Newstalk Megathread 22/08/16 to date

You are Completely wrong, and some extraordinary assertions & conclusions you've come to about other posters. Your post seems to almost sound like press release in defence of Radio presenters & a particular organisation & curiously directed at posters from a different thread, you've opened the door , so here goes.

You appear to be suggesting posters are on the Spectrum and have underlying issues, that's quite disgraceful and I hope that has been reported.

I've shut off RTE Radio 1 almost entirely, basically because if they are not acting as a press office for government, they are consumed by Virtue signalling, I've asked them why not rebrand their flag ship program "Morning Ukraine"

Newstalk has its moments but some pretty dreadful presenters. Irish talk radio has gone to shyte and in my humble opinion, that's primarily driven by shockingly bad presenters, too cowardly to ask difficult questions, it's like a popularity contest between themselves.

Caller led shows are infact presenter led shows with no objectivity who use the platform to push their own agenda's, plug friends and use Petulant bully boy tactics to get their own views heard , it's disgraceful.

But more recently our national broadcaster reached new lows....

This is the type of Shyte I call out when a national broadcaster decides to give air time via an over paid fool, not once but twice to this type of cretin. A right wing fascist who the presenter seems to think is deserving of a Medal .

I've two words for that notion, but I'll be polite.

it is not just ‘differing opinions’ - it is prolonged obsession wanting to hate something and vent.

Yet keep returning time and again it just seems odd to me, that is just my opinion. And statistically there are are bound to be underlying issues for At least some posters should fall into that category.

Those who constantly engage about radio shows or people they ‘hate. Constantly almost like a hobby. We all have seen them on boards.ie.

Differing opinions- OK fair enough no problem. That is normal and healthy.

But Constant venting said opinions to ‘hate’ xyz when clearly a person does not ‘enjoy’ xyz personality or xyz on a radio program for example - it screams ‘underlying issues’ to me. And massive insecurities at the very least.

But such people could be doing worse I suppose. It might help them and give them a release from ‘underlying issues’. And hopefully it does not exacerbate them.

Observation and paying attention to psychological analysis on the mentality in forums such as there has been a myriad of case studies on how some internet communities are formed and why. Particularly those who dislike something or someone - such members of a community can be more vitriolic and obessive.

Much in the same way many users on here are not de facto experts on radio/the media.

If the proper research is done people can become educated on the topic.

With a mix of research on what the experts say. Allied to anecdotal evidence. When armed with such information/knowledge boards.ie not only becomes a forum to share views but a microcosm of the human condition. Which I find fascinating of itself. As you begin to look at not only what people post, but WHY they post. Also with this vantage it enables posters including me to reflect on what they post.

On boards.ie it is particularly fascinating to observe the radio forums almost as a Petri dish of sorts. And given I have some amateur broadcast radio experience for fun. This allied to reading past studies of the psychological condition on internet forums can become eye opening. And as a result I don’t just read posts. If a poster is particularly aggravated and has a certain repeated pattern of aggravation, I find myself asking. Why?

I suppose this is particularly relevant considering Newstalk had a young mental health activist on today. It got me thinking if social media and forums such as these are a hinderance or a help in general.

Particularly an individual who declares themselves the defacto leader of a group it must be hard going from a psychological point of view.

But I believe tolerance must be shown to such individuals. As nobody knows what/if any underlying issues a person may have. It is nice to be nice as the song goes.

It’s not too much of a “stretch” to assume that anyone who goes out of their way to listen to a show they, clearly, hate, and that gets them quite upset, has some form of mental illness or are on the autism spectrum.

Doubly so for those who, upon missing said hated show, go searching for it on the “listen back” function and actively wind themselves up over what they listen to.

That is not normal behaviour and those who “engage” in it would do well to visit their GP to get proper help.

Gave up listening. Going to podcasts for my history fix instead.

I found it very rushed, the presentation style annoyed me. Bang of elitism off it too.

Found the debate on the health sector well informed. Particularly the ambulance worker. He seemed very frustrated about the whole setup. And all the stuff he had to do and work around.

But I did find it more than a bit ironic that Pat mentioned the divide between private healthcare and public. Then it was immediately followed by the cash thing 76k. And just after that an advert for Mater Private Healthcare.

My mind could not help join the dots. Win the cash machine thing and the winner can get private healthcare no bother!

I think the truth is somewhere in the middle. Feel sorry for the Gardai. They have to prioritise all the time. Plus the amount of risk in their job is massive as an predominantly unarmed force.

i couldn't believe it!

Bet forfeits (She actually asked Pat would he ever get a tattoo of Marty Whel as a forfeit for losing a bet!) and whether cars should be allowed on to beaches.

They should lose the "News" part from the name of the staion. Most o the time it's just talk. Inane, fatuous, talk

They've actually started interviewing winners of the cash machine

I put a lot of the blame on the judges. It must be extremely demoralised to keep arresting the same people over and over again, going through the prosecution process, hearing them convicted and straight out back onto the street. In all honesty, why would you bother?

No sign of Ciara Kelly on Newstalk breakfast for a while. Is it too much to hope that she might be gone for good?