RTE News apologise for reporting about Cowen caricature

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redstar

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I couldn't believe my ears. RTE News apologised about reporting something which was not inaccurate or misleading.

The subject matter was a caricature of Brian Cowen mischieviously hung up in the National Gallery.
http://www.tribune.ie/article/2009/mar/22/cowen-hung-out-to-dry-in-national-gallery-hijack/

I can only suspect that the 'powers that be' did not like the report and leaned on RTE to apologise.

That is a disgrace, and smacks of political interference in news reporting.

What do AAM'ers think ?
 
redstar said:
I can only suspect that the 'powers that be' did not like the report and leaned on RTE to apologise.
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This is clearly what happened. And they shouldn't have apologised however they should never have run with such a tabloid non-story in the first place. It seems that RTE are more concerned with pronunciation than with quality of their content.
 
Apparently the Guards called into Today FM to get e-mails that they may have with regard to the artist. Is it against the law to leave a picture in a gallery? Cowan the muppet should have just laughed it off. Now it has made the international media because he has turned a trivial funny story into something newsworthy
 
michaelm said:
This is clearly what happened. And they shouldn't have apologised however they should never have run with such a tabloid non-story in the first place. It seems that RTE are more concerned with pronunciation than with quality of their content.
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I agree. Its a bit in the style of an "And finally ... " type story usually seen on ITV news.
 
Maybe because they have gotten away with making him the butt of jokes for some time it was the straw that broke the camels back? for example you listen to 2FM and a DJ may refer to him casually as 'BIFFO' I'm not referring to the comedy sketches where it would not be gratuitious but just random throwaway remarks, its not his name and its not appropriate for the National Broadcaster to refer to our Leader in that way whatever any personal opinion they or any of us have about him or his administration we voted him into the position and it is a bad reflection on us collectively as a Nation to allow it, we end up being the joke. It may have been time for RTE Management to pull the reigns and they did pull them for the least innocuous but it is the most widely watched news programme therefore its not surprising. Personally I found the report a little ridiculous, that woman from the RHA smirked throughtout her interview, good grief they allowed someone to stroll in and to place a painting on their walls complete with descriptive notes undetected not professional or a smirking matter.
 


I agree that it was probably not the most appropriate story for RTE news to be reporting, but I don't know how Eileen Dunne kept a straight face during the apology. I think the Dept of the Taoiseach should have just complained but not sought a public apology. They were only drawing more attention to the story.

And by the way we did not vote for Brian Cowen as Taoiseach.
 
I agree completely. It was an attack on the office as well as the man. What you'd expect from the London Times on Sunday (remember what they called Albert?) but not from the public sector broadcaster.
 
Purple said:
I agree completely. It was an attack on the office as well as the man.
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+1 to that.
I also sent the following email to the Ray Darcy show for their continuing with this supposed story.
"Ray, I stopped listening to your Beavis and Butthead style show a good while back but just heard your counterpart Will on The Last Word to confirm the continuing decline of your show. How you could dedicate so much time and effort into what some gob****e thought would be a good prank with the pictures of Brian Cowen is just pathetic. And to try and turn this around by saying it's a waste of Gardai time? Please grow up, this man entered a national gallery and took it upon himself to hang up his own work and we're all supposed to clap him on the back and say nice one? I hope the Gardai do pick him up and fine him as otherwise what sort of example does that set? Can we all throw our ****e up on the walls of the national gallery now?"
 

What law did he break?

Our leader doesn't need help to expose him as the joke he is. He can do that all on his own with help from his merrymen in FF.
 
Seemingly he broke 3 laws, only two of which I heard as I was laughing so much. Those two were;
Incitement to hatred
Criminal damage (hammered a nail into the wall to hang the pictures)

Just heard, indecency was the third.
 
baldyman27 said:
Incitement to hatred
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Just shows the hubris of the man. Since when has (very mild) satire been an 'incitement to hatred'? He's throwing his toys out of the pram like a baby over this, meanwhile the country's going down the tubes.

Nice on Biffo, keep focussing on the important stuff.
 
DavyJones said:
What law did he break?
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Surely entering a national gallery and sticking your own work up there without permission is illegal? I know the story of the gardai is a bit sad (incitement to hatred, please!!) but the point is if we were all allowed to do what this lad did then where would you draw the line? And for RTE (and Today FM) to give further publicity to it is just lazy and sad.
 
Wasn't there something about Islamic fundamentalists putting out a fatwah on some Dutch magazine editor a few years ago for publishing caricatures of some Islamic figure? Are we headed for Jihad?
 
baldyman27 said:
Seemingly he broke 3 laws, only two of which I heard as I was laughing so much. Those two were;
Incitement to hatred
Criminal damage (hammered a nail into the wall to hang the pictures)

Just heard, indecency was the third.
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I've heard it all now.

Good point made on the radio, It took the AGS 24 hours to come to today FM and investigate email from artist, while it took them months before they raided Anglo Irish.

Great country eh?
 


Alot of things in this country disgust me. This is not one of those things. he left art in a public building, whats so wrong with that?
 
DavyJones said:
Alot of things in this country disgust me. This is not one of those things. he left art in a public building, whats so wrong with that?
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It's the publicity the media is giving it that is wrong, that is my point. Why they think this is soooo funny that they have to all give it credence is the problem I have. Darcy I can understand but RTE really should have better standards.
 
Well,I saw the RTE report..yes it was a little tongue in cheek but are we seriously saying that RTE should not report a story because that story made fun of our Taoiseach! If the story had been that someone walked into a major art gallery in washington and put up a picture of the much maligned Geo Bush which was unflattering and the US networks refused to report it we would accuse them of all sorts.

The story WAS about the humour and bare faced cheek(of the artist and his friends..not Mr.C) in walking into two art galleries and hanging up a picture without being seen..it was funny..RTE made a joke out of it..Now the story is that of an attack on the freedom of the press, the inability of people to laugh at themselves and Mr. Cowen( who may well not have instigated the fuss at all) has been made to look like a complete prat and that should be a much greater worry for him than being depicted as fat.

I find the apology of RTE to be quite shocking and worrying.
 
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