4 6 March 2016
MEDIA
F
romthepointofviewofthemedia,oneofFeb-
ruary’sbiggeststoriesalmostgotlostinthe
electionchaos.OnFriday,February19th,one
weekbeforepollingday,thenewspapercircu-
lationguresforthesecondhalfoflastyear
werepublished.
Inonesense,thestorywasabitofanon-story:news-
paperscontinuetosellfewerandfewercopies–the
roughly40percentcollapseofsalesthatwe’veseen
overthelastdecadeorsowascertainlyacceleratedby
Ireland’seconomicimplosion;butwhateverrecovery
somebodyoutthereisenjoying,it’snotbringingnews-
papersbackintoourlives–theyweredownafewmore
percent.
Thatshouldbethestartingpointofanydiscussion
abouthownewspaperscoveredthegeneralelection.
Thismayindeedhavebeen,asseveralcommentators
suchasOliverCallanhavesuggested,themostsensa-
tionalist,themostbiased,themosttrivialnewspaper
coverageofanelectioninthehistory of theState.
Maybe.Whatever.Therecanbelittledoubt,though,
thatitwasthemostirrelevant.
You can shout all you like about how much the
journalismoftheIrishdailypressgetsreadonline.
“We’vegotmorereadersthanever(nowifwecouldonly
getthemtopay)”isacommonrefrainintheshrunken
corridorsofthepress.Thefactisthatmostofthose
readersarenolongercommittedtogettingtheirnews
andviewsfromanygivenpaper,butrathertheydipin
andout,oftencritically.
Isuspectthatonthedaythosecirculationgures
werepublished,morepeoplesawasocial-mediapost
fullofmockery,outrageorbemusementattheIrish
Independent’slatestfront-pagedenunciationofSinn
Féinthanactuallypaidforaphysicalcopyofthatpage.
SinceImerelysawanimageonmyphone,Istillhave
noideawhatGerryAdamswasplanningtodowithmy
pension.
Isthereaconnectionbetweenthepress’shysteria
thistimearoundandthesteadywitheringawayofits
relevance?Isuspectasmuch.Liketroubledchildren,
thelessattentionwepaythem,theloudertheyscream.
Election seasons havealwaysseenjournalistsat
theirmostpompousandself-important:inthebetter
classofnewspapertheconsequenceisanobsessive-
compulsivecommitmentto‘fairness’.Icanremember,
backinthe1990s,ateamintheIrish Timesnewsroom
dedicatedtomeasuring(literally,likewithrulers)the
coveragegiventoeachpartyinageneralelection,with
variousformulaetoadjustfortheunfortunatefactthat
allcolumninchesarenotcreatedequal.
Otherpapers,ofcourse,takeadifferentapproach.If
there’sonethingwecansayforcertainabout,say,the
Indo’snotorioustreatmentofthiselection,it’sthatthey
gotustonoticehowimportanttheyare.
Onceyouunderstandthedesperationofthepress’s
attention-seekinginitsmuch-reducedstateofhealth,
it’seasiertounderstandwhy,forexample,theRegency
Hotelshootingmanagedtodisplacetheelectionfrom
The roughly 40 per cent
collapse of newspaper sales
over the last decade should
be the starting point of
any discussion about how
newspapers covered the
general election
Less, but still,
relevant
During the election campaign the
mainstream media confirmed their bias
against the real left and Sinn Féin
by Harry Browne
March 2016 4 7
page-onesformostofaweek.Ifthere’sone
thingthatthepressdoesevenmoreself-impor-
tantlythanelections,it’scrime.Thishaslittle
todowiththewonderful,generousresources
giftedbyDenisO’BrienandRupertMurdochto
theinvestigationofwrong-doingandalottodo
withtheimpotenceofconvictedcriminalsto
usethedefamationlawstoprotectthemselves.
(Noreputationtoprotect,nocase,scumbag.)
Thehotelshootingsshoweddenitivelythat
crimejournalisminIrelandisRELEVANT–more
soeventhanthegardaí,whowereabsentwhile
thecrime-hacksand-snapperswereverymuch
onthescene.Andwhenitcametimetosegue
from“Hey,rememberus!We’renewspapers!
Wecovercrime!”to“Hey…elections!”,there
wasthelovelylittlelinkofSinnFéin’sposition
ontheSpecialCriminalCourt.
Itseemedremarkablydifculttogetanyone
torecallaprincipled,non-Republicanreasonto
opposeno-jurytrials.
