Think of the news you read, watch or listen to in a typical week. Maybe it's RTÉ News at One on the radio, a quick scroll through a free news app on your phone, or a Sunday paper at the kitchen table.

Here's the question we'll explore today: who actually pays for that news? If you don't pay anything, somebody else is. And whoever pays often shapes what gets reported, and what doesn't.

By the end of this lesson, you'll know how to spot the funding model behind any news source you use, and why that matters for how you read it.

Before we explore real Irish news sources, let's get four key terms straight. These are the four most common ways news in Ireland is paid for.

A quick word on what 'data' means here. When we say a free news app may sell your data to advertisers, we mostly mean simple things: which articles you tap on, how long you stay on a story, what kind of device you're using, and roughly where you live (often just the county or town). This is normal for free apps and websites, and on its own it doesn't mean something is wrong with your phone or that your bank details are at risk. We'll look at this in more detail in a later lesson, including how to check and adjust the settings if you'd like to share less.

One more term you'll meet: a news agency (like Reuters, AP or PA Media). These are wholesale news services. Many Irish outlets buy stories from them and republish them. So when you see the same wording in three different papers, that's often why.

Now you'll use the Source Funding Explorer. First, walk through three well-known sources to see how each funding model works in practice. Then enter three news sources you actually use and decide what's funding each one.

There are no right or wrong answers about which model is best. Each one has trade-offs. The aim is to see clearly who pays, and to ask: does that change how I read this source?

Take a moment with these questions. You don't need to type anything. Just sit with them, or talk them over with whoever is around.

• Was anything surprising about who pays for the news you read? Many people are surprised to find that a source they thought was independent is part of a larger commercial group, or that a free app is funded almost entirely by ads.
• Is there one local Irish source, a town paper, a community radio station, a regional news website, that you'd miss if it disappeared? Local news in Ireland has been declining for years. Many counties now have far fewer journalists covering courts, councils and community life than they did a decade ago.

There's no shame in any answer. Most of us have never been asked to think about who funds our news. That's exactly why this lesson exists.

What you covered

• The four main funding models for news in Ireland: licence fee, subscription, advertising-funded, and philanthropic.
• How each funding model can shape what gets covered, and what doesn't.
• The role of news agencies (Reuters, AP, PA Media) in supplying stories that many Irish outlets republish.
• The funding model behind three news sources you actually use.
• One Irish news source you could realistically support, in a way that fits your budget.

One small habit to take away: next time you open a news story, take five seconds to ask, who is paying for me to read this? That single question is the start of reading the news critically.