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Communications Minister, Pat Rabbitte, meets the RTE Chairman and Board to discuss the critical BAI report. Helen Shaw explores some of the questions and argues good management could have saved RTE from bad journalism.

RTE’s problems are multiple: a E50 million record deficit and a devastating failure in its editorial standards and processes.
The cash crisis is hitting programming. But the editorial crisis cuts far deeper.
The Broadcasting Authority of Ireland’s report into RTE’s Primetime Investigates shows an incredible breakdown in editorial controls. The Minister used the words ‘shoddy, unprofessional and cavalier’.
As a former Head of RTE Radio it is hard to understand how this happened given the experience of the people involved. Long established guidelines were ignored and the lack of documentary evidence and paper notes is contrary to all serious journalistic practice, whether in print or broadcasting. Anna Carragher, the report’s author, talks of ‘groupthink’, a lack of challenge and review, which allowed the team to accept assumptions as facts. But, disturbing as the thirty-four page report is, it prompts many questions.
Central to those questions is the role of RTE Legal Affairs. What was its involvement in the case, what was its advice and risk assessment?
The BAI in its findings, which imposed the E200, 000 fine on RTE for a breach of its legal responsibilities under the 2009 Act, states ‘it is a source of regret’ that RTE did not waive its solicitor/client privilege with its in house legal staff. Why did RTE not do this? Given the scale of the libel and its consequences it is important the public know. The Carragher report expresses concern that the reporter was the sole conduit for contact with Fr Reynolds solicitors. Yet what is disturbing is that the report states that the May 18th RTE response to Fr Reynolds was sent by the reporter but written with the assistance and agreement of RTE Legal Affairs and the Executive Producer and Head of Current Affairs. By May 18th a letter from Mill Hill Fathers offered, for the first time a paternity test. A second letter from Fr Reynolds solicitors on May 19th was copied to Legal Affairs by the team but no reply was sent by RTE.
By May 23rd, the day of the programme’s transmission, a further letter is sent directly to the reporter by Fr Reynolds solicitors. This again offered a paternity test and stated Fr Reynolds would sue for defamation if the programme went out. This letter, while shared with the programme team, and verbally discussed with the Head of News & Current Affairs, Ed Mulhall, never went to Legal Affairs. While Mr Mulhall took full responsibility for the decision to broadcast, it remains bizarre that no one seriously considered the offer of the paternity test. There was such an assumption of guilt they never saw the offer as genuine.
It is not clear if Mr. Mulhall or Legal Affairs briefed the Director General on the paternity test offer. The report states there ‘appears to be no mechanism for alerting the Director General who is Editor in Chief’. In my RTE experience such alerts were standard requirements by Heads of Output.
When did this change and why? RTE is heavy on meetings and has several key editorial meetings across the week. Traditionally the Director General had regular contact with the Outputs Heads in Radio, Television and News & Current Affairs. When did a process develop where a major editorial and legal risk was not flagged to the Director General? The new editorial guidelines and editorial standards board create checks but the key dynamic is the relationship between the Director General and the content divisions heads.
A further, and significant, question for RTE is why they accepted an early retirement package with Mr. Mulhall without waiting for the report’s findings and without therefore providing any opportunity to explore what happened and why. The report does not include the transcripts of those involved but the real absence is an account from the senior manager himself; someone who has such a record for outstanding judgment.
The emphasis on the reporter, who has now taken voluntary redundancy, and the media’s portrayal of her as ‘shamed’ and ‘disgraced’ obscures the fact that layers of management lay between her and the programme’s transmission. She had an Executive Producer, a Head of Department and a Head of Division above her and they had RTE Legal Affairs advice. One might have expected the Head of News to brief the Director General or for RTE Legal Affairs to have flagged an alert given the scale of risk.
Was that risk assessed?
RTE, and independent, stable public broadcasting, is central to our democracy. We need trusted news and critical, courageous investigative journalism. Those who worry that that is in danger must worry about why this happened. The Chairman and RTE Board, who were appointed by the previous Minister, bridge the last Director General and the current one who started the job not long before this programme aired.
Did the board ask questions about editorial risk and structural process? Did they evaluate corporate governance? Did they provide challenge?.
A further question remains over the speed with which RTE reacted to the crisis post the libel settlement last November (indeed RTE knew once the paternity test was done in September what the outcome would be). It was this lack of public action that seemed to prompt the Minister to request the BAI investigation.
RTE needs to move on. It needs to get its finances and operations in order and restore public trust. But the failings identified in the BAI report are not just in journalism but also in management and in managerial structures and operations at the highest levels.
Good management would have saved RTE from bad journalism.
It is not clear that the changes will address the managerial gap. That requires open, engaged and collective leadership from the boardroom down rather than targeting frontline reporters who need support, training and robust editors. We all need RTE to get this right because as Carragher says in her foreword: ‘broadcasting’s powerful place in our society also brings heavy responsibilities and it is right and proper that those who hold others to account are themselves held accountable’.
The stakes are high but if RTE embraces that level of transparency, accountability and openness this dark episode may be the roots of a stronger, more public focused broadcaster. Now that would secure the public’s willingness to pay.

