{"id":15385,"date":"2023-07-02T13:04:51","date_gmt":"2023-07-02T12:04:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cassandravoices.com\/?p=15385"},"modified":"2023-07-02T13:04:51","modified_gmt":"2023-07-02T12:04:51","slug":"the-end-of-rtes-drive-time-omerta","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/casswp.eutonom.eu\/index.php\/2023\/07\/02\/the-end-of-rtes-drive-time-omerta\/","title":{"rendered":"The End of RT\u00c9’s “Drive Time” Omert\u00e1"},"content":{"rendered":"

And so, the omert\u00e0 as to the RT\u00c9 personnel getting \u2018freebie\u2019 cars has finally broken. It\u2019s no coincidence that this was the only outlet probing this matter five years ago. We knew the topic was highly unlikely to be picked up by media reliant on revenue streams from advertising cars.<\/span><\/p>\n

We also knew that covering the topic was unlikely to win any friends for this publication in the state broadcaster \u2013 generally not a wise move for a fledgling operation trying to make it in the Irish media landscape. Despite the obvious pitfalls, the editor published my original piece<\/a><\/span> \u2013 and then followed up<\/a><\/span> the matter in his own stoic fashion.<\/p>\n

Sure enough, five years on, despite countless topics having been forensically covered by Cassandra Voices, and despite the editor having previously appeared on prime time RT\u00c9 shows<\/a><\/span>, they have never contacted him or this outlet regarding any topic featured herein. Cassandra was \u2018cancelled\u2019 almost as soon as she commenced.<\/p>\n

\"\"
“Drive Time: The Irish Media\u2019s Message<\/a><\/span>“<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Accounts and Accountability<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Over the last week a series of details<\/a> <\/span>have emerged of a culture in RT\u00c9 of personnel entering \u2018side-deals\u2019 where they benefit either by additional cash payments, or in kind \u2013 by way of high-value items such as cars or other luxury outings to prestigious sporting fixtures. Nice if you can get it.<\/p>\n

This has come as a revelation to most Irish people \u2013 yet readers of this publication know that there has been a serious issue going back two decades. Unlike commercial operators, there is an onus on RT\u00c9 to be accountable to the public as it relies on approximately \u20ac150 million in state funding via the licence fee each year.<\/p>\n

Hence, it has long seemed apparent that there is a clear need for transparency to avoid conflicts of interest, especially when RT\u00c9 employees engage in extra-curricular commercial arrangements.<\/p>\n

\"\"
“RT\u00c9: Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams<\/span><\/a>“<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00c1 la CaRT\u00c9?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Cassandra Voices has long since called on RT\u00c9 to release an easily accessible register of interests, as occurs with personnel who work at the BBC<\/a><\/span>. Yet RT\u00c9 have steadfastly refused to countenance such a notion \u2013 and for that, they are now having to answer.<\/p>\n

It is now of crucial importance to assess whether a Freedom of Information (FOI) request filed by Cassandra Voices with RT\u00c9 in 2018<\/a> <\/span>was answered with full and proper disclosure, as required by law.<\/p>\n

At the time, RT\u00c9 were asked to disclose records of payments, or payments-in-kind, from car dealership to leading RT\u00c9 stars, approved by RT\u00c9 \u2019s management since January 1st, 2017 under the Personal and Public Activities Guidance.<\/p>\n

RT\u00c9\u2019s FOI officer responded to say there was no record of any such payments or payments-in-kind. That FOI request was filed with RT\u00c9 following an article by this writer<\/a><\/span>, in which we outlined instances where RT\u00c9 presenters had vilified other road users, notably cyclists \u2013 without making it clear to their audiences that they had \u2018side-deals\u2019 with car companies.<\/p>\n

It seemed obvious to us that there was an ongoing culture of side-deals with car companies, especially given there had been previous public references to this by the then Labour TD, Tommy Broughan<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n

In hindsight, it was very brave of Broughan to raise the topic, given that TDs depend on media coverage to be elected. Today it turns out, courtesy of the Independent<\/em><\/a><\/span> that there are in fact numerous side-deals between many RT\u00c9 personnel and car companies. How credible is the FOI officer’s claim in 2018 that no such deals existed when asked by this small, independent media outlet?<\/p>\n

\"\"
BMW i3<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Buy a Car to Save the Environment\u2026<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The real problem is not that personnel have enjoyed such arrangements, but that there is a lack of transparency \u2013 and that this coincides with an apparent de facto black-out of transport issues being covered in an adequate manner.<\/p>\n

Dublin has been rated as the worst European capital among thirty for public transport<\/a> <\/span>by Greenpeace in 2023. Moreover, last year the OECD issued a stern assessment<\/span><\/a> that castigated the Irish authorities for transport policy that is dependent on electric cars and mega-projects.<\/p>\n

Yet there seems to have been little probing by RT\u00c9 into the strategic issues underpinning this malaise. Instead we find the blithe assumption that the airport metro will be a panacea, and in the meantime, sure why not buy an electric car to save the environment?<\/p>\n

