Broadsheet.ie & IT deleting articles relating to Kate's death

seeing_ie · 30-11-2011 9:35am #1

http://parallelevision.wordpress.com/2011/11/29/kate-broadsheet-the-irish-times-and-the-mysterious-case-of-the-disappearing-articles/

Here's the relevant article from google's cache.

Paricularly relevant in light of Gary Speed's death and the ongoing debate surrounding suicide currently.

Censored? Smells like expensive attack lawyers to me.

Guill · 30-11-2011 9:42am

Identifying the employer without proper proof could be an expensive slip. Suicide and depression should always be talked about openly but lets not libel people.

seeing_ie · 30-11-2011 12:43pm

Update on this here

http://www.broadsheet.ie/2011/11/30/kate-fitzgerald/

It's trending on #katefitzgerald too.

AnonoBoy · 30-11-2011 12:48pm

This will end up in court.

seeing_ie · 30-11-2011 12:59pm

Can't see how the company alleged to be involved here would want a light shone on their alleged operations in this case.
Allegedly.

reprazant · 30-11-2011 1:03pm

AnonoBoy wrote: »

This will end up in court.

Agreed.

If the IT took their piece down, obviously the threat is real enough to scare them.

Since broadsheet is only a small operation, I fear for them really.

Giruilla · 30-11-2011 1:04pm

Fair f'in play to broadsheet.

Snakeblood · 30-11-2011 1:06pm

Yeah, well done broadsheet. I suppose they have less to lose than the Irish Times, but it sticks in my craw when people run scared of libel allegations.

seeing_ie · 30-11-2011 1:27pm

wow.

Kate, Fitzgerald and Broadsheet trending big on twitter.

http://trendsmap.com/local/ireland

Can't see anything legal happening in this environment.

mikom · 30-11-2011 1:28pm

Anyone know what PR company are allegedly polishing Enda Kennys state of the nation speech?

mike65 · 30-11-2011 1:31pm

This thread needs a better title.

Its typical that a PR machine reacts by issuing threats rather than being open, esp Fitzgerald was not entirely hostile to The Communications Clinic in her posthumous article

Mine was not a work-related illness. However, when I was released and when I returned to my office, things became different. I knew it would be difficult to explain to my employer, and I knew it would be difficult for them to understand an illness with no visible symptoms.

When I returned from my two-week stint in mental health limbo, where doctors and nurses admonished me for my apparent need for control, my definition of myself through the value of my trade, I expected to be accepted back as the hard-working employee I have always been.

I do not blame my employer. Ultimately those who have not suffered from the illness do not know how to approach it in others – even those who have suffered from it may find it difficult. When I returned I found myself pitying my manager who met the story of my misery with confusion.

That the IT ran for their lawyers and edited the article is no surprise.

seeing_ie · 30-11-2011 1:36pm

mikom wrote: »

Anyone know what PR company are allegedly polishing Enda Kennys state of the nation speech?

Or what PR company are allegedly handling the Catholic Church's abuse allegations in Raphoe today?

mikom · 30-11-2011 1:40pm

seeing_ie wrote: »

Or what PR company are allegedly handling the Catholic Church's abuse allegations in Raphoe today?

Runnin' with the hare and huntin' with hounds.
How many collection baskets did that cost?

Crann na Beatha · 30-11-2011 1:46pm

This post has been deleted.

dav3 · 30-11-2011 1:46pm

Fair play to broadsheet.ie. Disgraceful and disgusting behavior from that PR company. A company, who in my own opinion has contributed nothing positive to this country.

mike65 · 30-11-2011 1:46pm

From http://communicationsclinic.ie/crisis.html

We’re real good in a crisis. And we’ve dealt with a lot of them. Tourism disasters, oil spills, accidental poisonings, crashes, explosions and innumerable corporate embarrassments.

And some of them make great stories. Stories that we can’t tell. Because our first job in most crises is to minimise their public impact, which militates against us talking about them.