Helen Shaw runs Athena Media who produce The Media Show on RTE Radio 1. She served as MD RTE Radio (1997-2002) and previously worked with BBC NI as Editor news & current affairs, radio.

It seems everyone is talking social media these days but often meaning quite different things. Like Henry James’ image in Portrait of a Lady it depends on what window you are observing the courtyard from, as that defines what you see and understand. In essence social media is communities of people connecting via new technologies and communicating using content whether text, audio or video. It’s about sharing everything from news to views, music to video clips. It is the extension of our offline lives, whether in work, at home or in the pub, the way we create and gather networks of friends and colleagues. It is the Internet - and high speed broadband - which has enabled that natural human instinct to connect, communicate and share to mushroom, accelerate and expand. Many of us now have online networks through social networking sites like Linked In, Facebook or MySpace which have gradually become part of our daily lives and integrated into the one thing that tends to go everywhere with us - our mobile phone. Today social networking is the 4th most popular activity on the net globally and its rapidly moving up the ranks and in some areas it is already number 2 just behind email. Facebook has a global community of over 250 million and yet its still very new, very recent and run by a CEO in his mid twenties. Facebook has now overtaken MySpace as the world’s most loved and used social network and the fickleness of our digital habits is clear; if something more useful comes along we shift happily and quickly. Its hard to think but just a year ago Twitter was still only a bubbling undercurrent. Today its one of the most significant forces in shift-changing social media and the concept of the micro-blog, the 140 character message, has taken root. Whether Twitter itself is here for the long run is a debate (remember how dominant MySpace was just a short time ago) but the age of ego-media has spawned millions of tweets and re-tweets. Recent research shows that up to 40% of tweets globally are ‘rubbish’, global chit-chat about standing at the bus stop or getting caught in traffic. Equally about 10% of all Twitter accounts generate the message traffic while the rest are ‘following’ in that quaint, rather passive language of Twitter. Effectively the ‘follow’ in Twitter is simply an RSS feed similar to what brings you this blog, or our podcasts or even your news alerts. It allows you to follow strangers, like Queen Rania or Brittany Spears, unlike Facebook where you are required to become a ‘friend’ or a ‘fan’ but increasing the lines are blurring somewhat between the two worlds as middleware tools like Seesmic allow you to integrate your social media life and your updates to Twitter and Facebook.
While trends may come and go the underlying nature of social media is about connections, trusted and valued connections which communicate and share; from the family photos to a hidden treasure of an article, essay, poem, song or story which comes to you via a link. While there are lots of one sided conversations going on in Twitter (technology enabled monologues!) the real story happening right across the Internet is of a rapid expansion of communications, conversations and information sharing. The filter for many of us in that fast fire of content is our trusted networks, our ‘friends’, and the continued growth and presence of trusted portals whether in news, entertainment or education. In a sense that may be Twitter’s weakness. Its reach is wide, its a global megaphone but the communities it creates are weaker, more fragile. In a sense Twitter is an extension of blogging which sits within social networks so perhaps the future is equally that Twitter is a mico-blogging channel steaming in and through social networks but not replacing them.

What is the fuss about social media? Effectively its a reflection of the shift to new media habits and the dynamic shift in user behaviour. For those attempting to communicate, to market, to sell, to persuade, to build advocacy or awareness you ignore it at your peril. On the other hand don’t assume it all about sending endless tweets all day flogging your stall. The marketplace has altered. Social media requires investing not just time but a little of yourself in order to make it work. Sadly there are few really outstanding business bloggers in Ireland and as a country we’re still behind our European partners in fully embracing the digital transition. It has been about broadband. But now it is also about ideas and how we use this altered landscape to create vibrant communications for both social and business needs.

