Lots happens in the radio industry each week so here’s a summary of the week we just enjoyed.
Here’s what Happened
The BAI have upheld in part a complaint against the Neil Prendeville show. The complaint, which was made by Louise Harrington on behalf of Cork Traveller Women’s Network alleged that an interview with cork City counsellor Ken O’Flynn had contained a number of inaccuracies. The complaint further alleged that the interview was not conducted in an Objective or impartial manner.
The complainant felt that not only did the views of the guest not get challenged, but that they were reinforced by a number of comments made by the presenter.
- “I give up! I give up!”
- “Ah, come here, are we mugs or what, like?”
- “This is intolerable”
- “Ok, I think people have a much clearer opinion now and a much clearer idea as to what is going on and also, we’ve corrected some of the numbers. Ken, thank you so much”
All this was sparked by a report from the ombudsman For Children’s Office, and focused on the resedents of the Spring Lane halting site
You can read the full details of the BAI’s findings at the link below, but here are the main bits.
The BAI found that the presenter didn’t sufficiently challenge Ken’s views, and the broadcast didn’t reflect the views of those who contacted the show but didn’t want to go on air
“The bai felt these allegations and the manner in which they were treated in the broadcast presented stereotypical views about Travellers and showed no respect for the people who live in the Spring Lane halting site. They said the broadcast contained an inappropriate and unjustifiable representation of the residents of Spring Lane halting site and of Travellers generally and that the content amounted to a stigmatisation of Travellers,
There’s more stuff too but I’d recommend having a look at the BAI’s findings for more info.
It’s hard to know what to say about stories like this, but we can only hope that lesson’s are learned here and that this doesn’t happen again. It sounds simple, but just showing people a bit more respect could have avoided this issue.
Read the BAI’s complaints decisions here
Now it’s time to go back in time!!!
You might remember us previously covering the story about the chief executive of Wexford county council threatening to pull advertising from South East Radio. It led to a standards in public office investigation which criticised the chief executive, but eventually the counsel voted not to take any action on the report.
The last we heard of this story was the county manager getting a standing ovation over the incident. If you’ve missed our coverage of this you can check it out here.
Now though, back to the present.
It’s all happened again. This time the county secretary has asked south east radio to agree that presenters can’t share there views on air in exchange for advertising amounting to between €40,000 and €50,000
They also requested that the station keep all its audio for 2 years so that any dispute can be easily resolved.
The managing director of south east radio, Eamonn Buttle, has reminded the station of the recent investigation findings as well as pointing out that the BAI is the regulator of radio stations, and that the councel can’t become a “quasi-regulator” in exchange for advertising revenue.
The Irish Times have done some fantastic coverage of this situation which I’d really recommend you read at the link below.
This is a very messy situation unfortunately. But hopefully both parties can sort this out. For a local station like south east Radio council ads are essential, but any closer relationship is dangerous.
Finally this week, a number of Irish media organisations have come together to launch the Ireland For Ukraine fundraising effort. Those from the world of digital,tv, radio and print have all come on board to support the project with RTÉ and IBI involved from the radio side.
50% of the money raised will be split between a number of international aid agencies including Irish Red Cross, UNICEF Ireland, Concern Worldwide and Trócaire while the other 50% will be made available as grants to organisations supporting Ukrainians here in Ireland.
It’s fantastic to see collaboration in the media industry and especially when it’s for such a good cause. well done to everyone involved from us at Radio Land.
Quick Bits
Red FM gave away a €15,000 wedding prize this week in their first dance competition
RTE News has been awarded a global journalism trust mark
BBC Radio Ulster’s the Nolan Show is causing controversy
Radiocentre Ireland are holding a launch event in the Aviva stadium
Rick O’Shea is taking a short break from RTÉ Gold. He will be back after Easter
The home of a Radio Éireann producer has gone on the market,
Will you shift my friend? Is a new podcast from Spin 1038’s Graham And Nathan
A number of Ukrainian women have started training at Radio Kerry
Clair Byrne was back broadcasting from her shed thanks to Covid
Cork City Community Radio received an interesting request this week
Mairead Ronan says she thinks a time will come when she regrets leaving radio
And that’s the summary for this week. Come back to radio land next week for more radio news📻 and be sure to follow us on Twitter and Instagram for extra stories.