New cars, by their nature, are of course bad for the environment \u2013 and electric cars bring their own set of problems, not least issues relating to mining for batteries<\/a><\/span>, disposal of same, and, potentially, greater erosion of road surfaces<\/a><\/span>, arising from the increased weight.<\/p>\n

In many instances, it may make sense to keep an older vehicle, used infrequently, on the road \u2013 rather than buying a new car.<\/p>\n

It is understandable, if lamentable, that commercial media should shy away from damning stories as it may scare advertisers. That is why the role of a public broadcaster working in the public interest is so important.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Train In Connolly Station – Dublin.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Fail Rail<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

A good example of how RT\u00c9 operates is how they covered the \u2018re-opening<\/a><\/span>\u2019 of the railway that passes through the Phoenix Park tunnel in Dublin. That railway connects the two main railway termini in Dublin, Heuston and Connolly Stations, linking the Cork and south-west commuter line from Heuston, through the north city centre, onto the Sligo and north-west commuter line that runs into Connolly.<\/p>\n

The railway has been present for over a century, and for years, carried passenger trains between the two termini \u2013 provided the trains were empty. At the same time, Irish Rail, were proposing a multi-billion euro tunnel, DART Underground, so as to create a new link from Heuston around to the lines linking into Connolly.<\/p>\n

Hence there was a line that could have been used, which Irish Rail were effectively refusing to use \u2013 but were instead proposing to spend billions. Why wasn\u2019t RT\u00c9 probing this matter?<\/p>\n

Ultimately, the Phoenix Park line was brought into use in 2017, but the new operation is not without problems. Most obvious is that although trains now run between Connolly and Heuston Stations, the services do not stop at Heuston Station \u2013 and instead simply fly by an idle platform!<\/p>\n

Although the new service passes through some of the most densely populated areas in the state, such as Ballyfermot, Inchicore, Cabra, and Phibsborough \u2013 the train only stops once in fifteen kilometres at Drumcondra, between Connolly and Park West Stations. A fit-for-purpose public broadcaster would surely have examined the issues involved, flagged to the RT\u00c9 Dublin correspondent John Kilraine at the time.<\/p>\n

Instead, having studiously ignored the existence of this railway for many years, on the day of the re-opening of the tunnel to passenger services, the matter was simply presented as a \u2018good news\u2019 story.<\/p>\n

The modus operandi<\/em> of RT\u00c9 in this instance appears to have amounted to a suppression of the facts, until state policy mandated a change, where upon it was a case of \u2018hooray for happy days\u2019. Such an approach is not good enough. Irish Rail would not have been able to obscure the existence of that key railway had RT\u00c9 been doing its job properly.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Irish Independent, 2008.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

UnchaRTEd territory?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

It remains to be seen if RT\u00c9 staff can redeem the reputation of the state broadcaster. This week\u2019s outings to the D\u00e1il did not inspire much confidence \u2013 particularly when the Chief Financial Officer was unable to recall his own payment levels<\/a><\/span>; two hundred thousand euro, as we subsequently learned.<\/p>\n

As RT\u00c9 correspondent Paul Cunningham<\/a><\/span> observed, it turns out that there has been a \u2018special arrangement for special people\u2019.<\/p>\n

Although Cassandra was the lone voice raising such unpopular questions a few years ago, the levee has now properly broken, and it has emerged there have been all sorts of \u2018side-deals\u2019 and unusual accounting procedures that have facilitated junkets, luxury outings, \u2018freebie cars\u2019 and hidden payments. It will be interesting to see what else comes out. The public deserves a lot better from its national broadcaster.<\/p>\n

Feature Image: Daniele Idini<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

And so, the omert\u00e0 as to the RT\u00c9 personnel getting \u2018freebie\u2019 cars has finally broken. It\u2019s no coincidence that this was the only outlet probing this matter five years ago. We knew the topic was highly unlikely to be picked up by media reliant on revenue streams from advertising cars. We also knew that covering […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":11714,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[1460,1462,1472,1819,2652,2957,6653,6823,7042,8009,8010,8020,8641,8922,9040,9422,9461],"class_list":["post-15385","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-comment","tag-cassandra-voices-rte","tag-cassandra-voices-ryan-tubridy","tag-cassandra-voices-stephen-court","tag-comment","tag-drive","tag-end","tag-noel-kelly","tag-omerta","tag-paul-cunningham","tag-rte-bias","tag-rte-drive-time","tag-rtes","tag-stephen-court-drive-time","tag-the","tag-the-end-of-rtes-drive-time-omerta","tag-time","tag-tommy-broughan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/casswp.eutonom.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15385","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/casswp.eutonom.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/casswp.eutonom.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/casswp.eutonom.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/57"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/casswp.eutonom.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15385"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/casswp.eutonom.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15385\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/casswp.eutonom.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/casswp.eutonom.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15385"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/casswp.eutonom.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15385"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/casswp.eutonom.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15385"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}