The failure of Irish Media to impartially report

Kivaro · 10-08-2018 2:19pm #1

RTE is our national broadcaster, but since their existence is protected by law (and politicians) and they are financed by taxing the citizens of this country, we know better than to expect impartial reporting from them. Liberalism can be a good thing sometimes, but RTE takes it to the extreme in their one-sided reporting of all things liberal. It is very disappointing that there is no competing entity in the country to balance this situation.

But what about the other media outlets in the country?
There are two sides to every story. There always is.
Look at the omnipresent Margaret Cash as an example.
On one hand you have a mother who ended up at a Garda station with her six children because she had no where else to go.
Definitely something to look at and report on.

However, what about the other side of the story. Margaret Cash, a criminal with involvement in Traveller gangs who terrorise communities around the country, but still receives approximately €50,000 in tax-free aid every year to support herself and her family. And yet she has ended up homeless ......... at a Garda station. Where is the examination of this aspect of the story?
There are many other examples of media bias in Ireland.

Irish media, with the exception of a very few, report the side of the story that will play well with certain political groups in the country; groups who would economically ruin Ireland if they came within a hair's breadth of power. The one-sided reporting of this homeless case is a slap in the face to those who contribute to society in a positive manner and a worse slap in the face who are truly vulnerable in this country.

Irish Media (in general) have failed the vast majority of the Irish population and they should never be trusted to tell us the truth. They have lost any sense of integrity and if we have any sense we should boycott their advertisers at the very least, and at the very most we should just ignore them. Maybe they know that their time is coming to an end and they are willing to grasp at sensationalist straws in order to stay afloat.

TheChizler · 10-08-2018 2:22pm

Surely it was reported at the time, how else would you know about it? Is your issue basically that they are currently reporting the current news story, and not reporting past news stories?

enricoh · 10-08-2018 2:33pm

Fair play to all the different government funded charities and quangos, they manage to keep housing in the spotlight, especially rte's
The ever populist Fianna fail have today said October's budget is to be a housing budget. There goes your tax cut down to a fiver a week while the dole goes up the same- great job! Lash another 500mil at the free gaff crowd on top of that. Then wonder in amazement as more people to join the free gaff list!

Wheeliebin30 · 10-08-2018 2:34pm

Leo called it correctly a few weeks back about the media in this country.

The outrage was nauseating.

James Brown · 10-08-2018 2:39pm

The move from generally right leaning online commentators to drive a mistrust of mainstream media is worrying. There has always been a bias in reporting. Pointing it out as a reason not to pay attention to the news is a gimmick designed to allow flagrant political cronyism and nest feathering go unchecked IMO.

We lose tens of millions from poor tax law regarding vulture funds, who exacerbate the housing crisis but fiver on the dole gets the outrage? ffs...

PlaneSpeeking · 10-08-2018 2:44pm

Matt Barrett wrote: »

The move from generally right leaning online commentators to drive a mistrust of mainstream media is worrying. There has always been a bias in reporting. Pointing it out as a reason not to pay attention to the news is a gimmick designed to allow flagrant political cronyism and nest feathering go unchecked IMO.

We lose tens of millions from poor tax law regarding vulture funds, who exacerbate the housing crisis but fiver on the dole gets the outrage? ffs...

B-b-b-but the bankers.....

Change the record eh ?

PlaneSpeeking · 10-08-2018 2:47pm

TheChizler wrote: »

Surely it was reported at the time, how else would you know about it? Is your issue basically that they are currently reporting the current news story, and not reporting past news stories?

I think it is more that an obvious hoax was perpetrated for the purposes of gain.

No one in the media questioned it, just reported it as gospel.

Journalists are here to report the news yes, but to ensure it is true and accurate and not just repeat a narrative parrot fashion without fact checking.

If Woodward and Bernstein has the RTE attitude Richard Nixon would be on the US bank notes and have a statue in Washington.

For Forks Sake · 10-08-2018 2:47pm

Matt Barrett wrote: »

The move from generally right leaning online commentators to drive a mistrust of mainstream media is worrying. There has always been a bias in reporting. Pointing it out as a reason not to pay attention to the news is a gimmick designed to allow flagrant political cronyism and nest feathering go unchecked IMO.

