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Government Ministers and the HSE are boycotting national radio station, Newstalk, after the station rang a number of civil servants live on air. In their report on the boycott, the Irish Independent quotes a HSE spokesperson:
“They seem to think the gimmick of putting young clerical staff on the phone is ok, but it’s very unfair. They are off our press lists and we are not answering their queries. This is being done with regret…The lack of respect for the privacy of ordinary, individual staff members, who are placed live on air without their prior knowledge or consent, means that we can no longer have confidence that your organisation will treat our contributors or responses with impartiality or fairness”
In response, the presenter of the show at the heart of the disagreement, Brenda Power, offered her view on the Government and HSE’s decision:
“It has an obligation to be accountable and no right to use press officers as firewalls. This is bullying. We will absolutely not stop what we’re doing….We’re not making hoax calls, but calls on behalf of people who are getting the run around. We’ve been fobbed off for years.”
There is an interesting independent viewpoint on the standoff in the Irish blogoshere, 0 2 = 1 pointed out reports in the Phoenix that the station was close to being blacklisted and criticised the station for what he deems as NewsTalk’s tabloid leaning.
“Normally I am cynical when a state body refuses to comment on something, but there is a difference between being allowed to comment, and being ambushed live on air with highly detailed issues related to a single case. The other prevailing line in the advertising for Powers program is her promise to put your questions to Mary Harney. Are people really naive enough to believe that Newstalk is willing to put these questions for any reason other than to increasing ratings?”
Social networking site Facebook has seen a decline in UK users in January (via BBC)
RTE reports on the latest ABC figures for Irish newspapers. The Irish Times and the Sunday World have the biggest gains. For a full synopsis read the RTE report.
There is an interesting report in the Irish Times (subscription required) that “the latest Joint National Listenership Research report for January to December 2007 found that, among 15 to 34 year olds in Dublin, most music stations lost listeners.” However the report points out a number of stations that bucked the trend, Spin 103.8, Today FM, Lyric Fm and Newstalk, all of which have been able to differentiate themselves from other mainstream stations.
RTE has won the rights to be the main media partner of the GAA. With the exception of a 10-game package which has been awarded to TV3, RTE won live television rights for all the GAA’s Championship games. The Irish Times reports:
The TV3 package gives the station rights to transmit 10 live games exclusive of RTE’s first choice selection of twenty games. RTE have rights to transmit forty live games.Live rights to the Allianz National Leagues and Club/Cup Championships have been awarded to TG4 and Setanta Sports respectively. TG4 will have the rights to Sunday afternoon League games and Club and Colleges games. Setanta will transmit floodlit games on Saturday evenings and four Sunday afternoon League games. A range of highlight packages were awarded to RTE, TG4, Setanta Sportsand the BBC, while a “Clips” highlights package has been awarded to UTV. BBC Northern Ireland will have the right to access any Ulster Championship games which are broadcast live by RTE. On the radio front RTE gains exclusive live national broadcasting rights and Today FM secured “score” update rights.
The Sunday Independent however questions the deal as RTE is set to be revealed as one of the sponsors of the Hurling championship. The GAA, who are in the process of changing their sponsorship setup similar to a UEFA Champions League setup, are reportedly set to announce RTE, Guinness and Ehiad Airlines as the Hurling sponsors, with Vodafone, Ulster Bank and Toyota to line up as the Football sponsors. This would mean that Bank of Ireland are set not to renew their sponsorship of the Football championship.
RTE reports that foreign brands are extremely popular in China, with Chanel, BMW and French wines among the preferred choices for affluent consumers in China.
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