We can’t tell you what we’ve done, but we can tell you how we do it.

We begin by doing nothing publicly. Nada. Zilch. Not a sausage. Until we know the facts. We dig, interrogate, investigate and question until we have every salient piece of data. And we do that as fast as possible.

Once the data is in we advise what to do. And we prepare the communications. That might mean prepping the client for a press conference or interviews, drafting press statements, FAQs, community letters. Or it might mean arranging briefings with media or shareholders or staff.

If you have a crisis and you call us, we can promise you a number of things; we’ll provide you the best in the business. We’ll take your crisis as seriously as you do. We will be with you, side-by-side until the crisis is over.

Giruilla · 30-11-2011 1:48pm

dav3 wrote: »

Fair play to broadsheet.ie. Disgraceful and disgusting behavior from that PR company. A company, who in my own opinion has contributed nothing positive to this country.

Looked at their website there... hideous cringe worthy stuff.

RachaelVO · 30-11-2011 1:49pm

They've posted it back up, and they have put the articles back online

http://www.broadsheet.ie/2011/11/30/kate-fitzgerald/#comments

Many people have asked us why we removed the two posts concerning Kate Fitzgerald, the 25-year-old writer and PR consultant who took her own life in August.

The short answer is that we were scared.

Our first post on Saturday was a direct report and link to an Irish Times article on Kate’s life and death by Peter Murtagh.

The article revealed that Kate was the author of an anonymous column that was published in the paper in September. This was a plea for a greater understanding of depression in the Irish workplace. It detailed Kate’s own struggle, a suicide attempt and hospitalisation and her disappointment at the subsequent attitude of her employer towards her condition.

After we posted the item it became clear that Kate’s employer had been The Communications Clinic, the media training company owned by Terry Prone, her husband Tom Savage, and their son, Anton Savage.

We then discovered that a month before Kate’s suicide, Karagh Fox, a 26-year-old employee at the company, at an Employment Appeals Tribunal hearing, made a number of serious claims against senior staff and management at the Communications Clinic alleging bullying and intimidation. The case appears to have been settled in October.

On Monday morning, we posted Kate’s column from the Irish Times alongside a report in the Irish Independent of the tribunal hearing which included the allegations made by Ms Fox.

On Monday afternoon we noticed the original article by Kate on the Irish Times website had been crudely altered. Three key paragraphs relating to her employer had been removed without explanation.

The excised sentences from Kate’s column were among those we had published ourselves. The Irish Times, we have since learned, was asked to remove the paragraphs after being threatened with legal action by The Communications Clinic.

Later that evening we were warned by a journalist that a “libel landmine was about to blow up in our faces”, that Kate had been “mentally ill” and that she had never complained to her colleagues or management about their attitude towards her illness. We now understand and it is our honestly held view that the journalist was told to issue the message to us and that it had originally come from a senior member of the Communications Clinic.

At about 1.30am, after getting legal advice, we removed the posts.

Yesterday morning, we received an email from Kate’s mother Sally Fitzgerald.

She said she was horrified at the Irish Times for “butchering” her daughter’s article and was concerned that we had removed our posts under threat of legal action.

We spoke with Sally on the phone and explained to her the sequence of events that led to us taking down our posts.

Sally and her husband Tom wish to make it clear that they back “every word” Kate wrote in her original article.

We have reinstated both posts because we believe it is in the public interest to do so and they are available below.

The Story Of Kate Fitzgerald

A Breakdown In Communications

I have never rated Terry Prone, but never really minded Anton, pretty sure I don't think so highly of him now! Someone should mention this when he's doing The Apprentice You're Fired. I hope they do and I hear it back, cos I won't be watching it! (should actually point out, I don't watch it anyway, but if I did watch it i'd stop

)

splitrmx · 30-11-2011 2:16pm

Irish Time article, bits they removed are in bold:

Mine was not a work-related illness. At least not before I entered the hospital. However, when I was released and when I returned to my office, things became different. I knew it would be difficult to explain to my employer, and I knew it would be difficult for them to understand an illness with no visible symptoms. I did not, however, expect that I would be met with casual hostility, with passive-aggressive references to my mental incapacity for my profession, and my apparently perceived “plan” to leave the company entirely in the lurch.