We lose tens of millions from poor tax law regarding vulture funds, who exacerbate the housing crisis but fiver on the dole gets the outrage? ffs...

How is this any relevant to the OP?

Mr. Incognito · 10-08-2018 2:52pm

I think the difficulty is that the are forced to impartially report without any investigation due to the shorter and shorter news cycles.

People print the first ill thought out vacouus non offensive crap to fill copy instead of doing any real research or applying any critical analysis.

Once a certain narrative is presented and repeated it is difficult to row back from

I love the phrase milk shake duck https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milkshake_Duck

It describes it perfectly.

CeilingFly · 10-08-2018 2:52pm

Journalism as a profession is all but gone.

The indo group has 3 or 4 journalists, the rest are writes with the aim to create the most sensationalist hysterical headline possible and write a similarly sensationalist story.

Same applies to most "news"papers. Irish time and business post are two exceptions, but they fall into the hysterical sensationalist trap regularly too.

It was obvious from the start that the Margaret cash scam was a scam, but the second rate interns that are in the media couldn't see it. A cursory check would have shown the criminal background, the anti social behaviour and the fact that the husband seems to be in prison.

PlaneSpeeking · 10-08-2018 2:53pm

For Forks Sake wrote: »

How is this any relevant to the OP?

It's not but the "Can Pay Sod Off We're Not Paying That's Your Job" crowd HAVE to shoehorn in as many excuses as possible as to why the lazy workshy scumbags are not to blame.

Even though they are.

Donald Trump · 10-08-2018 3:08pm

Fake News

Red_Wake · 10-08-2018 3:15pm

Where can I read about this women's sordid past.

Kivaro · 10-08-2018 3:23pm

Red_Wake wrote: »

Where can I read about this women's sordid past.

That's the amazing thing RW.
It was posters on the thread about her on After Hours and on social media that dug up all of this information, including her past criminal history and the abominable-slap-in-the-face-to-workers amount of welfare benefits that she receives every year. Is this the norm for us now to learn the real truth behind these stories?
Will there be an AH News Desk soon?

Jokes aside, mainstream Irish media are not to be trusted ..... we will need to seek out the truth ourselves.

mikemac2 · 10-08-2018 3:34pm

Around the time of the bank crash the Indo reported that AIB staff receive €2,400 every year to join golf clubs, tennis clubs, ride horses & horse-whip taxpayers bla bla

It was true that an allowance existed but they were stacks of conditions and it wasn’t an easy bonus. Staff pay the subscription and go to HR to claim a percentage. The very top figure was only for senior staff

Bank staff on low to average pay took a lot of needless abuse and this sort of rabble rousing didn’t help. Take one line from a HR manual and spin it

PlaneSpeeking · 10-08-2018 3:38pm

mikemac2 wrote: »

Around the time of the bank crash the Indo reported that AIB staff receive €2,400 every year to join golf clubs, tennis clubs, ride horses & horse-whip taxpayers bla bla

It was true that an allowance existed but they were stacks of conditions and it wasn’t an easy bonus. Staff pay the subscription and go to HR to claim a percentage. The very top figure was only for senior staff

Bank staff on low to average pay took a lot of needless abuse and this sort of rabble rousing didn’t help. Take one line from a HR manual and spin it

I was told that my Taxsaver ticket was a "perk", even when I pointed out that I do pay for it.

Pathetic the mental hoops some people jump through to further their agenda.

southstar · 10-08-2018 3:50pm

Kivaro wrote: »

That's the amazing thing RW.
It was posters on the thread about her on After Hours and on social media that dug up all of this information, including her past criminal history and the abominable-slap-in-the-face-to-workers amount of welfare benefits that she receives every year. Is this the norm for us now to learn the real truth behind these stories?
Will there be an AH News Desk soon?

Jokes aside, mainstream Irish media are not to be trusted ..... we will need to seek out the truth ourselves.

Sounds like a cross between Alex Jones and Captain Kirk.The housing problem is not going anywhere soon regardless of whether this woman is a brazen chancer or not...just keep that in mind

PlaneSpeeking · 10-08-2018 3:53pm

southstar wrote: »

Sounds like a cross between Alex Jones and Captain Kirk.The housing problem is not going anywhere soon regardless of whether this woman is a brazen chancer or not...just keep that in mind

But without questioning these people how can we be sure of the accuracy of the housing "crisis" ???