So,evenshortofamajordenitiveresearch
project,wecanprettysafelysay,thatcompared
totimespast,(1)newspapersarelessrelevant
and(2)peoplearemoreinclinedtoseethrough
media bias. (Check out Dr Rory Hearne’s
researchwithwaterprotesterstoconrmthe
latterpoint.)However,thisisnotthesameas
saying(1)themediaareirrelevantand(2)media
biasdoesn’tmatter.
WhenRTÉ–whichunlikenewspapershasa
statutoryobligationtobefair,towhichitpays
oftenhilariouslip-service–allowedcrime-hack
PaulWilliamsontheLateLateShowtousethe
issueoftheSpecialCriminalCourttodenounce
SinnFéinanditsvoters,ontheverysameday
thatheandwelearnedofhisshrinkingcircula-
tionrelevance,itwasnotonlyadisgrace,itwas
mostprobablyconsequentialfortheelection
outcome.
Withthebestwillintheworld–andevena
half-decentwillisararity–SinnFéinandits
voters remain another country for the vast
majorityoftheestablishedprofessionalsinthe
Irishmedia.OnhislastNewsTalkbroadcast
beforetheelectionmoratorium,GeorgeHook
recalled covering Mary-Lou McDonald on a
canvasinCabra:hescrapedthephrase“work-
ing-claaaasspeeeople”overhistonsilsasifhe
weredescribingaparticularlydangeroussafari.
Whenthediverseregionalaccentsofthevari-
ousreturningofcersareasourceofnovelty
andexcitementonelection-countdays, you
knowthemediahavegotaproblemofuniform-
ity.JohnBowmanturneduponRTEradiobefore
the election with what academic Dr Conor
McCabedescribedaptlyas“themostIrishmid-
dle-class statement ever”. Bowmansaid:"I
caughttheelectionbugbackinschoolwhenI
wasonthenumber10busfromBallsbridgeto
BelvedereCollege,andthebuswouldpassby
asignoutsidetheofcesoftheIrish Times…”.
The problem is not Bowman personally, of
course, but the fact that his background
remainshighlyrepresentativeofthemedia.
That ignorance partly accounts for the
strange yet popular notion that the Labour
Partyhassomethingtodowithworking-class
voters,somethingthathasrarelybeenthecase
inDublinevenwhenthepartywasgoingwell.
(Infairnessitdidcollectafewmoreofthem
thanusualin2011.)Iespeciallyenjoyedthe
hugeposterwithanimageofJoanBurtonjust
offMountjoySquare,withtheslogan:“Iwill
standupforworkingpeople”.Ifshewasques-
tionedaboutthebizarreuseofthefuturetense
besideaphotooftheoutgoingdeputyprime
minister,Ididn’thearit.
Thatomissionwasprobablybecauseinter-
viewers were too busy beforeand after the
electionaskingher,andeveryotherLabourpol-
itician:“Towhatdoyouattributethepeople’s
ingratitudeforyourgreatachievements?”(The
answersgenerallyadmittedto“someshort-
comings communicating to votersaboutour
greatachievements,perhapsbecauseofour
extraordinarydedicationtoachievingthem”.)
Thistoughlineofquestioningalsofoundits
way,intheaftermathoftheelectioncarnage,
toafewoftheFineGaelwounded.Buttheper-
fect posture of injured innocence, a pose
Zoolanderhimselfmightenvy,wasthespecial
preserveofLabourpols,generallyuntroubled
bytheirmediainterlocutors.EventheGreens
themselves,generallytheparagonsofwounded
virtuesincetheirown2011wipe-out,andthe
consequentperfectlyreasonableexclusionof
Eamon Ryan from the RTÉ debate, could
scarcely have struck the pose better. (The
returnoftheGreensasthepartythatwealthy
southDublinerscanvoteforinordertofeel
betteraboutthemselveswasamongthemost
inspiringelectionnarratives:VotePlanetNo.1.)
The Labour casualties (“goodcomrades”,
DerekMcDowellcalledthem,toaudibletitter-
ing from the political class at the sudden
post-electionrhetoricofsolidarity)wereabet-
tedintheirsofttreatmentbyjournalists’awful
I suspect more people
saw a social-media
post full of mockery or
outrage at at the Irish
Independent’s latest
front-page denunciation
of Sinn Féin than
actually paid for a
physical copy
4 8 March 2016
sentimentalityon theoccasionof elections.
RégimeapologistssuchasStephenCollinsand
DavidDavin-Powerarealmostovercomewith
emotionaboutthesacricespoliticiansmake.