“When I returned from my two-week stint in mental health limbo, where doctors and nurses admonished me for my apparent need for control, my definition of myself through the value of my trade, I expected to be accepted back as the hard-working employee I have always been.

I do not blame my employer. Ultimately those who have not suffered from the illness do not know how to approach it in others – even those who have suffered from it may find it difficult. When I returned I found myself pitying my manager who met the story of my misery with confusion and the suggestion that I could not be trusted with seniority. I was accused of planning my absence. Every question seemed posed with the hope that it might bolster a preconceived notion.

She added:

Clearly, they had no idea what to do.
Much of what my employer has done and said since my absence has been illegal. And I do not think for a minute that what my employer did was an isolated incident.

Sooopie · 30-11-2011 2:19pm

Its disgraceful what they've done here.

Morag · 30-11-2011 2:28pm

Seem they are having a nice lesson in the Streisand effect today.

mehfesto · 30-11-2011 2:33pm

Take it Joe Duffy won't be covering this then... :pac:

im invisible · 30-11-2011 2:38pm

Sharrow wrote: »

Seem they are having a nice lesson in the Streisand effect today.

who? :pac:

Sooopie · 30-11-2011 2:41pm

Sharrow wrote: »

Seem they are having a nice lesson in the Streisand effect today.

yawha

seamus · 30-11-2011 2:47pm

A PR company who don't understand how to manage their own online PR. It's always better to let sleeping dogs lie.

Good job guys.

splitrmx · 30-11-2011 3:14pm

mikom wrote: »

Anyone know what PR company are allegedly polishing Enda Kennys state of the nation speech?

I know you know already, but for public record it was mentioned in an Irish Independent article too:

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/budget/enda-may-use-toy-show-slot-for-speech-to-nation-2947299.html

'It's the normal team. He (Mr Kenny) works on and finalises all his speeches himself," a government source said.

PR consultant Terry Prone, whose Communications Clinic often does work for Fine Gael, was also being mentioned for "polishing".'

It's also worth mentioning again that the director of the Communications Clinic is Tom Savage, who is the Chairman of the RTÉ Authority. The chairman of the Communications Clinic, Terry Prone, writes a weekly opinion column for the Irish Examiner newspaper.

mikom · 30-11-2011 3:14pm

Anyone know who is heading up the RTÉ Authority inquiry into Prime Time Investigates breaches of ethics?

http://www.rte.ie/about/authority.html

Edit: just beaten to it by splitrmx (same post time lol).

Nodin · 30-11-2011 3:21pm

mike65 wrote: »

From http://communicationsclinic.ie/crisis.html

And what great work they did for Gay in the presedential election.

cml387 · 30-11-2011 3:27pm

im invisible wrote: »

who? :pac:

The effect of attempting to hide or obstruct a story is to make the story bigger.

Einhard · 30-11-2011 3:31pm

Don't see how the Times could be sued for libel considering neither of their articles mentioned the Communications Clinic.

seeing_ie · 30-11-2011 3:46pm

splitrmx wrote: »

I know you know already, but for public record it was mentioned in an Irish Independent article too:

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/budget/enda-may-use-toy-show-slot-for-speech-to-nation-2947299.html

'It's the normal team. He (Mr Kenny) works on and finalises all his speeches himself," a government source said.

PR consultant Terry Prone, whose Communications Clinic often does work for Fine Gael, was also being mentioned for "polishing".'

It's also worth mentioning again that the director of the Communications Clinic is Tom Savage, who is the Chairman of the RTÉ Authority. The chairman of the Communications Clinic, Terry Prone, writes a weekly opinion column for the Irish Examiner newspaper.