Let me know what you think. (by the way we are on Twitter @athenamediaie and try not to inflict our bus queues and traffic jams on you!)

(We’re also running a Social Media for Business workshop on Sept 5th and Sept 18th if you want to find out more… check the news story on our website)

Our Podcasting 101 workshop on June 13th is booking fast. This half day course on saturday June 13th is based in the Digital Hub, Thomas St, and promises to provide an introduction to podcasting - building both creative and technical skills. To book call Susan on 01 4885851. We’re also planning a new range of training initiatives so call if you want to find out more details.

As part of our new training offering we’re running two Podcasting workshops - one is Podcasting 101 for absolute beginners and the other is Podcasting Masterclass for those who want to make the best podcasts they can. We’re planning to do half day sessions which will allow people to get a good understanding of the podcasting tool kit in a short, professional session. If you are interested in finding out more contact Susan at Athena Media head office, on 35314885851 and we’ll find the right match for you. Have a look at our own site podcastingireland to find out more about podcasting and get to hear some of our in the podcast directory or try out some of the other Irish podcasts from providers like RTE and Newstalk 106. Our own radio shows are also available as podcasts on the site so you can hear some of our recent shows like Tower Songs for RTE Lyric Fm and Urban Beauty, Urban Blight for Newstalk 106.

A new initiative from Athena Media is Athena Media Training. This new sub division of the company will focus on media and communications training for both the professional and the non professional. We’re offering bespoke one-to-one training and development sessions with senior executives who are dealing with the media and communications training for companies keen to improve both their internal and external communications. We’re also planning to develop industry-focussed training courses for those wanting to learn radio/television or online media skills and we are offering half day, full day and weekend courses to match the needs of those wanting to grow their practical experience and skills. We’ll be showcasing the new business on the site and letting you know all about it but if you are interested in knowing more do contact us on +4885851. We guarantee results and have a proven track record with clients in both the public and private sphere. At a time when getting your message out there is even more important - give us a call or email and let us help.

As part of our involvement in DRACE, digital radio cultures in Europe www.drace.org, I’m currently researching and writing a book chapter on podcasting and radio. Anyone sitting in Ireland and thinking they have a handle on this or digital media content is likely to be in danger of missing the point unless they’re keeping on top of what’s happening in the UK, Germany, France and the US for example. While we still lag behind on any indices of convergence and digital media (due to our poor roll out of broadband) the global picture is changing quite rapidly. In the UK for example over 4 million people use podcasts every week and it has a national penepration of 14% compared to 18% in the US. In the US some radio stations are now more podcast than live radio, one is even broadcasting solely listener’s own podcasts, and Chicago Public Radio charges for its podcast archives of hit shows like ‘This American Life’. One of the more interesting pieces of information around is the recent Nielsen report on social networking which shows social networking is now more popular as an online activity than e-mail and over two thirds of the globe’s online population have used social networking sites. Globally Facebook is winning - and interestingly its not all young people - the biggest demographic growth for Facebook has been in the over 35s and as much as one quarter of its users are over 50. The book we’re writing Digital Radio in Europe is being published by Intellect so watch out for it next year. In the meantime some of our research is flowing into the Irish market as Athena Media and DIT are currently engaged in a research project about digital radio futures in Ireland. We’re conducting both qualitative and quantitative research; a detailed survey of all broadcasters and a interview stage with interested parties. Our assistant researcher is Agata - so if you want to know more about the project contact Agata (at) athenamedia dot ie.

Tower Songs on Feb 14th, 5.30-6.30 RTE Lyric Fm
Women and Words repeat from Feb 21st 6pm RTE Lyric FM - for six weeks.
Is it Just Me? runs on RTE 2 Television every Wednesday night at 5.30pm - week four next week with Frank from waterford.
Urban Beauty, Urban Blight - 4 part series on urban development - starts with Dublin on Newstalk 106 on March 28th 7am and 29th at 9pm.
Click to read more about the series here