10-08-2018 3:53pm

If you want the inside story on any news story, particularly local news stories, you are much better off checking it out on boards.ie, P.ie, or the comments section on Joe.ie.

10-08-2018 3:54pm

There are some great journalists out there but sadly they are hamstrung by their bosses as to what can be published. I know a few who are disillusioned by their position as journalist as when they go back to their editor with a good concise factual story, it is edited beyond recognition in order not to offend or to affect sales.

There is no money or value in truth these days. Trump is wrong about a lot but he is right when he talks about fake news.

rizzodun · 10-08-2018 3:54pm

The media is the cause of all our problems.

How very American....

PlaneSpeeking · 10-08-2018 3:57pm

rizzodun wrote: »

The media is the cause of all our problems.

How very American....

Not the cause of all - but when they take scammers at face value and try to make a bad situation worse, they do have a lot to answer for.

10-08-2018 3:58pm

rizzodun wrote:

The media is the cause of all our problems.

Inaccurate reporting/propaganda is a very real cause of a lot of society's problems as the media we consume shapes our thoughts, beliefs and values. To downplay it's importance is dangerous.

rizzodun wrote:

How very American....

Probably because we consume mostly American media.

Point proven

suicide_circus · 10-08-2018 4:04pm

rizzodun wrote: »

The media is the cause of all our problems.

How very American....

yeah....no one is saying that.

the issue here is that the media at large are happy to play along with a two bit con artist's pantomime set up because it happens to coincide with a favourite hobby horse of theirs. and guess what. Ms Cash knew they would because of their complete lack of work ethic and integrity. a sad state of affairs for a once honourable trade.

topper75 · 10-08-2018 4:34pm

The media can either be:

a. The honest unbiased chroniclers of our times telling it like it is, always seeking truth

b. Commercial profit-motivated orgs desperately competing for attention and therefore sales

They can't be both.
Things are so competitive and in a state of upheaval now, they are pretty much all b.

griffin100 · 10-08-2018 5:33pm

Driving home tonight and flicking between the radio channels. At the same time RTE1 had a story about the tallaght fraud and how we should all be sorry it happened, Today FM had an piece about how racist we are in Ireland and NewsTalk had a Muslim academic on telling us we need to accept Islamist culture in this country.

The media has been taken over almost exclusively by social justice warriors. I actually got angry. Journalism is dead in this country.

Kivaro · 10-08-2018 6:23pm

RTE had the Margaret Cash story on the 6.1 news again this evening.
So I was looking at the complaints process (link) at RTE and under the code of practice for the handling of complaints, and at the very top of the section we have this:

RTÉ is obliged under Section 39 (1) of the Broadcasting Act 2009 to ensure that:
(a) all news broadcast is reported and presented in an objective and impartial manner and without any expression of the broadcaster's own views.

There is no way on earth that RTE can claim that the Margaret Cash reporting on yesterday's news was fair and balanced. It was completely partial and with zero objectivity.

The e-mail address for complaints is here ........ if anyone is interested:
complaints@rte.ie

Atoms for Peace · 10-08-2018 7:40pm

It's bad when a forum in the social & fun section is more incisive than the entirety of mainstream media.

kupus · 10-08-2018 8:10pm

Ireland is too small. Too many people are intertwined with other like minded individuals from other industries, old school ties, family ties or neighbourhood ties

It is like a house of cards, if one falls then they all fall.

However, in reality if one falls then they circle the wagons and protect each others backs.

Journalists don't want to rock the boat. If they do they end up out on their ear just like that woman journalist that can only blog these days

Case in point was the EU coming in during the recession and tell the lawyers to cop onto themselves and lower prices.. like that was going to happen. oh, but we got housing tax, I remember that definitely happening.
Or when the two biggest competing insurance companies in Ireland decide to NOT insure cars over 10 years....within hours of each other.

Where was all the investigative journalism then. nowhere they were too busy telling you that water is a divine right and should be free.
( Im one of the few people that believe you should pay for the ****ing thing )

And the sad thing about it. It is never going to change.

We are basically mushrooms, fed a load of horsesh1t and kept in the dark.

DickSwiveller Returns · 10-08-2018 8:13pm

We don't really have journalists in this country. There are a tiny few like Mick Clifford, but overall we have campaigners masquerading as journalists. The level of bias in Irish media is off the wall.

