Lenihan cancer report 'justified'

The Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) has rejected complaints against TV3's controversial St Stephen's Day broadcast about the Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan's cancer diagnosis.

The BAI's compliance committee rejected 14 complaints from 88 which were submitted to it in the immediate aftermath of the broadcast of news about Mr Lenihan's pancreatic cancer which caused a storm of protest against TV3.

In a detailed ruling, the compliance committee said the broadcast by the station's political editor Ursula Halligan was "factual and accurate".

Ms Halligan's reference to Mr Lenihan in the past tense, which caused offence to many people, was "simply human error". The committee noted that she appeared "personally upset by the news".

There was no evidence of editorial bias or content which could be deemed unfair or subjective. Just because a pancreatic cancer diagnosis was "shocking and sad" did not preclude the broadcaster from reporting on the matter, the committee stated.

It also held that Professor John Crown's contribution in which he spoke in general of treatment for pancreatic cancer was a "general and factual expert opinion on the type of illness with which the Minister had been diagnosed", was not intended to be an opinion on the diagnosis for Mr Lenihan.

"In this context, it was considered editorially justified," it said.

The committee said the broadcast was in the public interest given Mr Lenihan's pivotal role in Government.

It also stated that the timing of the broadcast, which caused the most controversy, would only be an issue for the BAI had it received a complaint from the Minister himself or somebody close to him, which it had not done.

Had it taken a stance on the timing of the broadcasting, it would "in effect be editorialising".

In a statement TV3 said: "TV3 notes today's adjudication by the BAI which accepted the legitimacy of the station's news bulletin broadcast on December 26th, 2009. At the same time, TV3 wishes to acknowledge and express its regret at the real upset caused by this broadcast."

The Department of Finance had no comment. However, a source close to the Minister told The Irish Times he wished to "draw a line under the issue and move on".