Odd reporting of political affiliations of criminals by Irish Times and RTE

Brendan Burgess

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From the Irish Times

Former FF senator charged with demanding €100,000 with menaces

Former FF Senator Francis O’Brien pleads guilty to extortion

But when it comes to the activities of a Labour Party member, it's left out of the headline completely.

Ex-Mayor of Cork found guilty of sexually assaulting teenager

You have to read half way down the article to find that he was a member of the Labour Party. And even then, he was elected "under a pact between [broken link removed], [broken link removed] and Labour."

Jury in trial of ex-Cork mayor to resume deliberations tomorrow

Ex-Cork mayor tells of disgust on hearing sexual assault complaint
 
All new sources currently on line make reference in their headlines to the guilty party as being the former Lord Mayor of Cork - there seems to be a sense of unanimity that such reference is the attention grabber.

Perhaps if this criminal had been a senator or TD then the Labour Party would have been referenced in the headline ?
 
But why not say "Former Labour Lord Mayor of Cork..."

Or else "Former senator pleads guilty to extortion"

Brendan
 
Goes to show that RTÉ are influenced by the government of the day. Hardly independant.
 
Brendan Burgess said:
But why not say "Former Labour Lord Mayor of Cork..."

Or else "Former senator pleads guilty to extortion"

Brendan
Click to expand...

Why not ? - not quite sure.

Even the virulently anti Labour Irish Indo ran with the former Lord Mayor tag - perhaps it was a case of not over egging the pudding ?
 
Deiseblue said:
Even the virulently anti Labour Irish Indo ran with the former Lord Mayor tag - perhaps it was a case of not over egging the pudding ?
Click to expand...

Good spot.

I did a more extensive check and none of the media refers to his Labour party affiliation.

Yet, most (all?) of the papers refer to Francie O'Brien being an ex FF senator

The mirror:
Ex Fianna Fail senator Francis O'Brien jailed for three years

Irish Independent:

Former FF senator weeps as he is jailed over bid to extort €100000 ...
 
Deiseblue said:
Why not ? - not quite sure.

Even the virulently anti Labour Irish Indo ran with the former Lord Mayor tag - perhaps it was a case of not over egging the pudding ?
Click to expand...

"Virulently anti Labour"?
I'd say they are just more balanced.

I would suggest that only in comparison to the Labour Party's weekly pamphlet, the Irish Times, and the Public Sector Broadcaster, RTE, do they appear to be virulently anti Labour.

FF have a long history of corruption and parish-pump politics. I'm not sure if that's because they have a long history of being in power or if it's the other way around. Whatever the reason they are rightly criticised for their past and, in some cases, their present. That should not exempt other political party's from scrutiny or be an excuse for biased journalism.
 
I'm not sure it is quite so deliberate, especially with the small sample size given. I actually think its just inconsistent sub-editing than deliberate.

Take two cases involving FG, one a senator and one a mayor.

Mayor Darren Scully's racist comments reported by the indo:

Fine Gael’s Darren Scully quits as mayor of Naas over his comments about ‘black Africans’

Senator Pat O'Neill's Tax Compliance from the examiner:

FG senator faces probes over lack of tax clearance cert

Maybe there's just more FF politicians to expose?
 
Purple , I do agree that RTE could be accused of a Labour bias but I believe that the Irish Times is a fine paper which applies standards that the Indo never come near reaching & can mostly be relied on for non biased reporting.

I never realised that the Times now publish weekly & not daily !
 
The Independent has improved greatly over the past couple of years. Their business and political coverage is as good as if not better than the Times. The sport coverage is also good. Both papers have their flaws but we are lucky to have both papers in this Country. Compared to media we some other countries, we are blessed!!
 
I think the way Brendan's 2 cases were reported were reasonable considering the circumstances.

O'Brien abused his position as senator to attempt personal gain - very much a Fianna Fail policy (I'm by no means suggesting this is only FF, but it certainly appears to be the sort of thing they do better than the others).

I don't think the former Mayor's crime was in any way related to his position or party so I think it's fair enough to not make the party the headline.
 
His crimes are not related to his role as a councillor, but hey, he's Fianna Fáil, so this is RTE:

Ex-FF cllr O'Flynn guilty on deception charges

20.54 Former Fianna Fáil councillor Gary O'Flynn has been remanded in custody after he was found guilty of 13 counts of deception.

And this is the Irish Times:
Former FF councillor denies obtaining money by deception

The Examiner's headline is much more relevant:

Financial adviser on trial for deception

It was in his role as a financial adviser, that he deceived clients. Not in his role as a councillor. And not as a member of FF.
 
It would appear that if you are Labour your party affiliation might not be mentioned in reporting adverse cases. In this case the IT reported it as

Dublin mayor fails in appeal against ethics ruling

omitting the mayor’s political affiliation, as did the Examiner

Council ignored low-cost alternative before it went to court

whereas RTE reported it as

Labour cllr contravened ethical framework

In a related story the Indo mentions cllr Quinn but not his party affiliation

Lochlann Quinn sells office block to Vernon's Green REIT
 

And they didn't mention Ruairi Quinn, the brother of Laughlin or his cousin Fergal, formerly of Superquinn. Good Labour credentials all of them.
 

What is more important in this case

  • that he is the Lord Mayor?
  • that he is Lochlann Quinn's son
  • That he is Labour
I think that this headline is fair enough.



They could say Dublin Mayor, Labour, son of Lochlann Quinn, fails in appeal against ethics ruling
 
Much less punchy though Brendan. Headlines are not the place for being totally truthful - they are teasers
 
Brendan Burgess said:
What is more important in this case
Click to expand...
It’s that he is Labour.

This is another example of inconsistent or odd reporting of political party affiliations, with 3 media outlets not reporting the councilor's party. In the Francis O’Brien case, mentioned in post #1, O’Brien pleaded guilty to an act contrary to the Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act but he did not do this in his role as a FF senator – he was retired at the time, but his party affiliation was nevertheless highlighted in the headline. In the Quinn case, Mr Quinn in his role as a councilor transgressed (inadvertently and in a minor way) the disclosure provisions of local government legislation that apply directly to councilors (and which is not a criminal offence). By any reasonable standard, his party affiliation here is relevant and is a matter of public interest, as he was a councillor for a particular political party and also that party’s policy is to “foster a spirit of transparency, accountability and good Governance”. But papers that have reported the party affiliations of non-Labour politicians (see posts 1, 2, 9 and 14 above) oddly did not report the party affiliation where the case concerned a Labour party member.
 
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