Michael Graham on Newstalk

Dub13

I have been listening to him today and yesterday,he is good I don't agree with him most of the time but its good radio.I would like to have him on more.

Your thoughts..?

Over&Over

He is a breath of fresh air alright, engaging radio and genuinely funny at times. I'd like to see him on more often. Though perhaps his style may wear a bit if he were on 2-3 hours, five days a week. But, for the moment, I'm a fan.

Diabhal Beag

He is OK in my book. Better him than Ger Gilroy.

dh0661

I agree with Over&Over, -- over & over.

JimboJones74

I'm enjoying him. A different style to irish/uk broadcasters. Newstalk deserve some credit for trying this. Even his habit of saying "ahhh yeah its Michael Graham" is not annoying me yet.

CUCINA

On the plus side: "I am lively and I bring a refreshing out-sider's perspective to the proceedings because I am not part of the usual Irish broadcasting clique".

On the negative side: "I have strong right-wing views and I am in your face about it"

Overall conclusion: Enjoyed listening to him this week as I drove home from work but if he were to become a regular fixture on radio I think I would be able to take him only in small doses...

holyshow

Just caught the end of him there. I hate American style broadcasting. I don't want someone shouting their opinions at me. He can't approach anything without having to mention the "left". We're hardly a socialist state. I can't stand him.

Paddo81

I heard this guy tonight. You'd think originally he was some limb-wristed liberal type (whenever I hear smart ass yank like him i always think democrat straight away) But then he unleashes this ridiculous tirade about how we in Europe arent gung-ho enough in addressin the terrorism problem and that America doesnt trust us to be their allies in the war on terror! lol I like him though, hes a laugh.

Preset No.3

He is ok in small doses. I though he was just stirring it up for the newstalk audience but I have seen him on Fox News a few times so you can see how far right he is. No matter what Obama does, he will do no right in the view of Fox News or Michael Graham.

irish_bob

holyshow wrote: »

Just caught the end of him there. I hate American style broadcasting. I don't want someone shouting their opinions at me. He can't approach anything without having to mention the "left". We're hardly a socialist state. I can't stand him.

we are a soclists state compared to the usa

as for graham , ive come to like him more than i used to , that said , his whole act is one of opinion based presenting , he is the show , we dont have that in ireland , the likes of him are ten a penny in america

irish_bob

Preset No.3 wrote: »

He is ok in small doses. I though he was just stirring it up for the newstalk audience but I have seen him on Fox News a few times so you can see how far right he is. No matter what Obama does, he will do no right in the view of Fox News or Michael Graham.

graham is hardly in fox news league now

Cecil Mor

Agree with all above posts but was both good and enjoyable to hear a presenter not take the usual sickening lies'n crap from Minister Cock Roach during the Lisbon debate.

deadhead13

I agree, he is definitely different and can be funny, but it won't be long before his brand of self-righteous libertarianism would really start to p**s me off. He is ok in small doses.

waraf

His repetition of the term "Euro-weenies" makes me want to punch my radio. He annoys me a lot.

mike65

I haven't listened but I'd guess as Irish radio is so UCD liberal/left and/or anodyne anyone with a bit of gob/attitude will come as shock to many. Irish radio could do with some political diversity.

thecornerboy

Em, his bit today was em, em, painful, em. Painful to listen to. Really, realy painful. If the voice of George Hook doesn't do your head in they've got Mikey Graham lined up to finish the job.

thecornerboy

mike65 wrote: »

I haven't listened but I'd guess as Irish radio is so UCD liberal/left and/or anodyne anyone with a bit of gob/attitude will come as shock to many. Irish radio could do with some political diversity.

It covers the spectrum of Irish political opinion very well. We don't want hysterical right wing Americans on our radio thanks very much.

mike65

So you'll have any politics you agree with but none that you don't agree with?

thecornerboy

mike65 wrote: »

So you'll have any politics you agree with but none that you don't agree with?

I hear a lot of politics I disagree with and some I agree with on the radio. Irish radio covers the spectrum of opinion in Ireland and the UK, to some extent also the EU, very well. I do not want to hear shouting, squealing, wailing, hysterical right wing Americans on the radio of rational human beings. It's noise, purely.

bacon bites

I don't know about ye lads, but he seems to make a lot of sense most of the time! I like him simply as he calls things as they are, not like we want them to be. Is that not what we want, instead of yes-men?? Some honest-to-god opinion instead of the popular line?

mike65

Quite! We hear the same old flannel so often its easy to forget there are other views regardless of where they come from in the political spectrum.

