Broadcasting watchdog urged to clarify position on marriage equality

National Union of Journalists (NUJ) Irish secretary Séamus Dooley has called on the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) to clarify the issues surrounding marriage equality.

Mr Dooley said the statement released by the BAI on Monday was seemingly at odds with a guideline it issued to broadcasting organisations in August.

In Monday's Irish Times columnist Una Mullally said she had been told by several national broadcasters that she could not discuss her book, In The Name Of Love, which is about marriage equality without there being an opposing viewpoint against marriage equality.

The broadcasters cited a ruling in relation to the RTÉ Derek Mooney goes Wild show last August. In the course of a discussion Mr Mooney said that he was in favour of marriage equality.

The BAI’s compliance committee held that he had strayed into a matter of “public debate and controversy and he should have put forward an alternative viewpoint for the sake of balance but that requirement was not met on this occasion”.

In addition the BAI sent a letter to all broadcasters noting that while a referendum on same-sex marriage had not yet been called, the issue was a matter of “current public debate”.

Mullally complained that, as a result of that ruling, broadcasters would not allow her to discuss her book without an alternative viewpoint on marriage equality being offered.

The BAI countered by issuing a statement that the guidelines had been wrongly interpreted by broadcasters.

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“It would be a matter of grave concern if national radio stations or any other broadcasters, incorrectly used the outcomes of recent complaint decisions as a basis for their editorial decision-making.”

The BAI added: “While there may be some instances where balance may be required, an automatic requirement for balance is considered unnecessary and inappropriate by the BAI.

“Indeed the BAI has consistently expressed the view that the application of such an artificial balance can, in and of itself, amount to a lack of fairness in certain circumstances.”

Mr Dooley said the BAI statement was useful in that it clarified that there was not an expectation of balance on all occasions, but he said that the BAI executive and the compliance committee operated independently of each other.

He said the letter sent in August had been “unhelpful” and, as a result, media organisations had “erred on the side of caution and need to stop second guessing the BAI”.

He called on the BAI to issue a definitive policy statement clarifying how stations are to approach discussions on wide ranging of issues including same-sex marriage, the voting age, the presidential term of office, the electoral system for the Dáil, the role of women in the home and politics, and blasphemy which may be the subject of referendums in the coming year and beyond.