination.

But if any particular media coverage was crucial during the campaign, it was surely the final Late Late Show and the 90-minute "big leaders" debate. These framed Bertie in a favourable light ata crucial time and nudgedthe agenda in Fianna Fail'sdirection.

One hopes that the Taoiseach's sideswipe at journalists does not indicate any desire to push forward proposals for a controversial privacy law that were stalled when the last Dail was dissolved. Better instead to get the defamation bill, which was also stalled, quickly passed in an acceptable form. This will allow the Press Council of Ireland to get on with its planned work by seeking to protect high standards in Irish journalism.

Dr Colum Kenny is Associate Professor of Communications at Dublin City University

- Colum Kenny