Mr E

I like his 15 minutes of spouting diatribe on Fridays, but by 5:30pm yesterday (having listened for an hour), I was reaching for the volume switch. He was wrecking my head.

irish_bob

thecornerboy wrote: »

I hear a lot of politics I disagree with and some I agree with on the radio. Irish radio covers the spectrum of opinion in Ireland and the UK, to some extent also the EU, very well. I do not want to hear shouting, squealing, wailing, hysterical right wing Americans on the radio of rational human beings. It's noise, purely.

ah come off it , media in ireland is overwhelmingly to the left

Soby

I got a few laughs off him..Asking, Dermot ahern?Is he related to Bertie?Do they share the same bank account:P

RayM

irish_bob wrote: »

ah come off it , media in ireland is overwhelmingly to the left

People (usually those quite far to the right) keep saying that, but they never seem to even attempt to justify or explain that opinion.

irish_bob

RayM wrote: »

People (usually those quite far to the right) keep saying that, but they never seem to even attempt to justify or explain that opinion.

ok , take richard boyd barrett , he has only recently been elected to any kind of office and it is at county council level yet this man despite his extreme left views has been a feature on irish airwaves for years now , joe higgins lost his seat in the 2007 general election yet it made no difference whatsoever to his ability to be seen or heard by the public , about two months ago on vincent brownes tv3 show , socilst lecturer ciaran allen made an on air call for bolshevism from the people of ireland , he has never been so much as elected to the local town council actually called for revolution , name someone on the right who has thier own show like vincent browne , browne is much more to the left than the average irish person , surely thier should be a market for his conservative equivelent , so you see , every kind of loon on the left is given a regular media platform in this country no matter how far out there and fringe thier views are

im not sure if you heard sarah burke on with michael graham this evening discussing socilised versus private health care , the woman died a horrible death on air , for the 1st time in her life , everything she said didnt go unoppossed , for the 1st time she wasnt completly lauded like she is when she goes on vincent browne , for the 1st time ever i heard someone describe privatised healthcare without a tone of absolute contempt being adopted , that you even have to ask for evidence of a left wing bias in irish media , just shows how irish people have been conditioned into taking certain view points as being sacroscent , wellfare being too low , poverty never being the fault of the poor , tinkers always victims of discrimination , the list goes on

mike65

Its the hosts and producers you need to think about as they have the power. They decide who gets on air and they are why the usual suspects are never off the airwaves.

There are other points of view but they are usually confined to columns in the press,
unless someone is wheeled on air as part of an obvious punch and judy set-up - ie say Kevin Myers in one corner and Tim Pat Coogan in the other. The result is always the same junk.

RayM

irish_bob wrote: »

joe higgins lost his seat in the 2007 general election yet it made no difference whatsoever to his ability to be seen or heard by the public

Ivan Yates retired from politics seven years ago, and (even before being employed by Newstalk) had no problem becoming a ubiquitous talking-head. Joe Higgins' occasional appearances on television and radio, after losing his seat, were as a result of reputation for being able to deliver a good sound byte in the Dail, and never rejecting a microphone, and nothing to do with inherent media bias.

irish_bob wrote:

about two months ago on vincent brownes tv3 show , socilst lecturer ciaran allen made an on air call for bolshevism from the people of ireland , he has never been so much as elected to the local town council actually called for revolution

Constantin Gurdgiev is another regular on Browne's show. Big deal. A (very) low-budget late night talk show, with regular guests from the political fringes and wilderness, and a tiny audience is hardly indicative of the media at large. TV3 is hardly f--king Pravda TV, is it?

irish_bob wrote:

name someone on the right who has thier own show like vincent browne , browne is much more to the left than the average irish person , surely thier should be a market for his conservative equivelent , so you see , every kind of loon on the left is given a regular media platform in this country no matter how far out there and fringe thier views are

I can name countless presenters (Pat Kenny, Marian Finucane, Rachel English, Rodney Rice, Sean O'Rourke, etc, etc, etc) who, for all I know, could be left, right or centre, but who do a very good job of being impartial. Which is all that matters. Michael Graham is fun to listen to, but the novelty would soon wear off. I'd hate if Ireland was like the US, where talk-radio has to be all about the presenter shouting their political agenda the whole time.

irish_bob wrote:

wellfare being too low , poverty never being the fault of the poor , tinkers always victims of discrimination , the list goes on

"tinkers". Jesus wept...

Sorry, sorry... I've clearly been conditioned into disapproving of the use of derogatory terms to describe minority groups.

mike65

Tinker is a trade, as is knacker. Traveller is not anything really.

