Are the media being too negative

Davekoolhill

Here's one i seen today, it's asking if the media are being too negative about things.

http://tiny.cc/gh824

I heard that Greek media are being banned from discussing the bailout. Maybe the same should apply to media in Ireland. What do you think?

Cookie_Monster

If anything they are being too easy on the Gov and taking a light touch on the whole issue.

The country is ****ed, people need to know and understand exactly how, why and what being done and how it affects them and their families and work places. There are very few people in the media asking hard questions to the gov and getting detailed (honest) answers about the situation.

Banning talk of the bailout in Greece is crazy, that's the government just trying to hide the scale of thing from the people.

Davekoolhill

but in terms of the huge amount of coverage the bailout is getting. should our media organisation cover more positive items.

krissovo

The media are over hyping the situation, so much so that people with money are not spending it due to the media over dramatizing the situation.

leeroybrown

I'd disagree. If anything the media are putting out a deliberately balanced, bland and less negative view of the overall economic crisis than they strictly need to. Some individual articles and opinion pieces give more negative light but the bulk of coverage isn't overly negative. There's lots of coverage around small individual areas of the economy but no substance to any discussions.

Also, a media ban would be ridiculous.

sollar

They didn't go hard enough on the last government at all. We had big readership papers like the sunday independent concentrating on the public sector and nobody give the two brians a proper grilling.

They should be asking brian cowan every time he steps outside his front door to explain exactly what happened on the night of the bank guarantee. Its amazing that there isn't a full account of that yet.

Cookie_Monster

Davekoolhill wrote: »

should our media organisation cover more positive items.

such as?

Davekoolhill

leeroybrown wrote: »

I'd disagree. If anything the media are putting out a deliberately balanced, bland and less negative view of the overall economic crisis than they strictly need to. Some individual articles and opinion pieces give more negative light but the bulk of coverage isn't overly negative. There's lots of coverage around small individual areas of the economy but no substance to any discussions.

Also, a media ban would be ridiculous.

A media ban would be rediculous. I think people are fed up of reading about percentage figures.

Sand

What would be preferable? Endless reruns of the 2006 Easter military parades, overlaid with stirring patriotic music?

DoesNotCompute

Davekoolhill wrote: »

Are the media being too negative?

Definitely, yes. The Irish Indo, especially, are really showing their true colours, and are criticising the new Govt and the civil/public service at every available oppurtunity. They so bloody negative it's depressing to read.

sollar

DoesNotCompute wrote: »

Definitely, yes. The Irish Indo, especially, are really showing their true colours, and are criticising the new Govt and the civil/public service at every available oppurtunity. They so bloody negative it's depressing to read.

The same outfit that bigged up the property boom like no other.

Davekoolhill

Well I reckon that a lot of people are fed up of seeing interest rates etc.

Dannyboy83

Davekoolhill wrote: »

I heard that Greek media are being banned from discussing the bailout.

I don't think this is correct.

Maybe the same should apply to media in Ireland. What do you think?

"Sitting on the sidelines, cribbing and moaning is a lost opportunity. I don't know how people who engage in that don't commit suicide because frankly the only thing that motivates me is being able to actively change something," Ahern said.

SOFT LANDING, UGABOOGA!!!
STOP TALKING DOWN THE ECONOMY!!!

Davekoolhill

spot on dannyboy

dan_d

Davekoolhill wrote: »

Here's one i seen today, it's asking if the media are being too negative about things.

http://tiny.cc/gh824

I heard that Greek media are being banned from discussing the bailout. Maybe the same should apply to media in Ireland. What do you think?

Yes, yes yes yes!!!

They have done untold amounts of damage in the last 10 years, and they continue to rampage through everything in the name of letting people know what's going on.

Reporting is one thing. Writing editorials and comments and essentially presenting them as facts and the real story is a whole other thing. Reams has been written about this but it's the pieces that are written as somebody's personal opinion that have probably caused the most damage. Alongside those written by the Malcolm O' Kelly's and the David Williamses....People don't differentiate. They usually read and think it's in a newspaper so it must be true. now that says something about the intelligence of the reading public, I will admit, but journalists should have more care when commenting on our financial situation.

