# Odd reporting of political affiliations of criminals  by Irish Times and RTE



## Brendan Burgess (23 Nov 2013)

From the Irish Times 

Former FF senator charged with demanding €100,000  with menaces   

Former FF Senator Francis O’Brien pleads guilty to extortion

But when it comes to the activities of a Labour Party member, it's left out of the headline completely. 

Ex-Mayor of Cork  found guilty of sexually assaulting teenager

You have to read half way down the article to find that he was a member of the Labour Party.  And even then, he was elected "under a pact between [broken link removed], [broken link removed] and Labour."

Jury  in trial of ex-Cork  mayor to resume deliberations tomorrow

Ex-Cork mayor  tells of disgust on hearing  sexual assault complaint


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## Brendan Burgess (23 Nov 2013)

Interestingly, RTE don't mention the Labour party  affiliations at all 

Former Cork mayor guilty of sexual assaults


Whereas RTE puts Fianna Fail in the headlines on two of its three reports, but doesn't mention his affiliation in one reort. 

*Former senator pleads guilty to extortion charge*


*Nine News: Former Fianna Fáil senator pleads guilty to extortion*


*Six One News: FF senator pleads guilty to extortion charge*


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## Deiseblue (23 Nov 2013)

All new sources currently on line make reference in their headlines to the guilty party as being the former Lord Mayor of Cork - there seems to be a sense of unanimity that such reference is the attention grabber.

Perhaps if this criminal had been a senator or TD then the Labour Party would have been referenced in the headline ?


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## Brendan Burgess (23 Nov 2013)

But why not say "Former Labour Lord Mayor of Cork..." 

Or else "Former senator pleads guilty to extortion" 

Brendan


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## Time (23 Nov 2013)

Goes to show that RTÉ are influenced by the government of the day. Hardly independant.


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## Deiseblue (23 Nov 2013)

Brendan Burgess said:


> But why not say "Former Labour Lord Mayor of Cork..."
> 
> Or else "Former senator pleads guilty to extortion"
> 
> Brendan



Why not ? - not quite sure.

Even the virulently anti Labour Irish Indo ran with the former Lord Mayor tag - perhaps it was a case of not over egging the pudding ?


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## Brendan Burgess (24 Nov 2013)

Deiseblue said:


> Even the virulently anti Labour Irish Indo ran with the former Lord Mayor tag - perhaps it was a case of not over egging the pudding ?



Good spot. 

I did a more extensive check and none of the media refers to his Labour party affiliation.

Yet, most (all?) of the papers refer to Francie O'Brien being an ex FF senator 

The mirror: 
*Ex Fianna Fail senator Francis O'Brien jailed for three years*

Irish Independent: 

_Former_ FF _senator_ weeps as he is jailed over bid to extort €100000 _..._


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## Purple (25 Nov 2013)

Deiseblue said:


> Why not ? - not quite sure.
> 
> Even the virulently anti Labour Irish Indo ran with the former Lord Mayor tag - perhaps it was a case of not over egging the pudding ?



"Virulently anti Labour"? 
I'd say they are just more balanced. 

I would suggest that only  in comparison to the Labour Party's weekly pamphlet, the Irish Times, and the Public Sector Broadcaster, RTE, do they appear to be virulently anti Labour.    

FF have a long history of corruption and parish-pump politics. I'm not sure if that's because they have a long history of being in power or if it's the other way around. Whatever the reason they are rightly criticised for their past and, in some cases, their present. That should not exempt other political party's from scrutiny or be an excuse for biased journalism.


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## Latrade (25 Nov 2013)

I'm not sure it is quite so deliberate, especially with the small sample size given. I actually think its just inconsistent sub-editing than deliberate.

Take two cases involving FG, one a senator and one a mayor.

Mayor Darren Scully's racist comments reported by the indo:

Fine Gael’s Darren Scully quits as mayor of Naas over his comments about ‘black Africans’

Senator Pat O'Neill's Tax Compliance from the examiner:

FG senator faces probes over lack of tax clearance cert 

Maybe there's just more FF politicians to expose?


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## Deiseblue (25 Nov 2013)

Purple , I do agree that RTE could be accused of a Labour bias but I believe that the Irish Times is a fine paper which applies standards that the Indo never come near reaching & can mostly be relied on for non biased reporting.

I never realised that the Times now publish weekly & not daily !


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## Purple (25 Nov 2013)

Deiseblue said:


> I never realised that the Times now publish weekly & not daily !



I only read it once a week


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## Sunny (25 Nov 2013)

The Independent has improved greatly over the past couple of years. Their business and political coverage is as good as if not better than the Times. The sport coverage is also good. Both papers have their flaws but we are lucky to have both papers in this Country. Compared to media we some other countries, we are blessed!!


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## Mrs Vimes (1 Dec 2013)

I think the way Brendan's 2 cases were reported were reasonable considering the circumstances.

O'Brien abused his position as senator to attempt personal gain - very much a Fianna Fail policy (I'm by no means suggesting this is only FF, but it certainly appears to be the sort of thing they do better than the others).

I don't think the former Mayor's crime was in any way related to his position or party so I think it's fair enough to not make the party the headline.


