TV3/Brian Lenihan story

opinion guy

So Brian Lenihan has cancer and TV3 thought it was appropriate to run as headline news on St Stephens Day complete with Prof of Oncology talking about treatments and prognosis. It was a ten minute bit almost. They made a big deal about knowing this on Christmas Eve and not running it till today - big woop.

Anyone else think its appalling to run such a story about someone's private health affairs when according to them he hasn't even had all his testing done?

For shame TV3

Hank Scorpio

opinion guy wrote: »

So Brian Lenihan has cancer and TV3 thought it was appropriate to run as headline news on St Stephens Day complete with Prof of Oncology talking about treatments and prognosis. It was a ten minute bit almost. They made a big deal about knowing this on Christmas Eve and not running it till today - big woop.

Anyone else think its appalling to run such a story about someone's private health affairs when according to them he hasn't even had all his testing done?

For shame TV3

Erm, they said they didnt make it public in respect for him and his family on xmas day - plus it only took them 5 seconds to say it. GTFO OP

Must not be much news today, what about everyone else that has cancer do they get a story run about them, non the less sad to hear for him and his family.

niceirishfella

They are doing their job FFS.

Euro_Kraut

hellboy99 wrote: »

Must not be much news today, what about everyone else that has cancer do they get a story run about them, non the less sad to hear for him and his family.

The most important politician in the country has cancer. That is pretty big news. It is unlikely he will be able to continue as Minister for Finance.

opinion guy

nuxxx wrote: »

Erm, they said they didnt make it public in respect for him and his family on xmas day - plus it only took them 5 seconds to say it. GTFO OP

Are you kidding me ? Not only did they break the news - they had a detailed interview with a cancer expert discussing his future, they practiaclly did an obituary on him then. In all they spent about ten minutes on it. Then added in - oh in other news someone tried to blow up a plane in Detroit. (I'm Kent Brockman ) As to holding it for 2 days - that doens't impress me. THey shouldn't be publicising it at all like they have. Its senseationalism on a slow news day.

They also read out part of a statement from Lenihans office which rte read out in full saying its private business and there was no official commnet. Rte at least had a little respect and literally spent about 30seconds on the topic mainly consisting of reading out the official statement calling for privacy.

Any yes he is an important politican. That does not mean he has no entitelement to privacy regarding his health. The man hasn't even completed his testing - its extremely poor taste and disrespectful to ahve experts on discussing his potential prognoses. I also wonder how tv3 found this out. someone at th ehosptial must have broken confidentiality which is also appalling

jumpguy

RTE didn't report on it...and fair play to them. TV3 could have waited until the New Year before breaking it, but obviously just took the opportunity to get one up on RTE.

GSF

If Obama had this it would be reported immediately. Similarly if it was Gordon Brown. I dont see how it can be kept secret in this day and age TBH.

AARRRGH

niceirishfella wrote: »

They are doing their job FFS.

I agree.

Our minister of finance having probably fatal cancer is news.

Tbh he has looked very ill for a while. Everytime I saw him on TV I thought he looked ****ed.

Poor guy.

niceirishfella

jumpguy wrote: »

RTE didn't report on it...and fair play to them. TV3 could have waited until the New Year before breaking it, but obviously just took the opportunity to get one up on RTE.

WRONG - RTE reported it on their 6 o clock news, WTF were you watching?:rolleyes:

copacetic

niceirishfella wrote: »

WRONG - RTE reported it on their 6 o clock news, WTF were you watching?:rolleyes:

they only reported it after being forced too as TV3 broke the familys wishes and it was in the public domain.

niceirishfella

copacetic wrote: »

they only reported it after being forced too as TV3 broke the familys wishes and it was in the public domain.

More BS, and you know this how? Are you Ann Doyle? The News Editor in the RTE newsroom?

copacetic

niceirishfella wrote: »

More BS, and you know this how? Are you Ann Doyle? The News Editor in the RTE newsroom?

this story has been well known by pretty much any journalist for at least a few days, nobody was running it until TV3 started it. Calling everyone elses opinion bullshit, when you clearly haven't the first idea what you are on about is not the sign of a person with a clue.

arybvtcw0eolkf

Lads at the risk of sounding like a Mod around here, just be very careful what you say about TV3 and its staff.

