Last night the Nightly News with Vincent Browne discussed the fact that TV3 had aired a news item about the Minister for Finance, Mr Brian Lenihan TD having been told that he had cancer. The discussion was very much about the ethics of how the programme was presented and should Mr Lenihan have been given more time and space to talk to his family before the item was aired. Mr Noel Whelan who is a Barrister and who had written an article for the Irish Times on the TV3 exclusive suggesting that the news item was badly timed and poorly presented in terms of taste and consideration for the Lenihan family, was attacked on last nights programme by the Editor of The Star.
Personally I have no opinion on the news item presented by TV3 as it appears to me that many people have their personal life raked over by the media as and when its suits them and so to single out this particular item seems fruitless to me.
The reason that this Blog is concerning itself with last nights programme is due to the fact that the Editor of the Star was on the panel offering his moral and ethical position in relation to journalism. The Editor of the Star attacked Mr Whelan for his 'political' position in relation to the TV3 programme. The Editor of the Star accused Mr Whelan of being politically blinded due to his Fianna Fail back ground. However, this Observer would say that the points raised by Mr Whelan were fair and reasonable and while this Observer takes no issue with the TV3 item this Observer must ask, "Who is the Editor of the Star to lecture anyone on ethics and morality of journalism".
theirishobserver.blogspot.com has a wealth of information at my disposal, one of those pieces of information relates to the Editor of The Star paying a convicted sex offender 400 Euro for photos that that sex offender took of himself, The Editor of The Star then proceeded to publish those photos stating that a photographer from the Star had taken the photos. What the Editor of the Star did not know was that a third party was taking photos of the Star handing over the money to the convicted sex offender.
The Star is a lurid British inspired tabloid that facilitates the sexual exploitation of men, women and children by way of its advertised deviant sex chat lines "Young Girls want to talk to you one to one", its lurid detail of sexual criminality and exploitation, its offensive portrayal of women as objects of lust and commodity. The Editor of the Star is a man of very low moral and ethical journalistic standards. It is a shame that TV3 and others continue to give the Star and its Editor a public platform on which to spout his Star Hypocracy.