Wheeliebin30 · 10-08-2018 8:14pm

The media owe Eoghan Murphy and the government an apology over their disgraceful front page headlines which has given Ireland a bad name around the world.

All based on lies, shame on them and this cash yoke.

lawred2 · 10-08-2018 8:21pm

griffin100 wrote: »

Driving home tonight and flicking between the radio channels. At the same time RTE1 had a story about the tallaght fraud and how we should all be sorry it happened, Today FM had an piece about how racist we are in Ireland and NewsTalk had a Muslim academic on telling us we need to accept Islamist culture in this country.

The media has been taken over almost exclusively by social justice warriors. I actually got angry. Journalism is dead in this country.

Heard the same. All utterly mind numbing borefests.

Had to play a podcast

backspin. · 10-08-2018 8:25pm

PlaneSpeeking wrote: »

I think it is more that an obvious hoax was perpetrated for the purposes of gain.

No one in the media questioned it, just reported it as gospel.

Journalists are here to report the news yes, but to ensure it is true and accurate and not just repeat a narrative parrot fashion without fact checking.
.

By and large they are cowardly careerists. They will shy away from rocking the right on liberal boat. Safe to stand behind liberal causes, pro open borders, pro feminism, racism (white only btw).

A good example is that Sarah Jeong woman, most people will have heard of her through social media. Google Sarah Jeong and the irish times, RTE or the Independent. Nothing comes up. They avoided the story like the plague, its counter narrative.

dav3 · 10-08-2018 8:25pm

Wheeliebin30 wrote: »

The media owe Eoghan Murphy and the government an apology over their disgraceful front page headlines which has given Ireland a bad name around the world.

All based on lies, shame on them and this cash yoke.

Poor Murphy, he'll probably be out of a job soon enough with the way he's handled this.

Damn you (((media))) and your reporting of the housing and health crisis *shakes fist at cloud*

Atoms for Peace · 10-08-2018 8:26pm

The media here is ruled by cliques. Back in the seventies quite a radical left wing crowd, which included the likes of Eoin Harris before he disappeared up his own hole, seemed to pull a lot of strings in the background.

Then along came the future master of misery in Joe Duffy who became president of the usi. This in turn led to the decline of the champagne Bolshevik supporter base, the media started to take on a more liberal Catholic FF outlook with the likes of future president Mary McAlese getting on rte.

The current crop are the bastard children of the previous ideologicaly driven cliques.

Wheeliebin30 · 10-08-2018 8:28pm

dav3 wrote: »

Poor Murphy, he'll probably be out of a job soon enough with the way he's handled this.

Damn you (((media))) and your reporting of the housing and health crisis *shakes fist at cloud*

Handled what??

Please tell me how any of this bints situation is his fault?

UsedToWait · 10-08-2018 8:34pm

griffin100 wrote: »

Driving home tonight and flicking between the radio channels. At the same time RTE1 had a story about the tallaght fraud and how we should all be sorry it happened, Today FM had an piece about how racist we are in Ireland and NewsTalk had a Muslim academic on telling us we need to accept Islamist culture in this country.

The media has been taken over almost exclusively by social justice warriors. I actually got angry. Journalism is dead in this country.

I often mutter curses racing to change channels as the likes of Paul Williams starts to opine on the cause of the day, but I must admit that the trifecta of sanctimony you outlined above almost precipitated a stroke.

Had two big rants to poor unsuspecting individuals since, and still simmering here..

Odhinn · 10-08-2018 8:35pm

Kivaro wrote: »

RTE is our national broadcaster, but since their existence is protected by law (and politicians) and they are financed by taxing the citizens of this country, we know better than to expect impartial reporting from them. Liberalism can be a good thing sometimes, but RTE takes it to the extreme in their one-sided reporting of all things liberal. It is very disappointing that there is no competing entity in the country to balance this situation.

But what about the other media outlets in the country?
There are two sides to every story. There always is.
Look at the omnipresent Margaret Cash as an example.
On one hand you have a mother who ended up at a Garda station with her six children because she had no where else to go.
Definitely something to look at and report on.

