The Broadcasting Complaints Commission (BCC) has upheld a complaint against TG4 for showing in an early evening time-slot a drama that portrayed the stabbing of a teenage girl.
The programme, which was broadcast on August 14th, was a short drama based on the experience of a babysitter in a "haunted" house.
The commission noted that An Fear Grinn, scripted and produced by a group of transition-year school students, took a scenario familiar and natural to children and turned it into a "horror-type experience" that included a murder scene.
Young children were likely to view the programme in its 6pm slot, and could have found the tone of the piece menacing and violent.
Separately, the BCC rejected two complaints against RTÉ Radio's Tonight with Vincent Browne programme. In the first, a listener argued that Browne, during a programme aired on May 24th, showed bias and lack of objectivity and fairness in discussing an item on child abuse.
The complainant alleged that the presenter "constantly harried and mocked" a panellist, journalist David Quinn, and ended the programme by quoting on air a text message from an unnamed listener who described Christian Brothers as "monsters, sadists, perverts and crackpots".
In its submission, RTÉ argued that in a programme where compelling evidence of serious abuse of young people in the care of religious orders is broadcast, a presenter is entitled to express indignation and a sense of outrage on behalf of listeners.
The commission concluded that the programme, taken as whole, dealt with the subject matter fairly and with balance. However, it acknowledged the wording of the text message was "somewhat disproportionate".
A second complaint against Mr Browne's programme argued that an item on the arms crisis broadcast on June 26th was unbalanced and unfair because the presenter failed to acknowledge the possibility of an alternate view or to emphasise that statements made were his own opinions. The commission disagreed and found no evidence of editorial bias.