In November 2024, shortly after I arrived at City Hall, I posted on X:
“The only advice I received from a fellow councillor when I arrived at City Hall was ‘the first thing you need to do is pick a friend in the media’. My reply: ‘I don’t want any friend in the media’.”
I meant it then and I mean it now.
I don’t believe an elected representative should need a friendly journalist or a carefully cultivated media relationship for legitimate issues affecting the people he represents to receive fair consideration.
A recent conversation with a local journalist has caused me to revisit that issue. During our conversation, the journalist referred specifically to that old social-media post and described it as “Trumpian”.
I asked what was meant by that. I did not receive an explanation.
“Trumpian” is hardly a neutral description. If a journalist chooses to characterise an elected representative in those terms, I think it is reasonable to ask why.
The conversation then turned to my concerns about media coverage.
I was told that I had previously made a complaint against one of the journalist’s colleagues.
That is not what happened.
I had raised concerns with an Editor about an article which I believed contained errors. I subsequently spoke directly with the Editor. The errors were acknowledged, the entirely reasonable point was made that everybody makes mistakes, and the Editor told me he “owed me one”.
I’m beginning to think that didn’t mean exactly what I thought it did, but I accepted it in good faith at the time. What concerns me is that raising a legitimate issue about inaccurate reporting can later be characterised as making a complaint “against” a journalist.
The conversation then took an even more surprising turn: I was told “you don’t want any social housing” – a bizarre assertion considering the work I have been doing on the horrendous conditions in which so many Cork City Council social housing tenants live – serious damp, mould, rodent infestation and deteriorating living conditions that are literally making them seriously ill.
The situation became so serious that residents recently took to protesting about the condition of their homes, which is where I bumped into this journalist.
I have met residents, visited affected homes, raised these matters publicly and brought their concerns before Cork City Council.
So to be told that I “don’t want any social housing” inevitably caused me to question how my views and my work are being perceived.
Some of my work has received media coverage, and I readily acknowledge that. But there have also been occasions when substantial reporting has appeared on issues in which I have been directly involved, with other public representatives or campaigners approached for comment while my perspective has not been sought.
No politician is entitled to coverage. But when an elected representative has been consistently involved in a serious issue affecting residents in his own area, and journalists are seeking comment from others about that same issue, I believe it is reasonable to ask why his perspective is not sought.
When I asked why the issues I raise are not being covered, I was told that was an editorial decision, and I should take it up with the Editor.
I did exactly that. The following day, I wrote to the Editor asking for a call to revisit the conversation and the concerns it had raised. At the time of writing, I have received no response.
A free and independent press is essential. But editorial independence does not mean editorial decisions are beyond legitimate scrutiny.
All this raises a wider question: If my experience is not unique, how many other elected representatives feel that questioning or challenging media coverage could affect the way their work is treated?
How many simply decide it is better to say nothing?
That would concern me far more than whether my own name appears in a newspaper.
Elected representatives should not be reluctant to challenge inaccurate reporting because they fear it may affect future coverage.
If politicians come to believe that maintaining favourable relationships with individual journalists is necessary for legitimate constituency issues to receive fair consideration, that would be unhealthy for politics and unhealthy for journalism.
Which brings me back to what I wrote in November 2024:
“I don’t want a friend in the media.”
I didn’t then, and I don’t now. I want a fair media that judges issues on their merits.
I don’t think that is too much for any elected representative — or any citizen — to ask.
Cllr Albert Deasy Cork City Council, South West LEA