Broadcasters face difficulties in ensuring balanced coverage for the Yes and No sides, writes Ronan McGreevy.
EARLY IN the Lisbon Treaty campaign, former taoiseach Garret FitzGerald and left-wing campaigner Richard Boyd-Barrett debated the issues live on RTÉ's Six-One News.
During the five-minute exchange presenter Sharon Ní Bheoláin asked Boyd-Barrett why the public should believe him, a failed Dáil candidate, ahead of a former taoiseach.
The appearance of FitzGerald and Boyd-Barrett on the same platform underlined a dilemma faced by broadcasters.
The Broadcasting Commission for Ireland (BCI) guidelines, which apply to the independent sector, are clear that each side in the referendum must "receive equal treatment" in current affairs programmes.
Indeed, while there are specific guidelines for such programmes, the ground rules apply across the broadcasters' schedules.
"Broadcasters should ensure that the exposure given to proponents and opponents of the referendum is balanced throughout all of its programmes," state the guidelines, which deal specifically with the Lisbon referendum and were published by the BCI in April.
The State broadcaster RTÉ drew up its own guidelines in tandem with the BCI and they are "virtually identical" with those applying to the independent sector, said a spokesman.
But how do broadcasters give "equal treatment" to both sides in a debate when, in electoral terms, the two could hardly be less equal? The three biggest Dáil parties all support a Yes vote, while Sinn Féin, with its four TDs, is the only Dáil party on the No side.
The issue of giving equal air time to groups with unequal mandates was thrashed out in the courts following a legal challenge by Anthony Coughlan in relation to the 1995 divorce referendum.
Coughlan complained to the Broadcasting Complaints Commission (BCC) when he calculated that RTÉ allocated four times as much broadcasting time to the Yes side as the No side in airing party political broadcasts.
In court the BCC said that it would be a form of inequality to give an ordinary "Joe Soap from Ballydehob" the same air time as an elected politician.
A similar argument was advanced by RTÉ which stated that giving an organisation which represents 200 people the same air time as one which represents 20,000 was in itself a form of inequality.
Their arguments were rejected by the High Court and Supreme Court and the Coughlan case has, at least, clarified the issue in relation to broadcasting air time.
RTÉ's head of public affairs Peter Feeney says the guidelines on impartiality are clear, but interpreting them is another issue. "Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Labour are on the Yes side and, with the Greens [whose six TDs support a Yes vote] and the PDs, you are getting over 90 per cent of the electorate.
"Balance is a fundamental problem for us because, as well as trying to be fair to the Yes and No sides, we try to reflect reality and the reality is that the establishment is all on one side.
"When it came to Boyd-Barrett the No side jumped up and down and said it was an unfair question, but we feel it was a pertinent question to ask."
TV3 has sent out a directive to all its staff about the BCI and its guidelines. Its showcase debate, chaired by political editor Ursula Halligan, pitted former EU commissioner Peter Sutherland against Declan Ganley of Libertas.
"There are challenges in striking a balance with all the political parties bar one in the Yes camp, but there are a lot of strong voices on the No side as well," says Bob Hughes, TV3's deputy director of news and information.
Newstalk takes a rigorous approach to achieving balance. A white board in the office tots up the airtime given to each side on each programme.
Station editor Garrett Harte says its biggest challenge is not balance but making the Lisbon Treaty accessible for listeners. The afternoon Seán Moncrieff programme has done a number of light-hearted information reports which have been turned into successful podcasts.
"We're very careful that we get 50:50. Establishment or anti-establishment does not enter into it. Our job is to inform . . . we strive to get new voices and to make it interesting because it is a very top-heavy subject," he said.
A spokeswoman for the BCI said the commission did not monitor the stations' output on the referendum.
"The guidelines places an onus on the broadcaster to have a procedure in place to ensure from an editorial perspective that there is balance. In the event there is a complaint, we contact the station and see what procedures they have in place," she said.