Media coverage of situation in Dublin
dublin |
summit mobilisations |
news report 
Saturday May 01, 2004 23:18
by Chris Donoghue
A look at the coverage so far
Sky News is sensationalising the trouble in Dublin. Between 8:45pm and 10:00pm (Now) they have been showing the same two-minute loop of pictures. The presenters are making factually incorrect statements about the area and its distance from the Phoenix Park and the EU heads of State. Ray Kennedy is constantly repeating the significance of a water cannon being used in the Republic of Ireland and the word “riots” is being used to describe the situation. The presenters have already described the protestors as “anti-globalisation activists and anti-EU activists who were trying to gain access to the Irish President’s residence, Farmleigh House????”
In contrast, RTE covered the story live for 5 minutes, ITV mentioned the story in passing as “clashes” and the BBC ignored the story, despite being live in Dublin.
Comments (19 of 19)
Jump To Comment: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19Sky are exposing these protestors as the thugs they are.
Fair play, at least one media organ speaks the truth unlike indymedia, which represses it.
This is a response to the comments above: have you ever wondered why people go out on these marches? is it to get battered/arrested by the police? Maybe,just maybe, It is the utter lack of democracy afforded to people that dont hold positions of power. Just think about it. Frustration is inevitable....................................................
I had to laugh at this article.
Were we watching the same scuffle?
I laughed my ass off at yer one in the armbands. Nice touch.
If you thought sky news's coverage was bad I'm glad you didn't watch cnn's. They obiously couldn't find footage in time and used footage from a previous G8 summit riot.
Comman now you could protest all you like some other day. Or march where ever you want. Just not there and just not now.
Your noble cause is helped none by the subversive element whose only aim is to cause trouble.
we know where your slant is after the events of the last two hours and this will not die
Indymedia=bias journalism at its worst
the following is a opinion pieceon the media coverage of the protests.
I will only deal with those outlets that tolerate critiscm. I promise not to make any comments that may question the editorial policy of a certain media outlet. I will definetly not mention the consistent policy of suppresing dissent by that media outlet.
Sky News have tkaen the led on reporting of the distrubances this evening, consistently playing a loop of the same incidents that took place over two hours ago, last time i checked. They are highlighting the professionalism of the guards
by and large, all other news outlets with the exception of ITV News 24 are down playing the incidents, or ignoring them.
However, the general consensus of the media, is that the guards behaved in a restrained manner and acted professionally. there has been commentary on the decision of the guards to allow the protestors as close as possible to the phoenix park, but sky were condemning this
It will be interesting to see mondays papers, as it is doubtful whether the sundays will carry mjuch comment or reporting.
sOther than fox, of course
urely in todays day and age, there exists not media outlet which does not tolerate, even some form of token dissent?
I know there is FOX, but they bring on tokens occasionally to attack them.
Surely, there is no other media organisation like fox, that would say consistently delete reports about 'protestors' attacking a female guard, that needed go to hospitial?
Folks, somebody has been at least doing the job of updating the frontpage razorwire over the last few hours, but more is needed.
where are youz? in the pub? OK, maybe that's where I would be if i had been on the streets getting wet and tired, but some news is needed.
right now, the only thing up on the site about the clashes is http://www.indymedia.ie/newswire.php?story_id=64755
the minimal "Eyewitness report", with a bunch of anti-indymedia comments, which serve as the perfect context to disprove same, if it can be done.
RTE and Irish times are presenting the view that there was some "good-natured" protesting earlier in the day, but that later, "thugs" and "anarchists", "rioted" at the police blockade.
I'm not in Dublin and i feel like there's a news blackout. come on!!! The Irish times admits "Reporters being ferried from Farmleigh to the media centre in Dublin Castle this evening were taken an alternate route in order to avoid the violent scenes."
So youz were the only ones there.
Here's an opportunity for some education about what an anarchist is and what is the meaning of the word "riot". Don't let Charlie Bird get away with it with his sensationalist report from behind the wire and a few miserable images that don't quite match what he was saying with words. He is presenting a scenario of unarmed Ban Gardai (plural, note) being battered with beer bottles and stones.
http://www.rte.ie/news/2004/0501/1news/1news56_2a.smil
What happened? who threw stuff at the cops? what did they throw? what was the consensus on action in the crowd? where's the video? where's the coherent argument for the (somewhat small) crowd that was repressed and not allowed to protest at the site of the meeting.
With all due respect.
Please could you clarify your allegations.
If you want to write an article about this female guard I'm sure you are perfectly free to do so. Just don't sit and moan that no-one else is doing it. Indymedia, is, after all, DIY media.
BTW Indyppl, I really think it would help matters if the editorial guidelines:
http://www.indymedia.ie/editorial.php
were easier to find from the frontpage, and if it were possible to see a list of hidden posts, also made easy to find from the startpage. This would help hugely to defuse suspicion of censorship. Sorry to moan, I know imc is run by hardworking volunteers but if you've got time, I really think it would help.
Finally, on the issue of bias or not in indymedia. I don't know about indymedia.ie, but the position of indymedia.uk is to clearly state its subjectivity:
"Inherent in the mainstream corporate media is a strong bias towards Capitalism's power structures, and it is an important tool in propagating these structures around the globe. While the mainstream media conceal their manifold biases and alignments, we clearly state our position. Indymedia UK does not attempt to take an objective and impartial standpoint: Indymedia UK clearly states its subjectivity."
