RTE in a spin

John Paul Coackley, RTE Radio’s Head of Operations has an article in today’s Irish News  about the station’s decision to shut down it’s medium wave output on the 24th of March.

 I have nothing against the man but he has sailed as close to the wind as is journalistically possible to justify the decision.  A number of his assertions are questionable.  In the article he says claims that under international agreements separate jurisdictions have separate licencing agreements. This makes perfect sense but in no way explains why RTE could not apply to become a ‘UK’ broadcaster also. To my best knowledge there is no point of international law which would prevent them from doing so.

Secondly he claims just 2% of ‘listeners’ tune in to RTE on MW. Is this listeners in the Republic where the choice of FM is available or does it include people living in NI? I strongly suspect he is using southern stats only.

Later in the article he claims RTE’s FM coverage is available in 75% of NI and that there is only a problem in the Belfast metropolitan area. When you consider that over 60% of the North’s population live in this areas the argument is not quite so strong.

Finally I really do think it is disingenuous to quote legislation (2007, Broadcasting Act) that is intended to ensure the Irish diaspora (i.e. people living outside this island) have access to RTE as a signal of the broadcasters commitment to the North. It is also pretty bizarre to describe people on this island, be they British or Irish, as part of the diaspora.

The Labour Party in the South has written to the Taoiseach on this matter. RTE has a significant audience in the North and their right to listen to our national broadcaster has been severely curtailed. As I said in a earlier post, cutting people off in the North in this way, contradicts the ethos of the Good Friday Agreement. Tuning in to RTE radio medium wave forms part of the traditional cross border links enjoyed by many in Northern Ireland, serving all ages and social groups.

The matter has been raised at the recent meeting of the Oireachtas Committee on Communications Energy and Natural Resources and the Committee is to invite RTE to come for a chat. I am happy to hear the SDLP, SF, labour and Fine Gael remain on the case.  

P.S. Wonder if we can expect a digital offering soon?