Sir, - The Family and Media Association welcomes the judgment in the Anthony Coughlan case concerning uncontested party political broadcasts on RTE in relation to referendums. It is a further step, following the judgment in the McKenna case, for fairer and more democratic referendums in the future.
Commenting on the judgment, the director-general of RTE, Mr Bob Collins, said (9 p.m. News, April 24th) that the judgement related only to party political broadcasts (during the 1995 divorce referendum campaign, on which the Coughlan case was based) and that RTE had achieved balance between the Yes and No sides in its coverage of the campaign on current affairs programmes and news bulletins.
Our association challenges this assertion. Its systematic monitoring of current affairs programmes and of the 9 p.m. News during that campaign found a significant overall imbalance in favour of the Yes side. The reports of its findings, sent to the RTE Authority, were rejected and the authority suggested that the association refer its complaint to the Broadcasting Complaints Commission.
The commission held that under Section 18 (1) of the Broadcasting Authority Act, 1960, as amended, it had jurisdiction to adjudicate on complaints only of a single specified programme or specified programmes. In effect it was not prepared to examine the question of overall imbalance, taking all relevant programmes into account. The association disputes this interpretation of the Act and has written to the Minister responsible for broadcasting, Sile de Valera, TD, seeking clarification on the matter.
In the light of the imbalance shown during the divorce referendum campaign, it is necessary for those interested in fair referendums to monitor closely for balanced coverage in all future campaigns. - Yours, etc.,
Ivo O'Sullivan Ph.D.,
Chairman, Family and Media Association, Upper Gardiner Street, Dublin 1.