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## Brendan Burgess (28 May 2014)

His crimes are not related to his role as a councillor, but hey, he's Fianna Fáil, so this is RTE: 

*Ex-FF cllr O'Flynn guilty on deception charges*

                              20.54                                      Former Fianna Fáil councillor Gary O'Flynn has been  remanded in custody after he was found guilty of 13 counts of deception.

And this is the Irish Times: 
*Former FF councillor denies obtaining money by deception*

The Examiner's headline is much more relevant: 

*Financial adviser on trial for deception

*It was in his role as a financial adviser, that he deceived clients. Not in his role as a councillor. And not as a member of FF.


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## PMU (29 May 2014)

It would appear that if you are Labour your party affiliation might not be mentioned in reporting adverse cases.  In this case the IT reported it as 

*Dublin mayor fails in appeal against ethics ruling*

  omitting the mayor’s political affiliation, as did the Examiner

*Council ignored low-cost alternative before it went to court*

  whereas RTE reported it as

*Labour cllr contravened ethical framework*

  In a related story the Indo mentions cllr Quinn but not his party affiliation

*Lochlann Quinn sells office block to Vernon's Green REIT*


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## Purple (29 May 2014)

PMU said:


> It would appear that if you are Labour your party affiliation might not be mentioned in reporting adverse cases.  In this case the IT reported it as
> 
> *Dublin mayor fails in appeal against ethics ruling*
> 
> ...



And they didn't mention Ruairi Quinn, the brother of Laughlin or his cousin Fergal, formerly of Superquinn. Good Labour credentials all of them.


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## Delboy (29 May 2014)

Fergal is a cousin of Ho Chi Quinn...interesting, did'nt know that


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## Brendan Burgess (29 May 2014)

PMU said:


> It would appear that if you are Labour your party affiliation might not be mentioned in reporting adverse cases.  In this case the IT reported it as
> 
> *Dublin mayor fails in appeal against ethics ruling*
> 
> omitting the mayor’s political affiliation, as did the Examiner



What is more important in this case 


that he is the Lord Mayor?
that he is Lochlann Quinn's son
That he is Labour
I think that this headline is fair enough. 



They could say Dublin Mayor,* Labour, son of Lochlann Quinn, fails in appeal against ethics ruling
*


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## so-crates (30 May 2014)

Much less punchy though Brendan. Headlines are not the place for being totally truthful - they are teasers


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## PMU (30 May 2014)

Brendan Burgess said:


> What is more important in this case


  It’s that he is Labour.

  This is another example of inconsistent or odd reporting of political party affiliations, with 3 media outlets not reporting the councilor's party.   In the Francis O’Brien case, mentioned in post #1, O’Brien pleaded guilty to an act contrary to the Criminal Justice (Public Order)  Act but he did not do this in his role as a FF senator – he was retired at the time, but his party affiliation was nevertheless highlighted in the headline.  In the Quinn case, Mr Quinn in his role as a councilor  transgressed (inadvertently and in a minor way) the disclosure provisions of local government legislation that apply directly to councilors (and which is not a criminal offence).  By any reasonable standard,  his party affiliation here is relevant and is a matter of public interest, as he was a councillor for a particular political party and also that party’s policy is to “_foster a spirit of transparency, accountability and good Governance_”.   But papers that have reported the party affiliations of non-Labour politicians (see posts 1, 2, 9 and 14 above) oddly did not report the party affiliation where the case concerned a Labour party member.


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## Brendan Burgess (3 Jul 2014)

Irish Times continues the irrelevant reporting 

*Former FF councillor Gary O’Flynn jailed for theft


*This is the bit which people need to read: 





> Mr Higgins had gone to see O’Flynn who was working with a company called [broken link removed] who charged him €50 for a consultation and offered to restructure his debts with two banks.
> 
> 
> O’Flynn  arranged for Mr Higgins to pay €40 a week to one financial institution  and €22.50 a week to another with both sums to be paid into a bank  account nominated by O’Flynn.


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## Delboy (3 Jul 2014)

In this particular case, he is a former County Councillor and is the son of a former FF TD, brother of a current councillor.
I think it very relevant that these credentials are reported by the media, especially as his father made a plea for him during the trial.


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## TarfHead (4 Jul 2014)

At the time, I found the reporting in the Philip Sheedy affair to be odd, in that it generally referred to him as "architect Philip Sheedy".

Similarly, there is case, which has yet come to trial, where the accused is also an architect, and is referred to as "architect Joe Bloggs".

I don't understand why they do this.  Is it to differentiate the individual from others who may share the same name ?

And, before you post, NO, I am not an architect .


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## Time (4 Jul 2014)

I think it is so people know exactly who it is.


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## RainyDay (5 Jul 2014)

TarfHead said:


> At the time, I found the reporting in the Philip Sheedy affair to be odd, in that it generally referred to him as "architect Philip Sheedy".
> 
> Similarly, there is case, which has yet come to trial, where the accused is also an architect, and is referred to as "architect Joe Bloggs".
> 
> ...



I think it's a class thing. They are giving a message that 'this isn't your standard gangland killing'. It's not hugely relevant (to them) that he is an architect. It is hugely relevant (to them) that he is a professional. It's the same reason that they'll tell you what part of the city he comes from.


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## RainyDay (8 Jul 2014)

No mention of FF in the headline, but it is mentioned in the first line of the article;

[broken link removed]


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