During the newspaper review on TV3’s Tonight with Vincent Browne, hosted by Alison O’Connor, the panelists were Louise Bayliss, from SPARK, and Eoghan Corry, from Travel Extra.
They discussed the coverage of the Olympic Council of Ireland president Pat Hickey’s arrest in Rio yesterday.
Alison O’Connor: “So, Eoghan, wall-to-wall coverage…”
Eoghan Corry: “It’s one story and it’s a media-led story. Let’s look at this,you know, bring a bit of analysis to this. It’s been a media-led story from the beginning…and the Brazilian newspaper…”
O’Connor: “My god, I mean, the media doesn’t have to do too much work here, the facts are tumbling out…It’s just…”
Corry: “The Brazilian newspapers are the ones that led the charge on this investigation and they were the ones invited by the police today and the video that’s being shown all over the place, and the picture, the naked photograph, we have it on the front of the Examiner – the bathrobes photograph, he was naked when he opened the door on Pat Hickey is…”
O’Connor: “It’s rather distasteful, isn’t it?”
Corry: “Well, is this part of the process? You know, is this part of a judicial process? Is taking, going through somebody’s laptop to get their confidential…”
O’Connor: “Perp-walk approach…”
Corry: “…legal advice. That’s the sort of thing that was said about [Minister for Sport] Shane Ross “put him in his box” is said in the Four Courts everyday, in the private meetings with people, with their clients, that was paraded by the police today. The police were the ones who suggested that he was not cooperating with them when they arrived and was in a separate room. The Olympic Council statement later on says, this is not the case. Those of us, in a late night programme, analysing the media coverage, have to make the point, this is not process, this is media-led. There is almost a voyeuristic thing here of taking on Pat Hickey, with the cameras and parading it around the world before anything comes to trial.
“We also have another very interesting angle, in that Shane Ross has been telling the Examiner, a great story by Daniel McConnell, the political editor of the Examiner…”
O’Connor: “Who broke the original drug test story…”
Corry: “Absolutely, terrific work again by the Examiner, and he said that he was considering withdrawing the funding for the OCI. You can see here what we have…”
O’Connor: “And you can see why. I mean, obviously, then you have the athletes suffering…”
Corry: “OK, well if you consider from a sporting background and most, a lot of my journalistic life, my early journalistic life was in sport. We saw, every time, politicians went trailblazing through sport, it was for their own benefit. We saw a Taoiseach end up on the podium for the Tour de France, we saw, you know…”
O’Connor: “But would you not acknowledge that there are obviously questions that need to be answered here?”
Corry: “Of course there are questions but is a politician saying, ‘I’m going to sort all of this out, trailing down and coming back out. You know. Pat Hickey has been through Minister for Sport after Minister for Sport and if we just look back at the trail of habits of some of our previous ministers…”
O’Connor: “The man certainly has longevity.”
Watch back in full here
Earlier: Calling It
Previously: Chutzpals
