THE BROADCASTING Authority of Ireland (BAI) has upheld five complaints against RTÉ’s Prime Time over a programme dealing with the new State-controlled model of inter-denominational primary schools.The programme, which examined the way religion is instructed in new community national schools, was faulted for failing to represent the views of the Department of Education and vocational education committees that will run the schools.
The Catholic bishops have now lodged their own complaint about the broadcast, accusing it of inaccuracies and lack of balance.
The ruling has caused concern within RTÉ, where it is seen as raising the bar for standards of objectivity in programme-making, according to informed sources.
The department and a number of former ministers for education declined to participate in the report, and the studio discussion involved representatives of the Catholic Church and the body running multi-denominational schools, Educate Together.
While the BAI did not dispute the accuracy of the programme, broadcast last April, it found there was “not sufficient fairness” to all sides. In the absence of the department and the VECs, Prime Time had a greater onus to represent their views or challenge allegations made against them, the BAI found.
The report by RTÉ’s education correspondent Emma O’Kelly featured criticisms of the way religious instruction is carried out in the new schools, which are expected to multiply as the Catholic Church steps back from the education system.
Although community national schools are State-run, religious instruction is carried out within the school day, and children are separated by creed for instruction at these times.
During the segment, Labour’s education spokesman Ruairi Quinn claimed the pilot programme for developing the new schools had been hijacked by the church and was highly secretive. The five complainants, all of whom have links to the VECs or the new schools, claimed these comments were profoundly inaccurate.
RTÉ defended the broadcast as “a balanced account of conflicting views about an important aspect of education in Ireland today”.
It claimed the complaints were misdirected as they were actually comments on opinions expressed by contributors in the report. It said the VECs had already contributed to the filmed section of the report and it would have been repetitious to have their representative in the studio.
In their complaint, the bishops describe the film section of the broadcast as “agenda-driven journalism which was particularly hostile to towards the Catholic Church”.
“This package was not only provocative in presentation but ran contrary to reality. It falsely portrayed the Catholic Church as having an agenda and influence on religious education programmes in community national schools, which it does not have or seek to have,” the complaint filed by the Catholic Communications Office of the Irish Bishops’ Conference states.
SIC: IT