Tune in for more…

It has been a busy year, with lots of TV and radio shows flowing from Athena Media and as the year draws to a close, and we say thank you to all our clients and contributors, we’re taking a moment to catch our breath and re-cap. The first quarter of the year was dominated by the editing of our 8 x 30′ documentary series, Winning Women, on young women sports stars and athletes, which went out on Setanta Ireland from April and which is being repeated this week 15/16/17 December. The series began filming in mid 2007 but we spent the first 3 months of the year tied up in studio with the series with 8 weeks of offline editing - then online at Highwire post production. The series received great profile and reviews and we’re delighted to see that the star of one of the episodes, Katie Taylor, has gone from strength to strength and is the only woman athlete nominated for Sportsperson of the Year 2008. Katie’s edition, which explored her battle to gain acceptance for women’s boxing and her dream of winning the first Irish gold medal for boxing may be aired again soon on Setanta following its recent repeat on December 3rd to mark her world title win.
In February BBC Radio 4 broadcast our documentary ‘White Girl Running’ in its primetime 11am slot and the documentary was later picked up by RTE Digital Radio and broadcast on RTE Choice in early December.
By May, our radio documentary ‘The last Wake’ hits the airwaves on Newstalk 106 and was repeated again in July. The documentary traces the changing tradition of death and waking the dead in Ireland and crosses the country in a weave of audio story-telling. ‘The Last Wake’ was short listed for a PPI radio award in October.
From February onwards we were also busy making features for RTE’s Capital D series on RTE One Television. This year we tackled topics from the mushrooming of hair extension salons in Dublin, the Handel Festival, and a day of the life of Dublin airport, as well as a focus on recycling in the city, the use of pet dogs as volunteers in care centres and the resurgent interest in libraries in the city. Our producer-director Sarah Mulkerrins, now full-time with Setanta Sports, was the creative force behind much of our Capital D work in 2008.
On radio we also produced a six part arts series for RTE Lyric FM called ‘Women and Words’ on outstanding women writers from Anne Enright to Jennifer Johnston. This arts documentary series has been entered for the Celtic Film Festival radio awards next year. ‘Women and Words’ was presented by kay Sheehy and was broadcast from the end of August, across September and into October on RTE Lyric FM.
The second half of the year was dominated by our latest TV series - an RTE TV commission - for young people - called ‘Is It Just Me?’ . This 10 series began work in May and we filmed across July-October and completed post production in late November at Lotus Films in Sandymount. The series is now scheduled for January in RTE 2 (final dates to be confirmed). This series tells first person stories from young people who have come through hard times in their teenage years;from bullying to depression, eating disorders to coming out gay.
Athena Media has also completed another radio series for Newstalk 106 on urban development called ‘Urban Beauty, Urban Blight,’ . This 4 part series begins editing in January for broadcast in March/April on Newstalk. The company is now engaged in two new radio projects;
‘Tower Songs’ - a story about Ballymun and an arts/music project around regeneration - which will be broadcast in mid February on RTE Lyric FM, and a further series for Newstalk 106, with a sports theme, called ‘Field of Dreams’ which has just begun pre production.
With so much content and programming to show for the year its not hard for us to say this has clearly been our best year yet but we hope to match it in 2009 with lots of new ideas, shows and programmes.
If you have a story which you’d like us to tell - let us know on info@athenamedia.ie -
Thanks - and a Happy Christmas to everyone who has worked with us during the year and a big thank you to everyone who has helped us make the shows by sharing their stories and lives with us.
Hope you enjoyed watching and listening - and remember Winning Women goes out all this week on Setanta and keep an eye for ‘is it just me?’ on RTE 2 TTV coming up soon.
Helen at Athena Media dot ie

Its been a bad few weeks for digital radio, and DAB - digital audio broadcasting - in particular. First Channel 4 in the UK cancelled its digital radio network and now the Irish commercial radio businesses are saying they don’t want to play ball in the on-going trials of DAB here. RTE cutbacks have now reduced its DAB services from 8 to 5 and its already small budget has been sliced. Digital Radio in Ireland is increasingly look like an Internet affair - and we still dont have the high speed broadband network to enable that. An informed public - even a sector debate - would be useful given that we’re already ten years behind most of our European neighbours in developing digital media platforms.

we’re growing steadily these days and the horrors of growth is trying to find the right people to match our projects in TV, radio and online content. We’re currently recruiting for a production office manager (ideally communications graduate with some production experience and excellent office skills) and a content creator (good multi media skills and audio-visual college training and experience). Send CVs and details to jobs@athenamedia.ie. We currently have TV, radio and online projects on commission and we’re keen to hear from people who share our holistic approach to content and are confident, self-starters who enjoy problem-solving and who know that great, creative projects come from strong processes and order.