Minister for Communications Patrick O’Donovan complained to Ireland’s media watchdog about what he described as a lack of balance in RTÉ’s coverage of the fuel protests in April.
The minister cited examples illustrating RTÉ’s “lack of balance,” ranging from guest selection on an RTÉ radio programme to the questioning of a junior minister on Prime Time, reports RTE.
In documents released to RTÉ News under the Freedom of Information Act, the minister cited a string of examples of what he viewed as anti-Government bias during the fuel protests.
These included an RTÉ Radio 1 programme featuring “3 opposition spokespeople v 1 gov. representation,” a reporter broadcasting from inside an “unauthorised portacabin” used by protesters, and a Prime Time interview where protest figure James Geoghegan was treated “in a gentle way” while junior minister Timmy Dooley was “grilled,” reports RTE.
And, “in general, the media only giving the side of the protestors in their news reports, and not the victims of the blockades.”
The records offered a rare glimpse behind the scenes of a serving Cabinet minister challenging the balance of RTÉ coverage and exploring whether the State’s broadcasting regulator had any role in addressing it, reports RTE.
Minister O’Donovan contacted Coimisiún na Meán seeking advice on whether broadcasting laws contained a mechanism to examine the coverage.
According to a note by Rónán Ó Domhnaill, Coimisinéir Forbartha na Meán, Mr O’Donovan spoke to him by phone on Saturday, 11 April — before the minister publicly suggested that media coverage had been “lopsided” in favour of the fuel protest, reports RTE.
The note of the call stated that the minister expressed “concern regarding media coverage of the fuel protests” and asked “whether there was a mechanism for the minister within the legislation to ask for an examination of the broadcast coverage of the protests.”
“The minister stressed that he was not speaking about editorial control but rather the need for coverage to be balanced, and that this needs to be addressed,” the note reads, reports RTE.
Mr Ó Domhnaill told the minister that Coimisiún na Meán’s statutory complaints system was one mechanism available for complaints about broadcast content.
The documents show the minister’s concerns were subsequently discussed by Coimisiún na Meán commissioners, and that Commissioner Aoife MacEvilly and Executive Chair Jeremy Godfrey later met Mr O’Donovan to discuss the matter, reports RTE.
Minister O’Donovan dropped his call for a review of RTÉ’s coverage on the day that Coimisiún na Meán explained to him the broadcasting rules on fairness, objectivity and impartiality in news and current affairs.
At the meeting, Coimisiún na Meán indicated that “there is a requirement for a plurality of views in current affairs but there was not a strict requirement for ‘equal time,'” and that the statutory standard for news is that it be objective and impartial, reports RTE.
Mr O’Donovan previously told RTÉ News he had “made a hames” of expressing himself when saying he planned to “review” RTÉ’s coverage of the fuel protests. He said he has a “very good relationship” with the media regulator, reports RTE.
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