Some lessions from THIS POST might be applicable here.

Cosmo Kramer

niceirishfella wrote: »

More BS, and you know this how? Are you Ann Doyle? The News Editor in the RTE newsroom?

Mark Little has more or less confirmed on his twitter account that TV3 forced the issue to be reported elsewhere.

Could have easily left it be until after New Year, what difference was it going to make to the country if people only found out next week and the family got some peace over Christmas. Which they won't now.

niceirishfella

copacetic wrote: »

this story has been well known by pretty much any journalist for at least a few days, nobody was running it until TV3 started it. Calling everyone elses opinion bullshit, when you clearly haven't the first idea what you are on about is not the sign of a person with a clue.

and posting sh1te like "Calling everyone elses opinion bullshit, when you clearly haven't the first idea what you are on about is not the sign of a person with a clue" demonstates you are one of said people.:rolleyes:

RTE covered the story, check the iplayer on the rte website if you don't believe it and no, they did'nt cover it just because TV3 did, that statement is erronious and you know it.
And please don't try and get personal here on this forum with me, if you want to take it to Pm and i'll gladly put you straight there.

niceirishfella

Cosmo Kramer wrote: »

Mark Little has more or less confirmed on his twitter account that TV3 forced the issue to be reported elsewhere.

Could have easily left it be until after New Year, what difference was it going to make to the country if people only found out next week and the family got some peace over Christmas. Which they won't now.

No one forced them. Its their Job as a public service boradcaster to report the news.

Cosmo Kramer

niceirishfella wrote: »

No one forced them. Its their Job as a public service boradcaster to report the news.

Of course it is, but many things are known but not initislly reported for various reasons - e.g Haughey's affair, Enda Kenny's racist joke, Roy Keane's comments on Clive Delaney, Prince Harry on army duty etc.

Once it is in the public domain all media sources will now report on it, but they would have left it be until a more suitable time had TV3 not put it out there to get their exclusive. Poor from them.

population

randypriest wrote: »

Karma for a cunt

You sir are the lowest form of life. How dare you make a comment like that about ANYONE suffering from this horrendous disease:mad:

opinion guy

Jimmy Obedient Revenue wrote: »

Lads at the risk of sounding like a Mod around here, just be very careful what you say about TV3 and its staff.

Some lessions from THIS POST might be applicable here.

I didn't really get what all that was about ?

niceirishfella wrote: »

No one forced them. Its their Job as a public service boradcaster to report the news.

TV3 are not a public service broadcaster - they are a private company. It was classless tabloid reporting plain and simple

niceirishfella

Cosmo Kramer wrote: »

Once it is in the public domain all media sources will now report on it, but they would have left it be until a more suitable time had TV3 not put it out there to get their exclusive. Poor from them.

Thanks but source please? Do you work in the RTE newsroom? Yes/No?
or is this more idle specualtion from anon people on an internet forum?

lostexpectation

copacetic wrote: »

this story has been well known by pretty much any journalist for at least a few days, nobody was running it until TV3 started it. Calling everyone elses opinion bullshit, when you clearly haven't the first idea what you are on about is not the sign of a person with a clue.

ah irish media,more concerned about being in the know then letting people know


if he is missing work (although it seems he tried to avoid missing work) then as public figure we should know.

Cosmo Kramer

niceirishfella wrote: »

Thanks but source please? Do you work in the RTE newsroom? Yes/No?
or is this more idle specualtion from anon people on an internet forum?

As said by someone else above, this story has been known about in media circles for a few days. It is not a coincidence that RTE have broadcast it half an hour after TV3 announced it, it is because TV3 have now made it public information. It will be in every paper tomorrow, that would not have been the case but for TV3.

niceirishfella

Cosmo Kramer wrote: »

As said by someone else above, this story has been known about in media circles for a few days. It is not a coincidence that RTE have broadcast it half an hour after TV3 announced it, it is because TV3 have now made it public information. It will be in every paper tomorrow, that would not have been the case but for TV3.