However, what about the other side of the story. Margaret Cash, a criminal with involvement in Traveller gangs who terrorise communities around the country, but still receives approximately €50,000 in tax-free aid every year to support herself and her family. And yet she has ended up homeless ......... at a Garda station. Where is the examination of this aspect of the story?
There are many other examples of media bias in Ireland.

Irish media, with the exception of a very few, report the side of the story that will play well with certain political groups in the country; groups who would economically ruin Ireland if they came within a hair's breadth of power. The one-sided reporting of this homeless case is a slap in the face to those who contribute to society in a positive manner and a worse slap in the face who are truly vulnerable in this country.

Irish Media (in general) have failed the vast majority of the Irish population and they should never be trusted to tell us the truth. They have lost any sense of integrity and if we have any sense we should boycott their advertisers at the very least, and at the very most we should just ignore them. Maybe they know that their time is coming to an end and they are willing to grasp at sensationalist straws in order to stay afloat.

Do we have any links/sources as regards that claim?

suicide_circus · 10-08-2018 8:36pm

Wheeliebin30 wrote: »

Handled what??

Please tell me how any of this bints situation is his fault?

it's not. not even a tiny bit. this woman started her campaign of having children she couldn't afford 11 years ago.

griffin100 · 10-08-2018 8:44pm

Odhinn wrote: »

Do we have any links/sources as regards that claim?

https://www.pressreader.com/ireland/enniscorthy-guardian/20171212/281779924469721

Roanmore · 10-08-2018 8:48pm

I haven't been following this story much aside from the headlines but Newstalk had a piece on this story today, basically how people were using social media to vent and abuse Margaret Cash.
It started out balanced enough, the guy standing in for Ivan Yeats said he would read texts from both sides.
He started off reading the pro texts, spoke softly and solemnly, next the anti texts, his voice changed, nothing but contempt for the people's viewpoint.

The last text, some guy said that if a dog constantly had pups the owner would be described as irresponsible and said surely having 8 kids when you can't afford it is irresponsible. Maybe a little insensitive but what happened next I thought was a disgrace. First of all he said people who make these comments never leave their name, he was corrected by his production team.
Then he said here we have a guy comparing Margaret Cash to a bitching dog on a puppy farm. He then repeated it for good measure. The texter never mentioned bitch or puppy, they were the presenter's words.

Next Fergus Finlay chimes in defending Margaret Cash having a big family comparing it to his own large family. The thing is he undermined his own argument by saying his parents did lots of things to earn money to raise their family. Presenter never said a word, too busy having a rant against people who were complaining about not being able to afford children even they were working and paying taxes.

touts · 10-08-2018 8:49pm

The liberals have shut down all reasonable economically right wing parties and the clatholic fundamentalists have hijacked all socially right wing parties. The crack down on all right of center "thought crime" is forcing people further and further to the right to find a home for their beliefs. This is why Steve Bannon will find greater traction for his proposed right wing movement in this country than people think. The liberals will regret the day they brought down the PDs and Renua when they are faced with Bannon's movement.

prinzeugen · 10-08-2018 8:50pm

Kivaro wrote: »

RTE had the Margaret Cash story on the 6.1 news again this evening.
So I was looking at the complaints process (link) at RTE and under the code of practice for the handling of complaints, and at the very top of the section we have this:

RTÉ is obliged under Section 39 (1) of the Broadcasting Act 2009 to ensure that:
(a) all news broadcast is reported and presented in an objective and impartial manner and without any expression of the broadcaster's own views.

There is no way on earth that RTE can claim that the Margaret Cash reporting on yesterday's news was fair and balanced. It was completely partial and with zero objectivity.

The e-mail address for complaints is here ........ if anyone is interested:
complaints@rte.ie

I reported the weekly anti-British/Britex crap from Tony Connolly. Didn't even get a reply from them. Even although this guy has a major conflict of interest in reporting on anything Britex related.

Atoms for Peace · 10-08-2018 8:54pm

George Orwell called it a long time ago in The Road to Wigan Pier, the "sandal wearing vegans" have ruined socialism for the actual working classes leaving the door wide open for the far right.

Kivaro · 10-08-2018 8:57pm

prinzeugen wrote: »

I reported the weekly anti-British/Britex crap from Tony Connolly. Didn't even get a reply from them. Even although this guy has a major conflict of interest in reporting on anything Britex related.

