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THE BROADCASTING AUTHORITY of Ireland (BAI) has today published the results of four decisions it has made on foot of complaints made by members of the public.
Three of the four complaints relate to RTÉ broadcasts which referenced former US President Donald Trump. The other relates to a jingle on Today FM which the complainant claimed had contained sexist remarks.
All four were rejected.
Trump
One of the complaints was made in regard to the RTÉ Six One News on 9 November 2020.
The complainant took exception to the description of Joe Biden as President Elect. This broadcast was made after Joe Biden’s victory speech and after major outlets had declared him the winner of the electoral college. This victory was later certified by US Congress.
The BAI said: “The complainant maintains that when an election outcome is unclear or disputed nobody should refer to any of the candidates as the ‘President Elect’. The complainant maintains that, at the time of broadcast, the incumbent president, Donald Trump, had not conceded the election. Further, the complainant maintains that there are on-going reports of voter irregularities.”
The complainant also said that bias was shown during reporting regarding alleged voting irregularities.
In response, RTÉ said that the description of Biden as President Elect was appropriate and valid. Furthermore, it said its reporting was factually accurate, fair and impartial.
The BAI rejected this complaint.
Another complainant took exception to a segment on RTÉ’s Today with Claire Byrne which featured commentary on a report that Trump had made disparaging remarks about the US military during a visit to France in 2018.
The BAI rejected the claim that the topic was presented in a one-sided manner, and that facts were omitted or presented in a manner which would mislead.
A third Trump-related complaint centred on a segment on Liveline with featured an interview with former US Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power. The complainant said the 45-minute segment amounted to a party-political broadcast for the Democratic party.
RTÉ said that the programme featured callers and contributors both in support and against Donald Trump.
The BAI said it “did not find evidence in the broadcast to support the view of the complainant that the presenter displayed bias or that the programme was unfair, unobjective or partial”.
On-air jingle
A fourth complaint related to an on-air jingle played on Today FM’s Dermot and Dave show.
The BAI said: “The complainant states that there is a weekly segment in which one of the show’s female producers provides an overview of upcoming shows on TV. A jingle is played before and after this segment which, in the view of the complainant, contains offensive, discriminatory and sexist remarks.
“The complainant particularly takes issue with the lyrics ‘you are fired’ and ‘put on the kettle’. The complainant found both remarks derogatory and offensive and is of the view that the jingle sends the wrong message to female listeners. The complainant further notes that the show does not include similar references aimed towards men.”
The producer in question provided a response, as she co-wrote the jingle. She stated that the jingle is not designed to cause offence and was a play on the producer-presenter relationship.
The BAI added: “The jingle is a joke which plays on the fact that the producer is the presenters’ manager and, as such, could not be fired by the presenters. In addition, the kettle reference is a cheeky play on the presenters asking their boss to make them a cup of tea. The broadcaster states that gender has no relevance to the content of the jingle.”
In its decision, the BAI said it listened to the jingle and considered it was light-hearted and would be understood by listeners as a joke.
It said: “The Forum noted that listeners would be familiar with the style of the programme and the content of the jingle was likely to align with audience expectations. Further, the Forum did not consider that the content emphasised gender or discriminated against women. In this regard, the Forum did not consider that the jingle was likely to cause undue offence.”
The BAI also rejected this complaint.
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Good luck with that France, you get better behaviour out my 4 year old…
Priti probably thinks a another hundred year war would be good, she thought of trying to starve the Irish…
@Cowboy Ted: French are no angels when it comes to colonial history and who caused these regional instabilities in the first place.
@Thomas O’ Donnell: maybe not but they had our back during the Brexit talks……
@Sean Higgins: “they had our back during the Brexit talks……”
Only because they love sticking it to the Brits.
@Will: Read a history book ffs. The French have been our allies for centuries. A lot of people duped into the anti French stuff by a steady diet of British media.
The Brits are right. A turnback policy would stop them overnight
@Nedwerd: it’s been a long time since the British were right.
@Nedwerd: but it should be deport (return) to their home nation and not a transit country. If these people are in the EU illegally (or legally) it is immaterial, normal deportatiom rules is back to country of origin. Same here if you need a visa to enter Ireland but come across the border from NI you get deported to your home country, not back to NI. Likewise if people need a visa to enter the UK and cross into NI they are not deported back south but sent to their home country. If Ireland were used as a back door to the UK would you think everyone entering the UK illegally should be sent back here.
@Nedwerd: Sure force them to make two hideously dangerous crossings in dingys that’ll cut the numbers down.
The people who take their money tell them the UK is where they need to be and put them in throw away boats are the problem.
Where do the traffickers find their victims and sell them passage ? That’s where this has to be stopped at the start not the end.
A decent internationally organised refugee rescue group should be set up to compete with the traffickers. Undercut the crooks and provide good transport and honest advice to the victims – just don’t look like the authorities they fear, look like a better deal and be one.
The criminals are making a huge profit doing a bad job, surely governments can manage a good job at a small loss. It would be a lot cheaper than this mess.
@Steve O’Hara-Smith: There are charities in North of France trying to help these people but are harassed and intimidated by French police and gangs
@Lamb: They’re in the wrong place. Everyone seems to be working (mostly at cross purposes and badly) on the symptoms instead of the problem. Like sticking plasters on someone rolling in broken glass without stopping them.
There is way too much finger pointing and way to little cooperation and joined up thinking going on.
France is just a conduit it’s not.surprising they don’t like it but arguing about what to do with the spurting hose doesn’t turn off the tap and that’s what’s needed.
@Niall Ó Cofaigh: deportation to home nation is a hard one. How would they prove what country they are originally from they carry no passport
@Niall Ó Cofaigh: Careful lad, you might get accused of talking sense
They took back their own borders so let them look after them. I’m sick and tired of their antics of abusing the good will, political intelligence and diplomatic procedures that the EU respect. Time to let their Brexit hit them and hit them hard.
@2thFairy: Ha the goodwill of the French . No such thing France does what it wants when it wants . Funny how they impound a Scottish trawler but stand by when the migrants are launching their rubber dingy
@2thFairy: Channel crossings went from about 1200 people in 2019 to 25000 in 2021. Go Brexit!!
@Lamb: They also went from dingys to 50 person zodiacs. That takes professional organisation.
I’d like to know if the trips sold to the refugees are end to end or just across the channel. If it’s the former then the channel crissing is the wrong place to look for fixes.
This is what Boris meant by taking back control, lol.
Angleterre Perfide
@Handsome McWonderful: All countries lie it’s called diplomacy and it stinks.
I don’t understand why France feel the need to support or take any responsibility to help the UK with their immigration problem. Britain’s immigration issue is France’s relief valve.
Britain is an outlier of Europe. They voted for Brexit so they could enforce their own immigration rules. The EU has its own immigration problem so why take on Britain’s problems too ?
have your say