Worth mentioning too that their son Anton Savage, who gets all his media work on his own merits, also works for the Communications Clinic.

Sooopie · 30-11-2011 3:54pm

seeing_ie wrote: »

Worth mentioning too that their son Anton Savage, who gets all his media work on his own merits, also works for the Communications Clinic.

lolz

Logical Fallacy · 30-11-2011 3:56pm

splitrmx wrote: »

I know you know already, but for public record it was mentioned in an Irish Independent article too:

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/budget/enda-may-use-toy-show-slot-for-speech-to-nation-2947299.html

'It's the normal team. He (Mr Kenny) works on and finalises all his speeches himself," a government source said.

PR consultant Terry Prone, whose Communications Clinic often does work for Fine Gael, was also being mentioned for "polishing".'

It's also worth mentioning again that the director of the Communications Clinic is Tom Savage, who is the Chairman of the RTÉ Authority. The chairman of the Communications Clinic, Terry Prone, writes a weekly opinion column for the Irish Examiner newspaper.

Last time i checked Enda just borrows from Obama.

dav3 · 30-11-2011 4:04pm

seeing_ie wrote: »

Worth mentioning too that their son Anton Savage, who gets all his media work on his own merits, also works for the Communications Clinic.

Not a chance that he gets all his media work on his own merits. He has a lot of "connections".
Maybe if he stood down as managing director I might have a bit more respect for him.

tbh · 30-11-2011 4:21pm

dav3 wrote: »

Not a chance that he gets all his media work on his own merits. He has a lot of "connections".
Maybe if he stood down as managing director I might have a bit more respect for him.

sar·casm/ˈsärˌkazəm/
Noun:
The use of irony to mock or convey contempt.

oceanclub · 30-11-2011 5:30pm

Fair play to Anton Savage; the Sunday Supplement can only go from strength to strength by replacing a long-time award-winning journalist who took on Lowry and won (BORRRRRRRRRING) with someone who lifted themselves up from the slums of Belvedere College and through sheer hard work, as a teenager, got Marian Finucane and Pat Kenny to let him onto their shows. (http://www.examiner.ie/weekend/features/the-go-to-guy-141294.html). Having someone who does PR for politicians doing a political radio show is a fantastic idea, since it means we'll only hear about politicians (well, some of them) at their best.

P.

Nodin · 30-11-2011 5:33pm

oceanclub wrote: »

Fair play to Anton Savage; the Sunday Supplement can only go from strength to strength by replacing a long-time award-winning journalist who took on Lowry and won (BORRRRRRRRRING) with someone who lifted themselves up from the slums of Belvedere College and through sheer hard work, as a teenager, got Marian Finucane and Pat Kenny to let him onto their shows. (http://www.examiner.ie/weekend/features/the-go-to-guy-141294.html). Having someone who does PR for politicians doing a political radio show is a fantastic idea, since it means we'll only hear about politicians (well, some of them) at their best.

P.

It's truly wonderful to know we live in a country where ability is treasured over connection.

Donal Og O Baelach · 30-11-2011 5:39pm

splitrmx wrote: »

Irish Time article, bits they removed are in bold:

Mine was not a work-related illness. At least not before I entered the hospital. However, when I was released and when I returned to my office, things became different. I knew it would be difficult to explain to my employer, and I knew it would be difficult for them to understand an illness with no visible symptoms. I did not, however, expect that I would be met with casual hostility, with passive-aggressive references to my mental incapacity for my profession, and my apparently perceived “plan” to leave the company entirely in the lurch.

“When I returned from my two-week stint in mental health limbo, where doctors and nurses admonished me for my apparent need for control, my definition of myself through the value of my trade, I expected to be accepted back as the hard-working employee I have always been.