Then RTE have not been following their own complaints procedures.
You should follow up with the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI).
Here's the link: http://www.bai.ie/en/viewers-listeners/complaints/

Silentcorner · 10-08-2018 8:58pm

The media are much better versed at distracting us from the real issues than we seem to think.

You'll also notice that we have never seen two politicians discussing the issue of life long benefit dependency, the impact that has on a person, and a community and therefore the town/city and country..ever, it has never happened despite the amount of hours per week we are presented with Current affairs and News content.

In fact, our media never tackle that issue despite the fact it is the root cause of a lot of addiction, criminality, anti social behaviour and the like, instead, they feed us stories like this knowing full well we'll take the bait...

This issue will never be addressed as long as our media and established political parties can help it, to do so would mean the huge poverty/charity sector would have to be completely reformed, as too would the Legal Sector who make fortunes on the backs of people like Mrs Cash.

DickSwiveller Returns · 10-08-2018 9:03pm

Roanmore wrote: »

I haven't been following this story much aside from the headlines but Newstalk had a piece on this story today, basically how people were using social media to vent and abuse Margaret Cash.
It started out balanced enough, the guy standing in for Ivan Yeats said he would read texts from both sides.
He started off reading the pro texts, spoke softly and solemnly, next the anti texts, his voice changed, nothing but contempt for the people's viewpoint.

The last text, some guy said that if a dog constantly had pups the owner would be described as irresponsible and said surely having 8 kids when you can't afford it is irresponsible. Maybe a little insensitive but what happened next I thought was a disgrace. First of all he said people who make these comments never leave their name, he was corrected by his production team.
Then he said here we have a guy comparing Margaret Cash to a bitching dog on a puppy farm. He then repeated it for good measure. The texter never mentioned bitch or puppy, they were the presenter's words.

Next Fergus Finlay chimes in defending Margaret Cash having a big family comparing it to his own large family. The thing is he undermined his own argument by saying his parents did lots of things to earn money to raise their family. Presenter never said a word, too busy having a rant against people who were complaining about not being able to afford children even they were working and paying taxes.

I wonder was that Kieran Cuddihy. He's not very tolerant of opposing opinions.

Roanmore · 10-08-2018 9:05pm

DickSwiveller Returns wrote: »

I wonder was that Kieran Cuddihy. He's not very tolerant of opposing opinions.

That's the guy.

suicide_circus · 10-08-2018 9:07pm

Atoms for Peace wrote: »

George Orwell called it a long time ago in The Road to Wigan Pier, the "sandal wearing vegans" have ruined socialism for the actual working classes leaving the door wide open for the far right.

I'm actually not opposed to all socialist ideas. I recognise that the answer is probably somewhere down the middle. the rot in socialist policy starts with a carte blance no questions asked abdicate all personal responsibility approach to welfare payments. it siphons money away from genuine cases and sows resentment in the tax payer

Kivaro · 10-08-2018 9:08pm

touts wrote: »

The liberals have shut down all reasonable economically right wing parties and the clatholic fundamentalists have hijacked all socially right wing parties. The crack down on all right of center "thought crime" is forcing people further and further to the right to find a home for their beliefs. This is why Steve Bannon will find greater traction for his proposed right wing movement in this country than people think. The liberals will regret the day they brought down the PDs and Renua when they are faced with Bannon's movement.

Very good post and I genuinely believe that this will happen.

The irony is that people like me in the "Center" do not want to venture anywhere near the right of center. And when I say "Center"; for me it means that I am left on some social and political issues, and centrist on others.
But since ultra-liberals in Ireland are ramming their unrealistic ideals down our throats, without any opportunity for discussion, then there will be a push back. There is nothing wrong with liberalism by the way; it can balance the nature of things in society, but the type of liberalism we are seeing in Ireland is warping the safe balance.

HappyAsLarE · 10-08-2018 9:25pm

suicide_circus wrote: »

I'm actually not opposed to all socialist ideas. I recognise that the answer is probably somewhere down the middle. the rot in socialist policy starts with a carte blance no questions asked abdicate all personal responsibility approach to welfare payments. it siphons money away from genuine cases and sows resentment in the tax payer

You should be 100% opposed to socialist ideas. It requires tyranny to implement.

The failure of Irish Media to impartially report

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