The Irish Catholic tv and radio critic has welcomed a decision by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) to uphold a complaint against Newstalk over a lack of objectivity and impartiality in dealing with the pro-life point of view.
Brendan O’Regan had complained that an item on the station on December 10 had treated a pro-life spokesperson with hostility while others expressing the pro-choice point of view were not treated in this fashion.
Mr O’Regan complained that the number of interviewees and the time allocated to each was weighted against pro-life views on the topic.
A decision by the BAI stated that the complaints committee: “concluded that content on Newstalk Breakfast and The Hard Shoulder infringed rule 4.22 of the Code of Fairness, Objectivity and Impartiality in News and Current Affairs”.
Mr O’Regan told The Irish Catholic: “I just want media to be fair and am glad for this small victory, though the decision made upheld the complaint only in relation to presenters being partisan, while unfortunately accepting the systemic bias in the way programmes are set up, in this case one pro-lifer grilled and three pro-choicers affirmed”.