I do not blame my employer. Ultimately those who have not suffered from the illness do not know how to approach it in others – even those who have suffered from it may find it difficult. When I returned I found myself pitying my manager who met the story of my misery with confusion and the suggestion that I could not be trusted with seniority. I was accused of planning my absence. Every question seemed posed with the hope that it might bolster a preconceived notion.

She added:

Clearly, they had no idea what to do.
Much of what my employer has done and said since my absence has been illegal. And I do not think for a minute that what my employer did was an isolated incident.

Thanks for that. The original article was toothless without the omissions.

oceanclub · 30-11-2011 5:41pm

Nodin wrote: »

It's truly wonderful to know we live in a country where ability is treasured over connection.

Both Ryan Tubridy & Anton Savage started off as kids reviewing books on RTE. What a great scheme to get average working-class kids into media.

P.

Teyla Emmagan · 30-11-2011 5:43pm

That poor girl.

Am delighted this has come out if it's all true.

LizT · 30-11-2011 6:28pm

Saw that on broadsheet, fair play to them.

Depression is still almost a taboo in this country, a lot of people have no idea how to spot signs of depression, some people think it's still all in someone's head (in my own experience anyway).

Cannot believe this isn't getting more coverage.

seeing_ie · 30-11-2011 7:12pm

worth lifting from broadsheet:

Article from The Phoenix, 4/11/2011:
ANTON’S CONFLICT OF INTEREST
SACKING Sam Smyth from his Today FM Sunday Supplement show says something about the antagonism between the journalist and station owner Denis O’Brien, but the replacement of Smyth with PR consultant Anton
Savage says even more about the news values of the media and telecoms billionaire.
The editorial clarion call within O’Brien’s other national radio station, Newstalk FM, has been for cheery, positive news as opposed to the doom and gloom purveyed by various media (recession, what recession?). It was one of the pressures cited by broadcasters like Eamon Dunphy before he walked out of that station recently. And nobody does good news better than public relations executive Savage, whose presence in both the world of PR and media is ubiquitous.
Clearly, Anton is regarded with much favour at Today FM where he is a presence now on three programmes, if one includes Smyth’s show which he is to take over in the New Year. Anton is a regular substitute for Matt Cooper on Today FM’s The Last Word and he also alternates on the station’s Sunday Business Show. Anton is also a regular sub for various RTÉ programmes during summer hols for the broadcasting stars.
That Anton is a prolific broadcaster is neither here nor there. But he is also a director – along with Mum, Terry Prone and Dad, chairman of the RTÉ board, Tom Savage – in The Communications Clinic. The Clinic’s clients, according to its own promotional literature, include “international blue chips in manufacturing, pharmaceutical, electronics and energy… a bunch of government departments… some politicians” and “a clutch of the country’stop broadcasters”. Crucially, the clinic guarantees client confidentiality.
Quite apart from the good news culture that PR work for the powerful and the wealthy naturally inclines to, this lucrative line of work involves obligation to the same quarters, specifically, in promoting and protecting their good name. And not only does the anonymous client list above include some of the biggest companies in Ireland, it also includes “some politicians”, composed mainly of those in the largest party in government, namely, Fine Gael. In fact, Anton has for some years now trained Enda Kenny in media performance, while Terry trained Gay Mitchell for his presidential outing (you can see more than one reason here for the commitment to confidentiality).
Nobody is accusing Anton of deliberately promoting his confidential clients but there is a blindingly obvious conflict of interest inherent in hosting current affairs and business
programmes that must sometimes touch on the interests of the prominent politicians and businesses that the Clinic services. Equally interesting is the client category of “top broadcasters” whose identity is unknown and whose employers – RTÉ, Newstalk, Today FM? – is also confidential. The phrase ‘conflict of interest’ seems entirely inadequate to describe the multiple situations that Anton finds himself mired in.

So we, the taxpayers, pay the politicians ridiculously inflated salaries so they can pay The Communications Clinic to teach them how to bull**** us, the taxpayers.
It's the circle, the circle of life!