Funbags Freddie

mike65 wrote: »

I haven't listened but I'd guess as Irish radio is so UCD liberal/left and/or anodyne anyone with a bit of gob/attitude will come as shock to many. Irish radio could do with some political diversity.

mike65 wrote: »

So you'll have any politics you agree with but none that you don't agree with?

mike65 wrote: »

Quite! We hear the same old flannel so often its easy to forget there are other views regardless of where they come from in the political spectrum.

mike65 wrote: »

Its the hosts and producers you need to think about as they have the power. They decide who gets on air and they are why the usual suspects are never off the airwaves.

There are other points of view but they are usually confined to columns in the press,
unless someone is wheeled on air as part of an obvious punch and judy set-up - ie say Kevin Myers in one corner and Tim Pat Coogan in the other. The result is always the same junk.

mike65 wrote: »

Tinker is a trade, as is knacker. Traveller is not anything really.

As you said in your opening remark, you didn't hear it. So vocal for one who didn't hear it?

For the first time in four years I coul not listen to Newstalk, Hook.

Not the politics, I like Michales views but the presentation was brutal.

He did a piece on the Bray murders and it was terrible. His constant laughing and crap was too much to take. His point was lost in his shock jock style. He could have been so much better.

But you didn't hear it and have a view.

Well done.

mike65

I do know his style from his usual slot. And the fact I didn't hear his stand-in gig doesn't negate anything I said above.

deadhead13

mike65 wrote: »

Its the hosts and producers you need to think about as they have the power. They decide who gets on air and they are why the usual suspects are never off the airwaves.

There are other points of view but they are usually confined to columns in the press,
unless someone is wheeled on air as part of an obvious punch and judy set-up - ie say Kevin Myers in one corner and Tim Pat Coogan in the other. The result is always the same junk.

Kevin Myers is filling in for George next week.

It is true the radio station sets the agenda by deciding who they bring on as a guest and what questions are asked. My preference would be for a presenter who endeavours to be impartial, contributers to be chosen on the bases of bringing balance to a debate and the opinions coming from them. This is why Micheal Graham, Talksport and Claire Byrne don't really appeal to me.

mike65

I hope Myers has taken a few lessons in presentation, he was pretty brutal at times previously. Tended to sound like a schoolboy suddenly confronted by a super model at times.

PANADOL

makes a pleasant change from g hook who in my opinion is out of touch and frankly just too old

thebigcheese22

He's an interesting listen, as long as you don't take anything he says seriously

irish_bob

RayM wrote: »

Ivan Yates retired from politics seven years ago, and (even before being employed by Newstalk) had no problem becoming a ubiquitous talking-head. Joe Higgins' occasional appearances on television and radio, after losing his seat, were as a result of reputation for being able to deliver a good sound byte in the Dail, and never rejecting a microphone, and nothing to do with inherent media bias.



Constantin Gurdgiev is another regular on Browne's show. Big deal. A (very) low-budget late night talk show, with regular guests from the political fringes and wilderness, and a tiny audience is hardly indicative of the media at large. TV3 is hardly f--king Pravda TV, is it?



I can name countless presenters (Pat Kenny, Marian Finucane, Rachel English, Rodney Rice, Sean O'Rourke, etc, etc, etc) who, for all I know, could be left, right or centre, but who do a very good job of being impartial. Which is all that matters. Michael Graham is fun to listen to, but the novelty would soon wear off. I'd hate if Ireland was like the US, where talk-radio has to be all about the presenter shouting their political agenda the whole time.



"tinkers". Jesus wept...

Sorry, sorry... I've clearly been conditioned into disapproving of the use of derogatory terms to describe minority groups.

thier is absolutley no comparrison between ivan yates and joe higgins when it comes to media appearances in the last few years , ivan yates retired as a politician a long time ago and his role in the media is now entirely seperate , joe higgins since he lost his seat in 2007 appeared on radio on tv as the leader of the socilist party in ireland , its an altogether spurious arguement

thecornerboy

irish_bob wrote: »

thier is absolutley no comparrison between ivan yates and joe higgins when it comes to media appearances in the last few years , ivan yates retired as a politician a long time ago and his role in the media is now entirely seperate , joe higgins since he lost his seat in 2007 appeared on radio on tv as the leader of the socilist party in ireland , its an altogether spurious arguement

Irish radio is not left-wing. What you regard as "left-wing" may in fact be the center ground. Joe Higgins is on quite a bit I'll give you that, that might have something to do with the fact he always makes himself available for the media (to the extent of writing a column for the despicable Daily Mail) but it's mainly to do with the fact that Joe's opinions match up with a lot of what listeners say when they text in. He's entertaining to listen to for all sides and the stations know Joe speaks to a large part of their market. They're the two main reasons imo.

