The Sunday Independent Treatment of the Willie O'Dea Affair

imme

The Sunday Independent (Sindo) of the 21st Feb'10 covered the O'Dea resignation in depth, the Willie O'Dea affair.

You could have been forgiven for thinking that a titan of democracy, a legislator of note, a champion of social progress, an indispensable intellectual had resigned/died/been assassinated.

Practically every columnist in the 'news' paper had to proffer their view on the O'Dea affair. How hard done by he was. How this affair was a victory for Sinn Féin (protrayed as men of violence who O'Dea had bravely had stood up to, for the sake of democracy á la De Valera during the Emergency).

Is it a coincidence that O'Dea has had a regular column in the Sindo for the past number of years.

The Sindo has championed O'Dea before, as an economic powerhouse, a great thinker, a man who gets things done etc etc.

Does such a one-sided portrayal of events serve the Sindo or the readers of the Sindo.
Should they have shown some objectivity.
Granted I have only raised the writing of their columnists, but surely they don't all think with the one brain.

godtabh

imme wrote: »

Should they have shown some objectivity.

Shouldn’t every article?

imme

godtabh wrote: »

Shouldn’t every article?

I guess every newspaper has it's own style, what position they take, but for virtually every columnist in the same newspaper to be 'singing off the same hymn sheet', well it's just too much.
It seemed more like something form the Soviet Union, it was a propaganda piece as a whole.

In today's 'news' paper (The Indo) O'Dea is quoted as telling supporters that he intends to take several weeks off work, to recover. He said he'll be reading about military history:

"I've always been interested in military history -- even before I was defence minister. Now I'm reading another book about the invasion of Barbarossa."

Maybe a mod from the Military threads could enlighten O'Dea on Operation Barbarossa, not the Invasion of Barbarossa.

baalthor

imme wrote: »

Should they have shown some objectivity.
Granted I have only raised the writing of their columnists, but surely they don't all think with the one brain.

Er, hello ! This is the Sindo we are talking about!

I'm sure Eoghan Harris believes "objectivity" to be a bourgeois affectation held by sneaking-regarder-hushpuppy-fellow travellers in order to mask their support for the latte drinking, prius driving, crypto-provos of the fourth green field/shinner axis!

Gene Kerrigan and maybe Shane Ross are the exceptions to the Sindo Borg editorial collective. Ross sticks to business stuff which probably bores them ****less while Kerrigan as the pet "liberal journalist" reminds me of the human incubators for the alien queen in "Aliens". Reading between the lines of his articles you can just about hear him croak: "Help ... please kill me .."

Sergeant

If you don't like it, don't buy it. If you find it offensive/annoying don't read it.

imme

Sergeant wrote: »

If you don't like it, don't buy it. If you find it offensive/annoying don't read it.

oh right, thanks.
Do you know what this thread is about?

Sergeant

I absolutely know what this thread is about. I just realise that I have a wide choice of media to digest on in my day. If I don't agree with the viewpoint of the Sindo, then I don't read it. Over one million people do.
How dare they! If only Indymedia had a print edition.....

I don't look for objectivity in the Sindo, the Guardian, the Wall Street Journal, the Sun. I'm aware of the papers slant or bias in advance.

imme

Thanks for that Sargeant.
I don't buy the Sindo but sometimes read it. I understand that newspapers take certain angles. Thanks for that. I'm not having a go at you Sargeant. But the reason I started the thread was that I was taken aback by their treatment. The Indo Group has had a pro-FF viewpoint since 1997, I'm aware of this. But their treatment of the O'Dea-affair I thought was a new departure for them.
It was like the death of a statesman or something.

I see the Sindo changing in the near future with the retirement of the current ed.

jdivision

The Indo group didn't have a pro-O'Dea approach. The Sindo did. And you haven't asked why. Truth is... it's because they don't have anything else to write about.

copacetic

The Sindo is simply a Fianna Fail mouthpiece/tabloid rag. Expecting anything more from them is setting yourself up for major dissapointment.

PeterIanStaker

Sindo is only drivel really. I can be proud of the fact I weaned my parents off it.

Dad "I dont know why I keep buying this sh*te"
Me "well then don't buy it"

imme

PeterIanStaker wrote: »

Sindo is only drivel really. I can be proud of the fact I weaned my parents off it.

Dad "I dont know why I keep buying this sh*te"
Me "well then don't buy it"

What did you steer them on to?

PeterIanStaker

imme wrote: »

What did you steer them on to?

Didnt steer them on to another paper, just got them to stop buying it.