Sir, - I have been timing the business news section on RTE 1 television news at 6 o'clock for the past few weeks. Coverage of regular business news amounts to average of 40 seconds per bulletin. Sports news amounts to between five and seven minutes per bulletin. The business news section on the 7.30 a.m radio news is approximately 2.5 minutes, much longer than on the flagship main evening bulletin.
RTE thinks that a short resume of closing prices on the stock exchange and quoting the exchange rates on the international money markets is all we are interested in. Blink and you will miss the business news!
I would like some senior person in RTE to explain why business news on the main evening news programme is so small and so bad. - Yours, etc.,
Ballinteer Road,
Dublin 16.