In fact I personally do not think 100% unbiased news is possible. Everybody has their own inherent way of seeing the world, and this will influence the way they report things. This is NOT an excuse for avoiding ideals of truth and accuracy, which I think ARE possible to attain.
The best way to report news is to do your best to be 100% truthful and accurate, but at the same time to admit and not be ashamed of your own inherent biases.
The alternative is the BBC-style fake balance - a complete con - which pretends to be objective by airing what appear to be two sides of an argument but are in fact both contained in a mainstream framework.
Report on Guardian online claims one petrol bomb was thrown.... Seems someone didnt leave their hotel room after getting a bit drunk on Irish coffee's!!!
All this fuss about a wee scuffle.. the gards would shit a brick up north. As for the water cannon, well, if u had one to play with wouldn't you?
Cultchie cops win one sided water fight, whoppeee doo, lets see those shit kickers up in Ardoyne this July.
As for the whinin over the alleged injury of a female gard, well sorry but as a pro feminist I say fuck her she is no more fragile or sacred than a male pig, and having seen what female pigs are capable of I must admit my pillow isn't exactly flooded!
Oh yeah heres this Guardian link
how can people get away with this level of, not only bad reporting but extreemly damaging and clearly illegal misrepresentation of facts
we all laughed at "Comical Ali"
why we take a look at our own infiltrated hacks
These guys seem to have a thing about picking on women, don't they. Same effort in the so-called Media Centre with Justine McCarthy. Of course, the paragons of sexual equality will lecture us about crimes about women while not looking closer to home.
Cabhog and toneore are the same person. 'They' have been actively trying to undermine indymedia by posting abusive stories and then spamming the site when their abuse gets deleted. Also uses the name 'lone gunman' and 'drbinoche'. May be a member or exmember of the Eire army. He has posted a lot of abusive stuff and does not hesitate to use sexist abuse. So it takes a really hard neck to then turn around and claim to be a protector of women.
Anything writen by him should be treated with skepticism.
toneore has posted on another thread posing as a defender of women, while coming on this thread making cheap sexist jibes about PMT.
typical hypocritical troll
Plenty of stories were published about the thugs attacking a female guards, and they were deleted.
I don't know why and would not dream of critiscing the decision to delete those stories, as that would mean attacking editorial policy, which would be wrong and immoral.
cabhog,
you`re so full of shite. why don`t you go out to blanch and go shopping in that big centre.
cheers.
Newstalk 106 covered the story this morning. the whole discussion was based around the "riots" last night and instead of giving the right of reply to the people who were actually involved in the incident, they had 3 contributors, all of whom from "another europe is possible" only one of whom was even present during the incident (very far away)
Its not like this radio station don't have contact details for the Grassroots network. we have 4 media spokespeople. Unless the Grassroots people were contacted and declined to speak there is no excuse for this behavious.
If there was a scuffle involving Cork and Kerry Gaelic football teams would the media contact the manager of shamrock rovers fc to ask them to defend it?
Its the same thing
Does the above comment by Shitehawk not quailify as abuse?
I'm sure if I refered to a comment by another contributor as shite with no supporting or quailifying commentary or evidence, it would be deleted. However, it seems that on Indymedia, two rules apply, one for the editors an their ideological kin and another for those who aren't.
Indymedia should stop engaging in selective censorship.
Just as I am sure that if my commentray on Saturday had inversed the roles of protestors and gurads it would not have been consistently represse, then I am sure that the comment above, if by someone like me, would also have been deleted.
Honesty, please.
Lick Wounds.
Go Through Tapes.
Go Through Photos.
Heal Wounds.
All the sincere and good people have had the formative clash with the police which is obligatory on any CV.
Now the clashes with police (if any on the CV) long behind them, grown-ups have to do really serious work on the international stage.
The Gardaí have to go back to wherever they came from.
And lots of digital has to be very carefully looked at.
Buy some ibuprofen for the battered,
shake the can for the legal costs,
have a post-mortem (hopefully not a real post"mortem")
and know that a very important political message has been communicated.
Oh if any one wants to help the landlady crises, send some money to
Caixa Catalunya (spain)
2013 0239 15 0200853088
here's how it goes:-
She owns loads of flats, and over charges loads of students from the poorest regions of Spain, and I haven't paid her.
So She's a 1st world country.
the caixa cat. 2013 0239 15 0200853088
is the World Bank (see my CV)
and I am representing the Third world tenants.
Just like the real world, only smaller, younger and less zeroes in the debt.
Our little long suffering kids of Galicia are going to get evicted if no money goes in that account, and I'll try and persuade her to re-dye her hair and maybe slip out of the furcoat in the mean time.
or you could like call me 0034 636 105 231,
now that the mobile is back on.
or you could mail me, I'm using pirates@planetsearch.com
Hugs. Peace. and stuff like that.
ye have an election 2005 to do now. More important than the Wookie Visit, which we still really do not know will happen.
¿do we Bertie / Michael etc....?
oh and you make the declarations and top off the Farmleigh thing well.
And re-open the fiunn uisce a.s.a.p. to the people of Dublin.
And go through that video tape not for "hooligans" but _atypical movements_ and _group behaviour patterns_ in _both_ Garda and civilian groups.
Coz you never know.
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