Independent talk radio station Newstalk has been reprimanded by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) over an editorial statement it broadcast ahead of last December’s Budget, the watchdog said today.
In the statement, the station called for strong leadership, warned the country could not afford to pay wages higher than the average in Europe and urged the Taoiseach to address the nation with a credible vision of recovery.
However, the BAI said the broadcast, billed as Newstalk’s "Pre-Budget Statement", breached legislation banning a station from expressing its own views on matters of public controversy and debate.
Elsewhere, The Apprentice TV show fronted by tycoon Bill Cullen has been rapped for plugging a well-known chocolate maker.
In the episode from last November contestants were asked to create a new style of Cadbury’s dairy milk eight square bar with an Irish twist. However, the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) said opening scenes of the show breached advertising rules when apprentices were briefed on the task.
Watchdogs ruled there was product placement through visual and verbal branding of Cadbury’s products which was not editorially justified and gave the sponsor undue prominence.
However, the BAI said The Apprentice format and the sponsoring of the programme were not at issue.
TV3 claimed the series was only viable through sponsorship and the use of certain products could not be seen as placement. The station also said no undue prominence was given to chocolate bars over and above what was necessary for the apprentices to complete the task.
Six other separate complaints were upheld against the late night TV phone-in show Play TV also broadcast on TV3.
PA