42 November 2014
I
F you’re one of the lucky top ten per cent
of earners in Ireland, you probably feel
well represented on talk radio. For the
other ninety percent, an exasperated tweet
or text message, or a few minutes giving out
on Liveline is the most you can expect. Libel
laws constrain radio researchers and pro-
ducers and make them nervous about giving
airtime to random contributors. Don’t feel
totally put out though: You have options and
this article will arm you with the necessary
information and tips for getting through and
becoming part of the public dialogue.
Broadcasters are obliged to represent a
diversity of voices from different geograph-
ical regions and backgrounds,
so there are avenues for Irish cit-
izens to have their views directly
represented on national radio. All
too often, radio hosts reflexively
turn to authoritative-sound-
ing experts and commentators
drawn from Ireland’s elite, effec-
tively narrowing public discourse
and closing down debate.
A 2014 research paper on Irish
radio news showed that a stun-
ning 95% of sources appearing
on morning radio during late
2008 to talk about the banking
crisis were elite official sources.
Suspecting that mid-morning
radio might suffer the same lop-
sided overrepresentation, Village turned its
attention to the Marian Finucane show and
found that more than 80% of the sources on
the Sunday news review hour fitted into the
category of elite official sources. If you listen
to public or private radio and have a sense
that programmes don’t reflect a wide array of
opinions, you won’t be surprised to find that
radio news and talk shows overwhelmingly
reflect the opinions of the elite. Anyone lucky
enough to spend a bit of time in radio studios
will know that outside of venting opportuni-
ties such as ‘Liveline’, the ‘ordinary citizen’ is
regarded with fear, liable to provoke a libel
case or fire off an opinion that cuts sharply
across the radio consensus. Elite sources, on
the other hand, will rarely go off-message.
Earlier this year, Kevin Rafter of DCU
published research titled ‘Voices in the cri-
sis: The role of media elites in interpreting
the banking collapse’, investigating what he
called ‘official sources’ on Irish radio. The
preponderance of elite voices on news radio
is already established by studies includ-
ing a number from American sociologist
William Hoynes, though it’s worth noting
that Hoynes and Rafter acknowledge that the
dominance of elite voices doesn’t necessar-
ily mean a convergence of elite
opinion, for some journalists,
politicians and academics may
take positions highly critical of
the status quo or strive to repre-
sent minority voices or broaden
political discourse.
Public media in Ireland has a
charter to represent regional,
cultural and political diversity
and Rafter set about investi-
gating elite voices in the Irish
context, focusing on the cov-
erage of the financial crisis on
the morning news shows on
Newstalk and RTé during the
period from 30 September 2008
to 24 December 2008, the three
months following the announcement of the
banking guarantee. Rafter’s work confirmed
the dominance of official sources, which is
interesting given the dominant view in Irish
media that ‘nobody saw the crash com-
ing”’ and also in light of Julian Mercille’s
study showing that the media have largely
taken pro-austerity positions. It’s also clear
that deference to official sources limited
the debate on alternative responses to the
crisis.
The research concluded that the cover-
age was “overwhelmingly reflected through
the views of official sources” and was over-
whelmingly male. About 95% of the coverage
came from official sources such as journal-
ists (36%), business and city sources (24%),
politicians (23%) and academics (12%).
Consumer groups (1%) and union represent-
atives (3%) made up most of the remainder.
Rafter refers to the voices of journalists in
this context as “interpretive journalism”, as
the journalists were invited not only to pro-
vide up-to-date coverage but also to provide
‘interpretation and context’. There’s a second
circle of limitation at work here, as journal-
ists tend to draw on official sources for most
of their news, and then are interviewed by
other journalists who rely on a mix of jour-
nalists and other official sources.
There was some difference in repre-
sentation on the two stations as business
voices were more prominent on Newstalk
(32%) than on RTé (12%), while RTé gave
more time to politicians (28%) as against
How to get on
‘The Pat Kenny Show’
MEDIA PAT KENNY
Slightly less elite-centred than Marian
Finucane: fewer lawyers, economists
and politicians; fewer women and more
scientists. By Rónán Lynch
It’s clear that
deference to
official sources
limited the
debate on
alternative
responses to
the crisis
“