I stopped buying the papers last year, because I was unemployed and it was too depressing. Ironically I took to haunting the politics section of Boards instead which is almost as, if not more depressing. Having said that, I do think the papers are extremely negative about the situation we are in, and it annoys the hell out of me because they contributed so much to the bubble. They gained from the property ads, the produced the massive property sections, they drummed in the words "property ladder" and "starter homes" (sometimes they STILL use those words...:mad:), they hyped the whole thing up further and whipped up the hysteria. What happened wasn't their fault per se, but they certainly had a hand in it. And now they are going the opposite direction. Which is highly hypocritical, and incredibly annoying. Again, it's not their fault, and yes, they do have to report what's going on, but I think they should be far more careful about what they say/write.

Cookie_Monster

dan_d wrote: »

Reporting is one thing. Writing editorials and comments and essentially presenting them as facts and the real story is a whole other thing. Reams has been written about this but it's the pieces that are written as somebody's personal opinion that have probably caused the most damage.

actually, yes I would certainly agree with that side of the media being far to un controlled with how they present stories of figures.

Red Alert

They are being far too easy on both the current and previous governments. They present any restructuring as catastrophic, which interestingly is the view shared by the politicians and bankers whose action caused the crisis.

leeroybrown

Most of them wouldn't even bother checking the copy that came out from Cabinet, Finance or the Central Bank so long as it means an easy story for them.

thebman

Our media would be best be described as a PR regurgitation service.

Where is Ireland's investigative journalism?

Died with Veronica Guerin it seems. Not even willing to investigate politics or analyse political discussion properly anymore.

Irish politics show tend to go along the lines of:

J: Minister what do you think of X.
M: X is going so fantastically well, you wouldn't believe it.
J: But do you really believe that Minister given what happened today?
M: Yes I do Kent.
J: Well alrighty then, we'll be back after the break with the newspapers.

Vincent Brown does the best job of exposing that it is going on but he can't really press any harder or they will refuse to come on his show IMO. I think RTE is primarily responsible for this forced easy interviewing we see in our society as ministers can just refuse to go on any hard hitting shows and RTE will still give them an easy interview to explain themselves.

tara73

Davekoolhill wrote: »

I heard that Greek media are being banned from discussing the bailout. Maybe the same should apply to media in Ireland. What do you think?

the media might be hyping or speculating, but still it reflects more or less the truth.

do you think a ban is an alternative? I consider a media ban an instrument preferably used in dictatorships, so no, I better have some sort of hype than being left in the nothing.

johnnyskeleton

Davekoolhill wrote: »

Here's one i seen today, it's asking if the media are being too negative about things.

http://tiny.cc/gh824

I heard that Greek media are being banned from discussing the bailout. Maybe the same should apply to media in Ireland. What do you think?

People forget that Greece was ruled by a military junta in the 1970s and politically has been reeling from that ever since. Bad as Irish politics is, at least it is democractic. I would be extremely wary about abolishing democratic rights in Ireland because the Greeks are doing it. The Greek state should not be an example to us (unlike the nation, which is the birthplace of western civilisation, and the people, who are lovely).

In any event, here's a thought - why doesn't some entrepeneur go out and set up a new positive news only newspaper? Clearly, since everyone is clambouring for the good news and less doom and gloom, it would outsell all the others, thus creating employment and economic growth and in its own small way it would be a good news story in itself.

That is, unless of course people don't want to be fed overly optimistic drivel and want to read the truth. There is an argument that people prefer bad news to good news, but sure if that is the case then why not give it to them?

PeterIanStaker

The media in this country thrive on negativity and preaching to people about "why you should all . . " do this that or the other. The indo/sindo were sickeningly pro -FF and also seem to be giving this govt an easy ride, so far. The Irish Times, the least worst of them, isn't tackling the current govt hard enough either.

I reckon its because they're in no danger of being laid off, and they know there's a section of the population will buy their rags no matter what.