THE BROADCASTING AUTHORITY of Ireland (BAI) has rejected a total of 12 complaints made between December and April. 

The BAI today released the 12 complaints ruled on by the organisation in May and June. The body, which regulates broadcasting in Ireland, handles and rules on complaints from listeners and viewers.

All but one of the complaints related to RTÉ programming, with people taking issue with programmes including the Late Late Show and Liveline on RTÉ Radio One. 

Newstalk’s programme The Hard Shoulder received a single complaint in relation to coverage of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Five complaints, submitted by the same person, took issue with what the complainant called an “unequal proportion of broadcast time” given by various RTÉ programmes to the Catholic Church. 

The BAI rejected all five complaints. 

Another complaint accused RTÉ’s Prime Time of failing to ask Taoiseach Leo Varadkar “a number of key questions” on an episode broadcast on 21 April 2020. 

In rejecting the complaint, the BAI’s Executive Complaints Forum said that “broadcasters have editorial freedom to choose the format that interviews take and the questions which are put to any interviewee”. 

“A number of challenging questions were asked during the interview and audiences were given access to a range of views,” the BAI ruled.