From top; President of Sinn Fein Mary Lou McDonald is suing RTÉ for defamation; Anthony Sheridan
On Monday 25 April last, Sinn Fein president Mary Lou McDonald, filed a writ against RTE in response to comments made by an RTE presenter on Morning Ireland.
This is a newsworthy story because it involves the leader of the Opposition and the national broadcaster but it is a single issue story – prominent politician sues national broadcaster.
But Irish Times political editor Pat Leahy did not report it as such. Instead, he effectively created a fake news story around the core facts.
Without evidence, he strongly suggested that Sinn Féin was operating a policy of encouraging its members to pursue media outlets in the courts. The trend is unmistakable, he writes.
Later, he went on to suggest, again without evidence, why Sinn Fein was operating such a policy.
Sinn Féin’s political opponents – and many people in the media – see all this as part of a strategy to muzzle criticism of the party by trying to generate a “chilling effect” to dissuade opponents and the media from robust criticism and investigation of the party, its members and its controversial history.
If so, it is a tactic often used by powerful people and institutions to discourage scrutiny.
The next day, this junk journalism was parroted in an Irish Examiner editorial. [owned by the Irish Times]. The anonymous author patronisingly suggested that perhaps it would be best if the electorate were informed of this ‘belligerency’ by Sinn Féin.
This kind of low grade journalism is now common throughout the establishment media particularly when it comes to Sinn Féin. But what’s really disturbing in this instance is the response of the National Union of Journalists [NUJ], a response curiously appearing in the same edition of the Irish Times as Leahy’s hostile article.
The secretary of the NUJ, Seamus Dooley, took the same line as the Irish Times:
“Defamation proceedings can have a chilling impact on press freedom. It’s important that media organisations are not inhibited by libel threats, from whatever source and that editors and journalists continue to ask awkward questions.”
Here’s a few awkward question for Mr. Dooley: Why is the NUJ questioning the right of any citizen to take legal action for alleged defamation? Why does the NUJ think it appropriate to lecture any citizen on how they should proceed when the believe they have been defamed and, most worryingly, why is the NUJ supporting junk journalism that appears intent on damaging the reputation of a legitimate political party?
But the story becomes even more bizarre.
The Index of Censorship, a media freedom NGO based in London, filed a media freedom alert known as a strategic lawsuit against public participation [SLAPP] with the Council of Europe’s Safety of Journalists Platform, in response to Ms. McDonald’s legal action.
A SLAPP is, according to the Index of Censorship:
A strategy used by powerful actors in an attempt to stop individuals or organisations from expressing views on issues of public interest. Although they are disguised as ordinary civil claims, such as defamation or privacy, they are not intended to succeed in court. Instead, their goal is to saddle critics with prohibitively expensive, time-consuming, and nerve- wracking legal processes. SLAPPS threaten not only freedom of expression and media freedom, but access to information, rule of law and our very democracy.
This is a very strong and, in my opinion, dangerous generalisation. It suggests that those with power and wealth, who feel they have been defamed, should be treated differently under law, that they should not enjoy the universally accepted principle of ‘innocent until proven guilty’.
And that, in effect, is what the Safety of Journalists Platform has done in response to Ms. McDonald’s action.
They have issued a formal alert notice with the heading:
Ireland
Sinn Fein Leader Files SLAPP against RTE – No. 175.2022
Created 25 May 2022
Harassment and intimidation of journalists
Source of threat: Non-State
Level 2
This is untrue, McDonald did not file a SLAPP against RTÉ. She has filed a writ against the broadcaster for alleged defamation – nothing else.
The alert, among other things, claims that McDonald’s legal action against RTÉ is a disguised strategy to attack the broadcaster and therefore poses a serious threat to media freedom, offline or online.
A Level 2 charge…
…covers all other serious threats to media freedom, including but not limited to physical assaults causing actual bodily harm, acts of intimidation and harassment; use by public figures of threatening or severely abusive language towards media members; unwarranted seizure or damage to property or equipment; laws and regulations that unduly restrict media freedom or access to information; actions that jeopardise the confidentiality of sources or the independence of the public sector broadcasters; abusive or disproportionate use of legislation; misuse of governmental or other powers to direct media content or to penalise media or journalists; interference with media freedom through ownership, control and regulation; and other acts posing a serious threat to media freedom, offline or online.
Here’s Jessica Ní Mhainín, policy and campaigns manager with Index on Censorship.
“We are alarmed at the legal action that has been filed against RTÉ by the Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald as we believe the action is characteristic of a strategic lawsuit against public participation…
“…fundamentally they [SLAPPS] involve powerful people making legal threats or taking legal actions against public watchdogs – such as media outlets – in response to public interest speech that may be inconvenient to them or their interests.”