Not forgetting that we, the taxpayers, will probably spend the next 20 years paying for the failure of the politicans to govern effectively.

Grand so.

mikom · 30-11-2011 7:18pm

I believe the thread about Kate Fitzgerald on politics.ie has been pulled.
How much longer will this one last.....

Edit: Seems to be back now.

seeing_ie · 30-11-2011 7:57pm

Would it be wrong to say that part of Kate Fitzgerald's legacy might be to draw attention to the ignorance surrounding mental health in Ireland?

If any good could come from her passing, it's that a light has finally been shone on the murky connections between the political establishment, the media and Terry Prone/Anton Savage/Tom Savage/The Communications Clinic.

Cold comfort to her family and friends.

El_Dangeroso · 30-11-2011 8:53pm

lizt wrote: »

Saw that on broadsheet, fair play to them.

Depression is still almost a taboo in this country, a lot of people have no idea how to spot signs of depression, some people think it's still all in someone's head (in my own experience anyway).

Cannot believe this isn't getting more coverage.

Who would cover it?

Shame on the Irish media, this seems to be a slight glimpse into the unseemly cozy cartel that operates between the media and politics in this country.

Dudess · 30-11-2011 9:01pm

That poor young woman was ill though. While the employer is doing itself no favours, it would be wrong to imply it is responsible.
Heartbreakingly sad case...

The Sparrow · 30-11-2011 9:04pm

I didn't realise how closely Anton Savage was connected to The Communications Clinic. It is actually horrendous when you think that a man who counts the largest political party and the Taoiseach as one of his PR clients is allowed to present current affairs programming that is supposed to be examining and scrutinising the performance of the government and the Taoiseach.

I never realised this all the times I listened to Anton Savage filling in for Matt Cooper on The Last Word. From now on, I'll be switching the station when he is on. And it really calls into the question the editorial independence of the entire programme.

And that's not even mentioning the substance of this report that The Communications Clinic sought to suppress potentially negative story about them by threatening legal action and The Irish Times bottled it and edited the story even though there was no mention of The Communications Clinic.

El_Dangeroso · 30-11-2011 9:07pm

Dudess wrote: »

That poor young woman was ill though. While the employer is doing itself no favours, it would be wrong to imply it is responsible.
Heartbreakingly sad case...

Not for the suicide of course, but Jesus, this kind of sh*t should be exposed and reported on.

strobe · 30-11-2011 9:16pm

The Sparrow wrote: »

I never realised this all the times I listened to Anton Savage filling in for Matt Cooper on The Last Word. From now on, I'll be switching the station when he is on.

If you never noticed it, and from your above comment I take it you are a regular listener, does that not speak in favour of the guys objectivity when he is in a broadcasting role?

The Sparrow · 30-11-2011 9:21pm

strobe wrote: »

If you never noticed it, and from your above comment I take it you are a regular listener, does that not speak in favour of the guys objectivity when he is in a broadcasting role?

Not really. And anyway, the problem is the conflict of interest not whether he is biased one way or the other. Do you not think it is a clear conflict of interest that the man who is paid by the Taoiseach to try and make him look good is allowed to present a current affiars programme that is supposed to be scrutinising the performance of the Taoiseach?

tbh · 30-11-2011 9:43pm

Dudess wrote: »

That poor young woman was ill though. While the employer is doing itself no favours, it would be wrong to imply it is responsible.
Heartbreakingly sad case...

the article doesn't imply that it was the employers fault, the problems arises because in her article, she criticized the employers (she didn't name them) for the way they treated her when she returned, and the company put pressure on the IT, and subsequently broadsheet, to pull the accusations she made. The IT did, Broadsheet didn't.

This is added to the fact that a woman sued the same company over bullying allegations, and broadsheet are saying that they are unable to find any record of the outcome of that case.

I think people are a bit pissed off at the heavy handed tactics employed by the company in question.

Broadsheet.ie & IT deleting articles relating to Kate's death

Comments