A Liveline caller was left “hurt, angry and disappointed” after he accused host Joe Duffy of “repeatedly interrupting him” and using his full name during a debate about the Irish language.
In a complaint to the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI), the caller raised his concerns during a discussion on the RTE Radio 1 show on February 17 on the amendment to the Official Languages Act, which would require 20% of all new recruits to the public service to be reserved for people competent in the Irish language.
The BAI said: “The complainant states that the on-air conversation left him feeling hurt, angry and disappointed. The complainant says he was not given the opportunity to speak, he was repeatedly interrupted, and he was accused of things that were not true.
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“The complainant states that he was shocked and disappointed when the presenter used his full name on air because he did not give permission to use his full name and he believes that it is not common practice on the programme to refer to people’s full names.
“The complainant was not happy with how the presenter challenged him about a fact he presented on the percentage of Department of Education staff who are able to provide services in Irish. The complainant, in his complaint, cites a report on RTÉ’s website referencing RTÉ’s own use of this fact.
“The complainant believes the presenter attributed views to him that he had not expressed, citing an example of the presenter suggesting he was discriminating against kitchen staff or working class people.
"The complainant believes he was not treated in a fair manner and he believes the broadcast was not presented in an objective and impartial manner, without the expression of the broadcasters’ own views.”
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In their response, RTE “expresses regret that the on-air conversation was a source of anger and disappointment for the complainant but believes that the presenter treated the complainant fairly and with respect.”
“The broadcaster notes the complainant was given an opportunity to participate in the debate and was given the majority of time in the Irish language segment.”
A rep for RTE said that a researcher on the programme called the complainant after the complainant had texted the programme and took a detailed summary along with the complainant’s name and address and that the complainant did not advise the researcher that he did not consent to his surname being used in the broadcast.
“The broadcaster states that it is normal practice to use full names on the programme. The broadcaster refutes the claim by the complainant that the presenter interrupted him every time he spoke, contending that the presenter asked questions in response to points raised by the complainant and opposed arguments with alternative views, which is an appropriate method for teasing out the points.
“The broadcaster claims it is clear from the transcript of the programme that the complainant received time and opportunity to make his points, in a respectful and courteous way.
"The broadcaster defends the presenter’s right to refer to the ESRI research on the Irish language. It was used to inform the debate and the figures quoted helped to illustrate the socio-economic differences between Irish speakers and those without Irish.
“The broadcaster states that fact checking a participant’s claim on the programme is an integral part of the programme.
"When the complainant made a claim regarding a report on the percentage of staff in the Department of Education who use the Irish language, the presenter made it clear that he wished to have that checked out by stating ‘we’ll try and double check that’.
“The broadcaster also refutes the claim by the complainant that the presenter tried to put words in his mouth at any stage during the discussion, noting that the complainant was given time to respond to the point raised by the presenter in relation to working class people being disadvantaged by the proposed legislative change.
"The broadcaster believes the complainant was treated in a fair and respectful manner.”
The BAI decided to reject the complaint, saying “the complainant was given ample time to express his views before the presenter put various questions to him.”
Elsewhere, complaints were made in relation to coverage of Russia’s war on Ukraine and gun ownership – but were all dismissed by the BAI.
Items about the conflict featured on RTÉ One’s Prime Time, RTÉ Radio 1′s The Brendan O’Connor Show and Newstalk’s The Pat Kenny Show.
The complainant about the Newstalk programme alleged the presenter referred with contempt to “the Russians”, “Russians” and “the Russian war” and that the broadcast was not impartial, in part because the broadcast did not feature the views or perspective of Russian people.
The BAI ruled that use of terms such as “the Russians” were normal collective terms in the context used, saying: “There was no evidence of any contempt in the presenter’s voice and the broadcast content did not support the complainant’s view that the broadcast could be described as racist.”
The BAI also found no evidence that a segment on Prime Time had seen a presenter “nudge” a guest into implying Nato should become involved in the conflict, a complaint made by one individual who felt the broadcast “portrayed only one side of the story of the war in Ukraine”.
The complaint about The Brendan O’Connor Show concerned a number of unchallenged statements made by panellists about Russian and Ukraine, which the complainant said pointed to bias and misinformation in the broadcast.
The BAI, however, found no breach of either the Broadcasting Act 2009 or its Code of Fairness, Objectivity and Impartiality in News and Current Affairs.
Complaints made by John Hogan, publisher of Public Sector Magazine, about coverage of the magazine’s business awards on four editions of RTÉ Radio 1′s Liveline in February, were rejected by the BAI’s compliance committee.
The magazine was in the news after it gave Eir an award for “excellence in customer services management”, prompting callers to Joe Duffy phone-in programme to question how it might have merited such an award.
Mr Hogan made a complaint on multiple grounds, including that the broadcasts were not delivered in an objective and impartial manner and that the presenter expressed his personal views.
The committee acknowledged that the topic was presented in a “robust and challenging” manner, but it ruled that the broadcasts were in line with the usual style of Liveline and that the discussion had not infringed broadcasting legislation or its codes on either programme standards or fairness, objectivity and impartiality.
A complaint about Newstalk The Hard Shoulder on May 27 was also rejected by the BAI after the complainant took issue with the presenter stated that during an interview with a representative from Republicans Overseas UK, that he was not going to be impartial and was going to abandon all pretence of impartiality.
But the BAI rejected the complaint, saying that “that this interview arose because of the human reaction to the recent mass shooting in Texas and were cognisant of emotions running high after such an incident.”
However, they also noted that the broadcaster should in future consider the wording used when approaching the coverage of current affairs items more carefully as the use of the wording “…abandon all pretense of impartiality” during the programme may have led listeners to believe the broadcast was not fair, objective or impartial.
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