Having reliable information as a basis for making such choices is always difficult in conflict situations, and finding trustworthy sources of information in war is a proverbial challenge.

For instance, Hamas appears to be following the example of organisations such as Islamic State and al Qaeda in spreading video footage of violence and atrocities online as an obvious way to intimidate and spread terror, and reports from Israel suggest that some schools there are advising pupils to delete or ignore social media apps.

On a related point, the performance of social media platforms such as X, formerly Twitter, is shockingly cynical. Such platforms are facilitating the spread of terror and intimidation through the lack of content moderation on their sites. One Israeli organisation which monitors hate speech and disinformation described X this week as a war zone with no ethics, a place “where you just go and do whatever you want”.

This has certainly been the case with some of the footage made available across these platforms in recent days, though its reliability is another matter. In some cases, video has been shared which originated in conflicts years ago in Afghanistan and Syria rather than in this week’s Hamas attack.

The online battle for hearts and minds is an acknowledged front in 21st-century conflict — a digital version of the old propaganda campaigns of past wars. Propaganda, whether ancient or modern, is inherently unreliable — a point all of us should remember.

It's theft, plain and simple

The various scandals this past summer in RTÉ spilled far beyond Montrose to stain quite a few other areas, and one of those was GAAGO, the joint streaming venture involving the national broadcaster and the GAA.

One of the interesting discoveries made when questions were asked about GAAGO, however, was the sheer number of people who made the unblushing confession that they used a “dodgy box”, an illegal mechanism to access streaming services for sports, movies, and television channels.

It was clear from some contributions on the topic that this was seen as a victimless misdemeanour rather than a serious felony — a way of avoiding the headache of paying for a service during a cost-of-living crisis, and one endorsed in some vague way by the refusal of so many people to pay their television licence fee.

It surely came as a rude awakening to many of those people to read this week’s account of a pub in a Kerry village which used a “dodgy box” to show Premier League games. Representatives of the Sky broadcasting company called to the Railway Bar in Lixnaw eight times between 2018 and 2023 and found Premier League soccer matches being shown there.

A judge in Tralee found a breach of copyright had taken place and awarded damages of €20,000 to the Sky broadcasting company.

Using content without paying for it is theft. Sky may be a multinational company which generates billions in revenue, but nobody is entitled to steal the material it generates.

Broadcasting sports events — or covering them for a newspaper — requires technology, personnel, and investment, and companies providing that service are entitled to be paid for doing so.

Those availing of “dodgy boxes” should at least be honest about their activities. It is thieving from others to expect them to work for nothing, a point which seems to be lost on those who avoid paying for their television service. This week’s events in Kerry should serve as a warning that time is running out for the “dodgy box” culture.

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A culture shift at RTÉ

RTÉ director general Kevin Bakhurst held a “town hall” meeting with the staff of the national broadcaster on Wednesday at which various plans were outlined for the organisation’s future.

Mr Bakhurst outlined the possibility of redundancies at the station, but said that while it was unlikely RTÉ would leave its Montrose campus entirely, all options would be considered.

The organisation’s financial situation is certainly precarious. At a post-budget briefing, Media Minister Catherine Martin said that the sharp fall in licence fee revenue could cost RTÉ €61m over this year and next year, and while the broadcaster will receive €16m in additional funding, the money would not be paid until she has seen a strategic plan from the broadcaster. That plan is due to be completed in the coming weeks.

A change of culture will have to be part of that plan, and in that context it was interesting to note the departure of RTÉ’s chief financial officer Richard Collins, whose resignation was announced on Wednesday.

Mr Collins was one of the senior RTÉ management figures grilled this summer by the Public Accounts Committee, and didn’t cover himself in glory when he confessed that he couldn’t recall his exact salary.

Change is coming quickly at RTÉ, and it will face a gruelling year ahead as it tries to balance the books. Quality journalism is vital in Ireland and media face dwindling resources. Let’s hope RTÉ finds the answers to the many questions it faces.