Expensive Watches, Wasteful Public Expenditure and the Mainstream Media

national | miscellaneous | opinion/analysis

Wednesday October 06, 2004 08:50

by Michael Hennigan - Finfacts.com

O'Hanlon to foot bill following media coverage

It's always interesting to observe how individuals can be so generous with other people's money. €9,000 for a retirement watch looks certainly like gilding the lily. However, this is just an example of a 'sexy' story that can get public attention while so much else is ignored.

One of the recipients of the Cartier watches, the PD Party nominee on the now defunct Aer Rianta board said on RTE's Liveline that the Department of Transport had spent an estimated half million euros on private consultants on the breakup of Aer Rianta - to simply tell them what they should already know.

Both the Irish Times and RTE gave prominence to the watches story yesterday. Is this an example of greater public transparency? I don't think so.

Let he who has not sinned, cast the first stone!!

Media organisations are far from transparent when it comes to their own corporate largesse. In fact the excuse of 'confidentiality' is used as blatantly as elsewhere. In the Aer Rianta case, the argument is that it's taxpayers' money. However, there is also an obligation of prudence on for example RTE- partly funded by a tax and the Irish Times, which has a tax-exempt status.

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Comments (4 of 4)

Re: Tony's comment

by Michael Hennigan

Thu Oct 07, 2004 10:56

Until I had read a report a few months ago following the death of the late Irish Times editor Douglas Gageby, I had naively assumed that the conversion of the company which owned the newspaper into a charitable trust in 1974 had been solely an altruistic move to protect the newspaper from commercial interests.

In fact the buyout of the existing 5 shareholders almost sunk the newspaper. Douglas Gageby's slice was worth more than £300,000 Irish pounds- a lot of money at the time and tax free- and another shareholder who had cashed in his chips Major Tom McDowell, remained at the helm for almost the subsequent 2 decades.

A tax on capital gains was proposed in 1974 and was not enacted until 1975. (Minister for Finance Richie Ryan also made farmers liable for income tax- he was dubbed 'Richie Ruin')

Watches?

by Tony

Wed Oct 06, 2004 18:49

Gotta agree with Michael on this one.

The Irish Times is a lesson in abject hypocrisy.

A charitable trust that does not pay tax and pays nothing to charity. It's excessive payouts to the top brass are legendary.

And, when the readers have finished reading this "charitable" paper that publishes any tissue of lies that exagerates racism, poverty, discrimination out of all proportion - they can indulge in the best supplements in the country for multi-million euro properties and the latest S class Mercedes Benz.

RTE is a hijacker of money full stop and the compulsory nature of collecting licence fees is arguably in breach of Human Rights.

Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights says "Everyone has the right to freedom or expression. This right shall include freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart information and ideas without interference by a public authority and regardless of frontiers.

This is not law but dont expect RTE to publicise THIS particular breach of human rights.

Hanlon et al

Wed Oct 06, 2004 11:51

I have neither defended Hanlon nor questioned the right of RTE and the IT to report it. Just making the point that media organisations are not always examples of transparency themselves -the lucratitve non-compete contract agreed with the ex-editor of the IT and RTE's similar arrangement with Gay Byrne come to mind.

Hoist with One's Own Petard

by Noel

Wed Oct 06, 2004 10:03

So you're casting the first stone? Why shouldn't RTE and the IT report it? It says more about the mentality of Hanlon et al than reading some consultant's report. Way to go RTE and IT.

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Expensive Watches, Wasteful Public Expenditure and the Mainstream Media

Comments (4 of 4)