When Lucinda Creighton was booed at the
count centre, pundits on Twitter, including
DearbhailMcDonald,lineduptoscoldthenoisy
rabbleaboutthegreatcourageittakestostand
forelection.ThewayIgureit,iftheonlypoint
ofprincipleCreightoncouldndonwhichto
abandonthelastgovernmentwasherdesireto
ensuretotalStatecontroloverwomen’srepro-
ductiveapparatus,thenshedeserves every
raspberryshegets,andmanymore.
Collins,meanwhile,descendedbelowself-
parody:“Thereweretimesinrecentyearswhen
thecomplainingandnegativityalmostgotout
ofhandandoverwhelmedtheeffortsofthose
tryingtoputthecountrybackonasoundfoot-
ing. In the end the optimists won out and
recovery began, mainly due to the mature
responseofamajorityofpeopletotheplight
theStatefounditselfin,butittookleadership
andcouragefrompoliticiansofvariousparties
to get consensus about what needed to be
done”.
Probably the greatest lines ever written
aboutimperial, imperiousgovernmentwere
those of Tacitus, speaking of the mighty
Romans:“Theymadeadesert,andcalledit
peace”.TheratherlesserspeciesofFineGael
andLabourgazedoutoverawastelandthey
helpedcreate,adesertofsuicide,emigration,
homelessness, overcrowded hospitals and
regressivetaxationtopayforitall,andthey
calledit“stability”.
Evenasitbecameapparentthattheelector-
atewoulddecisivelyrejectthegovernmentand
itsinsatiableappetiteforneoliberalstability,
itsdevotiontoarecoverythatmostofusdon’t
recognise,therégimeapologistsclungtothe
notion.Afteroneofthelastpre-electionpolls,
Davin-Powerworriedthatthelikelyresult-a
clearrepudiationofthegovernment-wouldbe
“indecisiveandmessy”.Asparadoxesgo,it
wasalmostas good aswhen RTÉ’sMartina
Fitzgeraldlamentedthatthecampaignrisked
getting “boggeddown”indiscussionofthe
issues.
EvenastheboxesopenedonFebruary27th,
andthevoters’disruptivemessagewasloud
andclear,therewasDavin-Poweragain,his
needlestuckinthatsameoldgroove:“What
ordinary people want”, he said, “is stable
government”.
Not thisstablegovernment, they don’t. It
wouldbenicetothink,withFintanO’Toole,that
what‘ordinarypeople’dowant,andwhatthey
canconceivablyget,issomereturntothebest
of20th-centurysocialdemocracy,“withef-
cient and effective public services, housing
redenedasasocialgoodratherthanacom-
modity and shrinking rather than rising
equality”.Theincoherenceoftheleft,thepoliti-
cal promiscuity of Fianna Fáil, and the
entrenchmentofneoliberalismintheEUinsti-
tutionsandbeyondmakesitdifculttoforesee
suchanoutcome,however.
O’Toole,atleast,seeswhathardlyanyother
popularpunditis willing to see:thatpretty
mucheveryonewhowonelectionthistime,
otherthanthereturnedFineGaelTDs,rantothe
leftofLabour.Hell,evenLabourrantotheleft
of Labour. (Cf. “I will stand up for working
people”.)Presuming,aseveryoneisdoingat
thetimeofwritinginearlyMarch,thatwewill
nonethelessgetacentre-rightgovernment,it’s
vitalthatSinnFéincaneffectivelyleadagenu-
inely left-wing opposition that will ght an
effectivewarofposition,onethatwillhelpshift
thepoliticalhorizonhereinIrelandandinthe
widerworld.
SinnFéinandtherealleftshouldassumethat
itwillgetabsolutelynohelpinthatprojectfrom
thebillionaire-controlledmedia,ortheloyal
Statebroadcaster.WecontinuetoawaitanIrish
Times columnist who supports the party.
AlthoughIadmittogettingalittleexcitedat
electiontime,Inormallyfavour,likeAntonio
Gramsci,‘goodcomrades’who“donotdespair
inthefaceoftheworsthorrorsand…donot
becomeexuberantwitheverysilliness”.Ithink
we’reinforacontinuingslog,buttherearerea-
sonstobecheerful.AmongthemisthatDenis
O’Brien,theIrish TimesandevenRTÉareget-
tingeverlessrelevanttohowweperceiveour
politics.
That Denis O’Brien, the
Irish Times and even
RTÉ are getting ever
less relevant to how we
perceive our politics
MEDIA
Davin-Power: worried result would be "indecisive and messy"

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