Because some other poster said something, does not validate anything.
Holding back on strories in a digital age is not the way forward in present day reportage. Mark Little leaving is indicitive of this setting up his own digital news service.
And it does'nt take Sherlock Holmes to figure out Lehihan was unwell, go figure.:rolleyes:

niceirishfella

opinion guy wrote: »

TV3 are not a public service broadcaster - they are a private company. It was classless tabloid reporting plain and simple

No, totally incorrect - they are offically a Commercial Semi State co with a public service remit in its output.
Get it right Opinion guy!

opinion guy

niceirishfella wrote: »

No, totally incorrect - they are offically a Commercial Semi State co with a public service remit in its output.
Get it right Opinion guy!

Doesn't say anything about that on wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TV3_%28Ireland%29

TV3 is a free-to-air television channel in Ireland, and was the country's first commercial broadcaster. It launched on 20 September 1998 [3].

niceirishfella

Lol...........you rely on wiki???

RayM

niceirishfella wrote: »

No, totally incorrect - they are offically a Commercial Semi State co with a public service remit in its output.
Get it right Opinion guy!

Are you sure you've got that right?

I was under the impression that TV3 was a private commercial company (as opposed to semi-state) with a (albeit thin) public service remit.

Slideshowbob

Why did TV3 wait 2 days to broadcast this news - once again they have failed as a news broadcaster!

It doesnt change his diagnosis. He is a public figure.

krudler

They reported news, on a news program, what difference does it make when it was? if 100 people died in a plane crash on christmas day and the news stations decided not to report is in case they upset someone, what kind of news station would that be?

happyoutscan

It doesn't matter that it's bad news, it's news and it will be put out there. Shame for him and his family at this time but do you honestly think they are worried about it being in the public domain? I'm sure they are more worried about his illness and how it can be treated at this time.

As for RTE, they have no shame, if they weren't in FF pockets you can be sure they would have ran it well before Tv3 did.

Best regards to the man and his family, not nice to see anyone ill at this time of year.

Ken Griffin

niceirishfella wrote: »

They are doing their job FFS.

As a journalist who occasionally visits boards, here's my take on the issue. It's more complex than I think some of the posters believe. I'll just run through the issues here:

It is in the public interest to reveal that a cabinet minister in a crucial post has a potentially life threatening illness.

But it's Christmas - the entire country is basically shut until January 2 and you could plausibly argue it would have made no difference to hold off until then.

That said, TV3 might have had their hand forced if they suspected that another media organisation had the same information and was planning to scoop them.

For me, the real ethical question is probably whether broadcasting what was essentially the man's obituary while he is still alive is appropriate. I suspect that TV3 would struggle to provide evidence that that would be the case.

Slideshowbob

Ken Griffin wrote: »

As a journalist who occasionally visits boards, here's my take on the issue. It's more complex than I think some of the posters believe. I'll just run through the issues here:

It is in the public interest to reveal that a cabinet minister in a crucial post has a potentially life threatening illness.

But it's Christmas - the entire country is basically shut until January 2 and you could plausibly argue it would have made no difference to hold off until then.

That said, TV3 might have had their hand forced if they suspected that another media organisation had the same information and was planning to scoop them.

For me, the real ethical question is probably whether broadcasting what was essentially the man's obituary while he is still alive is appropriate. I suspect that TV3 would struggle to provide evidence that that would be the case.

It wasn't actually an obituary - it was a report on BL etc. Fact is they had 2 days to prepare it so there was proabably some goon in their HQ in Ballymount with nothing better to do yesterday than eat turkey and edit clips for todays ''news''.

leesmom

randypriest wrote: »

Karma for a cunt

:mad:

Feeky Magee

Nothing wrong with what they did. Holding off for two days at risk of losing the scoop was actually quite commendable.

News broadcast in reporting news shocker.

niceirishfella

Feeky Magee wrote: »

Holding off for two days at risk of losing the scoop was actually quite commendable.

Commendable? Good god.:rolleyes:

AlmightyCushion

This can be either discussed in the television forum or the other thread here about it. I'll re-open the other thread when I'm done going through it.