Shame on RTE

RTE grasping at straws. The RTE News at 6pm yesterday highlighted the 'fact' that many strikers went shopping to Newry yesterday rather than manning the picket lines. The RTE methodology for these 'facts' were at best flawed, indeed one could say they were politically motivated. If any academic handed in research based on asking a few passers by if they thought strikers were shopping in Newry they would be very quickly asked to leave the University or at least start again. However, RTE presented one young lad to say "that lad over there is on strike" and that was the evidence needed to run two stories on the main evening news about strikers taking the day to spend their money in another jurisdiction.

Peter Mc Cloone did not help matters yesterday on the RTE news by simply dismissing the reports, when he should have said that many strikers were on a rolling Rota yesterday, which meant that nurses etc were only asked and expected to do two hours picket duty and the rest of the day was theirs to do with what they liked. The fact that RTE journalists who were pointing the finger at strikers 'shopping' in Newry yesterday have themselves had foreign holidays this year is a kin to the kettle calling the pot black. RTE is heavily subsidised by the tax payer and therefore the wages paid to RTE journalists is no less public pay than those workers on strike yesterday.

Flawed methodology and political manipulation is no way for a public broadcaster to conduct its business, will we soon see Union representatives banned from the airways because of their opposition to this inept Government, will we see actors speak the words of Union leaders because their message is a threat to this Fianna Fail government and its decaying green fig leaf. RTE bosses must not allow RTE to become an intellectual mouth-piece for this inept government, report the news that's your job, report the facts that's your job, but don't use flawed methodology and political manipulation to damage good and decent people.