RTE must learn lessons so it can still serve public interest
by Paul Murphy Updated: Friday, 2nd December, 2011 9:30am
RTÉ director general Noel Curran is subjected to a grilling from news anchor Bryan Dobson on the Six-One News in the wake of the Fr Reynols libel award.
In 1968, the RTE current affairs programme 'Seven Days', precursor to 'Today Tonight' and 'Prime Time', ran a programme on moneylenders.
Its makers set out on the premise that illegal moneylending was rife in the State, that it was causing untold hardship, and that the State system was doing nothing about it.
RTE used hidden cameras and microphones as part of its arsenal in uncovering the facts. All hell broke loose when the programme was screened. In December 1969, the Oireachtas voted to establish a tribunal of inquiry on the programme. Included in its terms of reference were that the allegation of use of strong-arm methods by illegal moneylenders was unfounded, that the numbers and scale of illegal moneylenders operating in the country was far less than those suggested by 'Seven Days', and that the statements made in the programme purporting to be confessions by moneylenders regarding strong-arm debt recovery tactics were entirely valueless.
The tribunal later reported that the programme content had been exaggerated, although it did concede that earlier claims that participants in the programme had been bribed with alcohol to respond to questions in a certain way were found to be untrue. For all the bluster in the Oireachtas, there was no inquiry into illegal moneylending or the terrible effects it had on poorer people in the community. The 'get RTE' gang were out in force.
Now, for the second time, we have politicians crawling all over an RTE current affairs programme and it's not a pretty sight.
Let's be clear about one thing. There is one clear difference between the 'Seven Days' moneylending programme and the 'Prime Time Investigates' programme 'Mission To Prey'.
In the latter, an innocent man was defamed in the worst possible way. Fr Kevin Reynolds was wrongly accused by the programme of sexually abusing a teenager and fathering a child while working in Africa 30 years ago.
There couldn't be a worse accusation against any person, let alone a priest. RTE has rightly withdrawn the accusations, apologised to Fr Reynolds and paid him damages. His character is intact, even though he has been put through enormous distress and worry.
Any supposed system of checks and balances within RTE proved to be useless. It remains a mystery why the station remained stone-faced and adamant that the programme was accurate when an offer of paternity testing was on the table from Fr Reynolds and his legal advisers. It maintained that position even after the programme was screened.
Two independent investigations have now been launched and a number of RTE executives have stood aside while these are going on. It is important that we are told exactly what went wrong in the making of this programme and we should be convinced that lessons will be learned. Then we should move on. But if this one bad mistake is to be used to beat up and emasculate 'Prime Time', then we should all worry about the future of public sector broadcasting.
Perhaps we should take on board what the Archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin, said this week. "Press freedom is a vital element of our society. Investigative journalism has done much good for our society but we need to have forms of regulation which are independent and we need a broad discussion in Ireland about how we manage these," he said.
In all the coverage of RTE's blunder over the 'Mission To Prey' programme, there has been little recognition of its important role in our liberal democracy. In programmes dealing with, for example, the Magdalene Laundries, the Leas Cross nursing home, Nama, home carers and their families, homelessness, criminals driving taxis, antisocial behaviour, bank overcharging, the blasphemy law, planning in Ireland and NCT scams, 'Prime Time' has shown itself to be a true watchdog on behalf of the people - a better watchdog, in many ways, than the houses of the Oireachtas have shown themselves to be on various serious issues.
RTE and the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland need to unearth the facts surrounding the decisions made in the lead-up to 'Mission To Prey' but the politicians should have little say in what happens next. If the fallout from this programme is to be endlessly debated in the Dail and Seanad, RTE will never be allowed to move on. Who gains in that scenario? Certainly not the viewing public, the licence-payers.
There is still a need to expose injustice and criminality. Let the programme-makers get on with their job.
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