To my knowledge no evidence has been provided by The Index of Censorship, The Safety of Journalists Platform or the Council of Europe to back up the SLAPP charge.
I’m no legal expert but I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that the Sinn Féin president is considering her options in response to this arrogant, self-righteous and, potentially, false charge.
****
Personal note: While writing and researching this article I couldn’t help noting the apparent interweaving between The Irish Times [and other Irish media], the NUJ, Index of Censorship and the Council of Europe. Could it be, I wondered, that all this feverish activity was somehow connected to the democratic challenge posed by Sinn Fein to the power of the ruling regime in Ireland?
Anthony Sheridan is a freelance journalist and blogs at Back Garden Philosophy
SF have been under constant attack from the media,
You can’t help but notice that, Ruille, there’s a rabid hatred that comes across, loud & clear & which represents a serious threat to any hope of fair & balanced journalism. I’ve watched friends, after a few years working for any of the major newspapers, falling in line with the agenda & becoming irrationally negative about SF.
Sinn Fein are the Opposition in this country, they are more important to any hopes we might have of a functioning democracy than the lapdog that our media, particularly the IT, have become.
If journalists can’t criticise politicians, without resorting to legally actionable smears, the fault is clearly theirs & their competency must come under scrutiny, as well as their obvious political bias. There is huge leeway in they type of stuff you can say about politicians or other public figures, vulgar abuse is allowed, for example & you have to be pretty useless at your job if you fall foul of our laws.
On the other hand, the outrageous expense involved in cases like this can have a chilling effect on journalism but that’s not the fault of those who feel their reputations have been damaged.
Can you blame the media
They cannot even sustain a government in NI
it’s like a bad Cadbury experience
It’s time we were a nation of living in the present with our fronts to the future
Tide herriman the famous Dutchman had it spot on when asked after he was kidnapped by the IRA what he thought of Ireland
He said ireland is a nation of people living in the past with their back to the future
What’s the betting the Northern Ireland assembly is again suspended as both side act like spoilt brats
Gene pool scutter the lot of them. Promising everything from free houses to taxing the rich, none of which they can actually do without huge repercussions. Still populist slogans are easy listening. Will be a very different situation if those bunch of semi reformed criminals ever get in to power.
As opposed to the unreformed criminals in power at the moment?
No just clueless KAPOs
The definition of a KAPO was the Jew who was loaded into the gas chamber and was the one who pulled the door closed
We have had absolutely no leadership since the crash
This is not a government but a team of receivers working on behalf of the creditors
Saying this for years and banned many times
We deserve better but sadly if the lefties get in all we get is more debt
Money trees
I think it speaks to Anthony’s capabilities as a writer and a researcher that, when confronted with numerous Irish and international civil society organisations expressing concern about Mary Lou’s lawsuit against RTÉ, and not just from FG & FF (which would in fairness would be par for the course), Anthony’s brilliant conclusion is: “perhaps the NUJ, Impact on Censorship, and the Council of Europe(!) are part of the same FF/FG establishment conspiracy”…
The sad thing for Mary Lou is her baggage and like many in Sinn Fein do have blood on their hands from the struggle
The same goes for the unionist side
She can sue left right and centre but the stench of the atrocities remains around them
I still remember the 13 year old kid tim parry murdered by an IRA bomb
The only future for Sinn feinn is when these people disappear into the history books and new blood takes over untainted by the shadows lurking in the background the same for the DUP and their likes
This will take at least two more generations
We missed you there david this morning.
It just wasn’t the same without your fifty random rambling comments on every thread.
Were you accidentally caught up in serving actual customers in the bar? Bad luck!
Does anyone know what the libellous comment was?
In terms of the council of europes judgement, its probably non contestable as sinn feins position on the IRA gets them lumped in with with groups like hamas. you also have the fact that ira offshoots did recently kill a journalist up north, not to mention the convicted bomb builder TD, the councillor who was convicted of attempted murder and the councillor who was convicted of water boarding as well as the multitude of sinn fein members who accuse the party of intimidation such as noelene o rielly
MORNING IRELAND 16 Feb 2022
Audrey Carville:
”Brid Smith are you happy to share a platform with the leader of a party, namely Sinn Fein, whose public response initially to women who spoke of their abuse by the IRA was not to believe them, not to condemn their testimony that they as rape victims were made to face their rapist in a room set up by the IRA. Are you happy to share a platform with the leader of a party who would do that?”
You’d have to wonder what it was that Mary Lou found inaccurate about the above, alright