The right is poorly represened in Irish media.
All we hear is wall to wall inoffensive tripe. Bending over backwards to be impartial and as bland as possible. There are no Micheal Grahams to be opinionated and mad about issuses on our behalf. Just lazy broadcasters hands bound by the regulators in the guise of 'fairness' introducing another junior minister for a soft interview to spin their party out of trouble.

irish_bob

thecornerboy wrote: »

Irish radio is not left-wing. What you regard as "left-wing" may in fact be the center ground. Joe Higgins is on quite a bit I'll give you that, that might have something to do with the fact he always makes himself available for the media (to the extent of writing a column for the despicable Daily Mail) but it's mainly to do with the fact that Joe's opinions match up with a lot of what listeners say when they text in. He's entertaining to listen to for all sides and the stations know Joe speaks to a large part of their market. They're the two main reasons imo.

so you think because many texters agree with joe higgins that he and his policys are an accurate reflection of the average irish citizen , surely you know that the average texter tends to be anti establishment , left wing and most importantly a crank with little to do , the majority of people have more important things to be doing than texting in pat kenny about how the dole isnt high enough

Salvelinus

He's a chicken hawk wetting himslef to get on Faux.

thecornerboy

irish_bob wrote: »

so you think because many texters agree with joe higgins that he and his policys are an accurate reflection of the average irish citizen , surely you know that the average texter tends to be anti establishment , left wing and most importantly a crank with little to do , the majority of people have more important things to be doing than texting in pat kenny about how the dole isnt high enough

If you can find time to post here surely you can find time to text in. This smacks of reds under the bed type paranoia.

irish_bob

thecornerboy wrote: »

If you can find time to post here surely you can find time to text in. This smacks of reds under the bed type paranoia.

thats stretching it , dont you think

Koloman

mike65 wrote: »

I haven't listened but I'd guess as Irish radio is so UCD liberal/left and/or anodyne anyone with a bit of gob/attitude will come as shock to many. Irish radio could do with some political diversity.

How very true.

coopersgreen

I thought he was excellent. Don't agree with his politics but how nice it was to have a professional broadcaster on air. It shows up the likes of Myers for the bull**** options they are.

grenache

irish_bob wrote: »

we are a soclists state compared to the usa

as for graham , ive come to like him more than i used to , that said , his whole act is one of opinion based presenting , he is the show , we dont have that in ireland , the likes of him are ten a penny in america

You've never listened to Neil Prendiville on Cork's 96fm then. His show is very much based around his opinions. So much so that half the city hates him while the other half loves him. I like this style of presenting though. At least it makes for entertaining radio instead of this sit-on-the-fence 'passive' style we get from so many radio hosts.

ballsymchugh

michael graham's interview with sarah burke on the state of private v public health care was just a shouting game for him. the girl didn't just suffer, she was brutally slaughtered and he came across with the same glory as a wife beater!
his style maybe kinda funny in 15 mins on a friday, but he can't do it for much longer. his random pauses, his staccatto in getting going (it's not a stammer!!) just bloody annoyed me. and so far, kevin myarse is unbelievably tolerable!! and i hate that fcuker!

irish_bob

ballsymchugh wrote: »

michael graham's interview with sarah burke on the state of private v public health care was just a shouting game for him. the girl didn't just suffer, she was brutally slaughtered and he came across with the same glory as a wife beater!
his style maybe kinda funny in 15 mins on a friday, but he can't do it for much longer. his random pauses, his staccatto in getting going (it's not a stammer!!) just bloody annoyed me. and so far, kevin myarse is unbelievably tolerable!! and i hate that fcuker!

nonesense , he was more than couteous to her , the woman was out of her depth , for the 1st time in her life , she was not unconditionally lauded for her possition , away from the comfort of the mainstream left wing irish media , she was exposed for the lightweight she is

irish_bob

grenache wrote: »

You've never listened to Neil Prendiville on Cork's 96fm then. His show is very much based around his opinions. So much so that half the city hates him while the other half loves him. I like this style of presenting though. At least it makes for entertaining radio instead of this sit-on-the-fence 'passive' style we get from so many radio hosts.

i live in north leinster so cork 96 might aswell be afghanistan 96 fm

jank

irish_bob wrote: »

i live in north leinster so cork 96 might aswell be afghanistan 96 fm

Well edit your post to Leinster so.;) You will find alot of local radio very opinion based, especially outside the big smoke!

irish_bob

jank wrote: »

Well edit your post to Leinster so.;) You will find alot of local radio very opinion based, especially outside the big smoke!

il edit my post to leinster the day i see it as nesscessery , i havent noticed radio outside dublin being opinion based , i see nothing wrong with it though

deadhead13

irish_bob wrote: »

i havent noticed radio outside dublin being opinion based , i see nothing wrong with it though

You would if you heard Neil Prendiville, I think I would prefer to listen to Agfanistan 96 fm.