Oireachtas

Bad news too much to bear so FF Senators shoot messenger

SKETCH: Forget job losses, pay cuts and tax rises – the media is to blame for all the doom and gloom, writes MIRIAM LORD

Thu Nov 05 2009 - 00:00

SKETCH:Forget job losses, pay cuts and tax rises – the media is to blame for all the doom and gloom, writes MIRIAM LORD

THERE WAS lots of talk about a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) last week. High-powered stuff to do with distressed assets.

Yesterday – inevitably, some might say – the discussion moved on to the St Vincent de Paul (SVP). Mainly low-key stuff about distressed people.

Move a letter – it’ll cost a lot.

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It’s so depressing around these parts at the moment. Doom and gloom all the way. A pre-budget torpor has settled on Leinster House.

Here in our own little corner of Kildare Street, matters are particularly grim, with bad news washing over the press gallery gunwales by the hour. It’s hard to maintain a cheerful front.

Leaders’ Questions tackled the continuing tragedy that is the economy. Who should be taxed the most, why people are beating down the doors of St Vincent de Paul, what to do for the unemployed, how to stop the rot?

Hurrah! Health Minister Mary Harney talked about swine flu, co-location and care in the home.

Yippee! Then everyone got back to debating the Nama Bill.

Fab’lus! Well, it would be, if the media didn’t insist upon making things awful by reporting that we’re up the creek at the moment. Just because the Dáil is consumed by this crisis doesn’t mean news of it has to be relayed to the great unwashed.

Across in the upper House, some Government Senators are of the view that if a clearly imbecilic public were exposed to more good news stories, the nation’s morale and finances would soar.

Here’s Ann Ormonde: “The media are creating so much doom and gloom that it is depressing those in the world outside. The media have a responsibility to step back for a while until we see if we can get back some order to the finances.”

“The world outside?” “Creating?” Marc MacSharry is also annoyed with the media.

“What doesn’t help to seek a solution is how aspects of the media are pitching the public and private sectors against one another. I mention in particular the programme The Frontline, which is despicable in its approach to how it debates with people. It is pure political point-scoring and is very dangerous . . . The focus of all of us, especially the media and the political institutions, should be on giving . . . some certainty, confidence and absolute determination that we will get a solution to these problems.”

And not writing stories about the abolition of the Seanad either.

John “Pravda” Hanafin took up the baton: “We have achieved independence and there is a system of government where people go to great lengths to elect representatives, but we find the media are sovereign. That is not as it is meant to be.” Where? North Korea? Sen Hanafin then gave the game away when he went on to talk about the radio stations “Newstalk Fine Gael” and “What the Opposition is Saying Today FM.” Liam Twomey (FG) called John a “crackpot”. Seanad leader Donie Cassidy is also concerned about “balance in the media”. He thinks bad news stories are not good for the nation’s health.

“People are losing their jobs and financial pressure is the order of the day morning, noon and night for many families. The media has a serious responsibility not to increase the difficulties of the 500,000 unemployed people by running programmes that will annoy them and only worsen their situation.

The media only want to know about bad news.

“I have often asked which radio or television station would give us 30 minutes of good news every day. We could enjoy life for those 30 minutes and then switch off,” said Donie, who likes to keep his head in the sand.

“Nationwide,” Sen Ronan Mullen ventured helpfully. That’s a cheerful programme.

“Strictly Come Dancing,” suggested Labour’s Alex White.

But that’s not enough. In the fluffy world of Donie Cassidy and fellow Fianna Fáil Pollyannas “the people deserve to be told the truth of the news. Some 30 minutes of good news might not be enough.”

Maurice Cummins (FG) shuddered: “It’ll be country and western music, then.” Ah yes, it’s all the media’s fault.

As Donie and his cohorts see it, the general public cannot handle the truth. You need to be toughened at the cosy coalface of Club Seanad – a 70k part-time job plus expenses – to fully grasp the harsh realities of life.