Madam, – The announcement of a private and personal situation on TV3 by Ursula Hannigan relating to the cancer diagnosis of the Minister for Finance truly marks a watershed for the fourth estate in this country.
Few could argue that the information is not in the national interest, yet news of this nature should have broken in a fashion agreeable to the family and not a sharp and callous attempt to “get one up on” the opposition.
My thoughts go to Brian Lenihan and his family at this time.
– Yours, etc,
Madam, – How dare the media indulge in such brazen rumour-mongering about Brian Lenihan’s health? We all have a right to privacy, especially in regard to our personal health information. Working in a public role does not diminish this.
Unless Mr Lenihan wishes us to know something, then we should respect his privacy. This disgraceful breach should be condemned and punished.
– Yours, etc,
Madam, – The way the Irish media has outed Brian Lenihan is both professionally and morally abhorrent. Blame has been distributed based on who broke the story first, but the point is the wider Irish media have outed a man on a deeply personal and private matter.
The Minister, along with every other cancer sufferer deserves dignity and respect in how they choose to deal with their diagnosis and the Irish media has denied him this one simple choice. How low must we stoop before the common decency that ought to (but does not) underpin professional and responsible reporting in this country reasserts itself?
– Yours, etc,