Complaints of pro-Lisbon media bias

THE BROADCASTING Complaints Commission (BCC) has said that 21 of the 22 complaints it received about broadcasters during the Lisbon Treaty referendum campaign alleged bias in favour of the Yes side.

Commission chairman Michael McGrath also said that none of the complaints were upheld. Nineteen were rejected while four were resolved.

All but one complained of one-sided and unfair presentation, or unequal treatment of participants, in favour of the Yes side. RTÉ radio and television was the subject in 14 of the complaints, with Newstalk accounting for four.

The one exception was a complaint against RTÉ’s The Week in Politics.

A participant on the programme used the term “Biffo” to describe Taoiseach Brian Cowen. The complainant said that the use of the term was unfair and offensive. The complaint was rejected.

Mr McGrath and BCC secretary Ann O’Brien were appearing at a meeting of the Joint Committee on the Constitution, which is discussing the rules and conventions that apply to broadcasters during referendum campaign.

The BCC also discussed the advertising codes that effectively bar advertising on TV or radio “directed towards any religious or political end or which has any relation to an industrial dispute”.

The BCC was also asked about earlier decisions to uphold complaints against an advertising campaign run by the European Commission in Ireland.

Mr McGrath, in his opening submission, explained the role of the commission and the legislative provisions that underpin its work. He told the committee, chaired by Fianna Fáil TD Seán Ardagh, that the BCC does not monitor broadcasts or advertising but can only act on foot of complaints received.

In relation to the complaints received on the Lisbon Treaty, Mr McGrath said: “One main argument in the complaints is that the Yes side received more favourable coverage than the No side. In a number of complaints the BCC had to consider whether the subject matter had been treated fairly . . . all of the complaints . . . were rejected,” he said.

He added: “There is an obligation on the BCC to ensue that debate is fair. If only one person is being interviewed, there is an obligation on the presenter to challenge the views that are being put forward.”

Several committee members, including Jim O’Keeffe TD (FG), Michael Kennedy TD (FF) and Fine Gael Senator Eugene Regan, questioned how a series of adverts run by the European Commission in Ireland had fallen foul of the advertising code; they were run in 2006, long before the referendum.

Mr McGrath said that the BCC concluded that the EU was capable of having a political dimension or political ideals.