RECOMMENDATIONS BY the Press Ombudsman to RTÉ on a defamatory Prime Time Investigates broadcast will be adopted, the broadcaster said.John Horgan addressed an RTÉ board meeting to offer recommendations in respect of the station’s editorial process arising from the broadcast last May that defamed Co Galway priest Fr Kevin Reynolds.
However, RTÉ said it would not publish investigations and recommendations arising from the meeting pending a statutory inquiry being carried out by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland and which is due to be completed early next year.
In a statement, RTÉ said the meeting, which was addressed by both Mr Horgan and the station’s director general, Noel Curran, “gave consideration to the serious issues presented by this defamatory broadcast”.
Mr Curran made a presentation on the timelines and steps involved in the “origination, preparation, production and approval for transmission” of the programme, and RTÉ’s management of the matter before and since the broadcast.
Mr Horgan presented a report on RTÉ’s TV current affairs editorial processes and offered recommendations.
The broadcaster said it “accepted in full the recommendations” which it would implement to improve editorial processes and safeguards around investigative journalism programming.
A spokesman for the broadcaster confirmed there would be no change to the position of those RTÉ staff who either stepped aside or were removed from involvement in live programming as a result of the controversy until after the authority completes its inquiry.
The Prime Time Investigates series is currently off-air.