On June 22nd, 1944, Stalin’s Red Army launched “Operation Bagration” – a massive offensive, with overwhelming force, against the entire German Eastern front. In just a few weeks, the Wehrmacht disintegrated, and by August, the Russians had swept the Germans completely from Soviet Territory, and stood at the gates of Warsaw.
That offensive came to mind, yesterday, observing the Irish media launch a full scale assault on the Government’s half hearted attempts to keep Ireland (relatively) restriction free. It began in the morning, with an artillery barrage from Pat Kenny, who practically implored the Government to introduce more restrictions. It continued with the usual one sidedness of RTE’s Claire Byrne show, which, if you had come down from Mars and listened to for the first time, would lead you to believe that society was on the precipice of utter collapse from the pandemic. The Journal, on cue, was out with a headline declaring that Ireland faced “a very worrying picture”. And it all culminated in the morning with a press conference from the Taoiseach who, rather than being asked about when he would lift the last restrictions on our freedoms, was instead pressed as to why he isn’t locking up the unvaccinated altogether:
Will Ireland follow lead of Austria, which has today implemented a lockdown for the unvaccinated?
“I will look with interest at how Austria will implement that. I don’t anticipate us going down that route, we have 93% [of adults] vaccinated.” pic.twitter.com/CIbMFSNs17
— Gavan Reilly (@gavreilly) November 15, 2021
At about the same time that this was happening, Shane Coleman on Newstalk was pushing for fines for those who do not wear their masks indoors and Ciara Kelly was worrying about “behaviour slipping”:
Shane Coleman thinks there should be fines for people who don't wear masks indoors, what do you think?@NTBreakfast pic.twitter.com/Mc3Fhsfyba
— NewstalkFM (@NewstalkFM) November 15, 2021
It is notable here that nobody in Government, for all the Government’s faults, has suggested that Ireland adopt the Austrian model of locking down, or, to be more accurate, locking up, the unvaccinated. Nobody in NPHET, for all their flaws, has suggested it either. The suggestion came entirely and solely from the media. This is worth a reflection on how the media often uses questions to manufacture stories.
The last time in which I was involved in making news, rather than reporting or commentating on it, was, of course, the abortion referendum of 2018. This story must be prefaced, by the way, by saying that the Irish Times, in general, made strenuous efforts to be fair to both sides of that referendum campaign, and that I had no complaints about their news coverage on the whole, or in the round. That said, however, one of the major events of that campaign was the launch of the “No” campaign by “Save the 8th” in the Gresham Hotel in Dublin. The objective of the event was to set out our case for the referendum, and the positive “no” message.
The event went well, or so we thought. And then we opened it up for questions. The first question came from the Irish Times, and it was, of course, one which the questioner already knew the answer to: “Do you support abortion in the case of rape?” The headline the next day was predictable: Nothing we had actually said got carried, only that question made Sarah Bardon’s headline in the Irish Times. The point of the question was not to glean new information for the journalist – she knew full well what our position was – it was, of course, to generate a negative headline in the paper.
Sarah Bardon, by the way, has since moved on, and now works as a special advisor to Simon Harris. Well done her, I guess.
In that instance, the media showed up at an event with no intention of being fair, or allowing us to set out our message, and instead chose deliberately, in my view, to flip our launch into an event with a headline that would suit the “yes” campaign, for whom almost every journalist was rooting.
There’s a similar dynamic at play here, when it comes to Covid.
Journalists are, for whatever reason, absolutely determined to play up the “crisis” narrative. Bad news sells newspapers and wins listeners. A sense of urgency that something must be done leads into reports that something might be done, and if something might be done, then you must stay tuned to find out what that something might be.
Thus the questions are designed to manufacture stories. The Taoiseach, asked about an Austrian lockdown for the unvaccinated, did not quite rule it out. Therefore, a journalist can quite honestly write a piece saying “Taoiseach refuses to rule out lockdown for the unvaccinated”. Before long, that becomes a media report asking why the Taoiseach is not considering it more actively. And before long more, politicians, always seeking good coverage, start actively considering it.
The media, in other words, is not a disinterested observer or impartial reporter in Irish politics. It is, in fact, an active participant in policymaking. It is a power many reporters relish, and wield with great gusto.
The public, meanwhile, just follow along, believing for some reason that their journalists can be trusted to act with integrity, and impartiality. And that politicians make decisions in the national interest, rather than in the interest of good headlines.
It explains a lot about where we are. Meanwhile, the journalists of today become the Government special advisors of tomorrow. Unless, of course, they ask awkward, or unhelpful questions. Then, they get designated as cranks, and driven from the public square.
When you notice it, you will never look at the media the same way again. The trouble is, hardly anybody does notice it.