TV3 Cries Foul Over Election Moratorium
The Broadcasting Authority of Ireland is treating the public like gibbering simpletons. Or words to that effect...
Valerie Flynn, 19 Jan 2011
As the news media cranks into gear for Election 2011, one broadcaster has launched a broadside against Ireland’s stringent broadcast regulations, claiming they violate the human right to freedom of speech.
Thought the days of state censorship were gone? Think again. For 48 hours this March, you’ll hear almost nothing about Irish politics on Irish TV and radio. Ironically, those will be the two days when politics is actually at the top of the public agenda – election time.
The Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) enforces a strict ban on “electioneering and/or reference to election issues and/or references by any on-air personnel to the merits or otherwise of election candidates and their policies” in the 24 hours before the general election, and on the day of the poll.
However, the BAI last month announced a “period of consultation” on the policy, now in its fifteenth year. TV3 has taken the opportunity to go on the offensive, arguing that the legality of the ban is “questionable”, and its rationale “archaic” in the era of 24/7 news.
“It’s a very blunt instrument and tantamount to state censorship. It denies audiences the right to up-to-date information about the election,” insists Andrew Hanlon, who is Head of News at the station. “There is such a thing as freedom of speech and the European Convention on Human Rights and even Bunreacht na hÉireann [the Constitution] enshrine that.”
Of course, ‘foreign’ media don’t come under the remit of either Bunreacht na hÉireann or the BAI, so they can report from Ireland whenever they want about whatever they want. Unsurprisingly, TV3 finds this infuriating.
“The lunacy of the moratorium is that other broadcasters and other media, the likes of Sky News or ITV or Channel 4, will all still be here covering the election,” says Hanlon. “CNN, Bloomberg – they’ll be broadcasting live to their respective services, but they are all very easily available to Irish viewers through Sky or UPC.”
©Hot Press 2011. Why be a member? | Terms of Service | Privacy Policy