Frontline, and Sarah Carey of The Irish Times

What does Frontline aspire to? I have expressed my reaction to Pat Kenny's Frontline earlier in this blog. While it is reasonable to have personal expectations from TV it is prudent to realise that your expectations might not be met.

In an article by Sarah Carey in The Irish Times today, October 28th, she asks that TV provide news, escape from news, and an explanation of what it all means (or analysis). These seem reasonable requests until she applies it to Pat Kenny's Frontline. It seems that she wants the three needs fulfilled by the one show, in this case Frontline.

She, like the show she is criticizing, has the ability to identify the points of the show but lacks the ability to appreciate it for what it is. She sees the show as a failure because "very little in the way of advancing our knowledge of the issue at hand is achieved." I would say that our understanding of the issues is strengthened and accepted by seeing the pain of others, even if it is shown through a polarized lens. Carey says that "presenters and producers try to insure themselves against their own lack of knowledge by creating polarized panels hoping each side will dismantle the other's spin."

In the reality of life, I wonder if there is a real truth? It seems Carey believes there is a truth. "I want experts to explain why certain decisions were made and on what basis we should make new ones" she said. This is a tall order. The kind of knowledge she speaks of would make millionaires of paupers and kings/queens out of peasants. Her aspirations for TV are probably genuine but these aspirations are the aspirations of philosophers throughout time.

The desire for explanations is not unique but the belief that there is one complete explanation is naive. There is no one answer. Perhaps the set-up of the show is clearly ambiguous which lets us live in reality through TV. Perhaps this is a form of Reality TV we just have not acknowledged yet. The reality is that our reality is ambiguous. There is no one answer. Perhaps there is no answer at all. Perhaps there are just arguments from multiple sides on every issue.

Perhaps the frustration Sarah Carey identifies in viewing The Frontline is simply the nature of life itself. Maybe if she and we identified that there are multiple sides to every story we could get on with living and cohabiting in harmony.

Pat Kenny debuts "The Frontline."

Pat Kenny launched his most recent broadcasting contribution, The Frontline, last night. The Frontline is a current affairs program which has, at its core, a desire to attend to the real issues of the day by giving the regular person a voice, but it falls short of this. I had high hopes for Pat Kenny's new program and I still think it might produce, but the first installment is by no means ground breaking.

Fair play, he did take on the issue of NAMA and there were contributions to the discussion by regular folk who are caught up in this mess with great mortgages and no understanding or help from the banks while, they said, the banks get bailed out.

But the contributions of the regular folk seemed to me to be "allowed" as a necessary part of the show and not as THE MAIN part of the show. Therefore, while the audience might be placated (or enraged) by the sentiments shared by some hurting people the main thrust of the program affirmed the status quo and gave the establishment more air-time.

The obvious examples of this are the inclusion of the Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan as the interviewee. Granted, he is damned if he does or does not. If he was not on the stage we could criticise for that, and now that he got the stage we can criticise for that. But we can assume that he was well prepared and versed in media practice, more so than the audience members from the general population.

Including Eamonn Dunphy in the audience was a production decision which is questionable. While he seemd to give voice to the frustration of the general population, I assume many of the Irish would be hesitant to accept him as their spokesperson. He was aggressive and overpowering in relation to the other audience members who spoke. He had his own microphone on his lapel so he was obviously granted a prominent position. Is Eamonn Dunphy just another wealthy "celebrity" speaking out for the masses while he lives in the lap of luxury? Or is he genuine? As an audience member he got most air-time.

Fintan O'Toole, was given less time. Perhaps because he is a writer and not a "known broadcaster" he could get less time on-air? And a professor of economics, (I don't recall his name) who had a totally different opinion on the whole NAMA and economic situation of Ireland was given minimal air-time.

However, O'Toole and Dunphy got more air-time than any other audience member. The impression that the program was attempting to give us was that Pat was going to the public, the masses, the proletariat to get their opinions, to let them be heard on our national TV station - RTE.

But what we got, really, was a token contribution by "normal" people. This token was overshadowed by the aggressive tirades of Eamonn Dunphy. It was qualified by Fintan O'Toole and the Professor. And the Minister got to talk more than listen, to defend more than explain, to promote the status quo more than offer alternatives to the queries...

And now the Minister for Finance, Brian Lenihan, gets to be "congratulated" for (having the courage) appearing on the program. It really is pathetic to hear those in the seats of power criticising those who are trying to live normally for not having an alternative to NAMA when they chose to criticize it. The explanations leave a lot to be desired.

But Pat Kenny's The Frontline is a start. He is back where he is comfortable. Current affairs is his thing. I still have high hopes for The Frontline. It just might get better.

Irish A-list of media earners

A member of the government committee on communications has asked for RTE to review the earnings of its top stars. I have heard many times in recent history that the Taoiseach of Ireland earns more than his comparable member of the U.S. government, President Barack Obama. It seems that now the government agency is turning the books on the media that brought this fact to the attention of the population.

It may seem a little childish of a tit-for-tat but it is an interesting conversation. The main broadcaster, historically, in Ireland is RTE (Radio Telifis Eireann) and it is state run. As a study of political economy, it is interesting to note that a state run media producer/broadcaster has some stars on its payroll with salaries of up to 850,000 Euro. Mr. Pat Kenny commands that salary which is paid by this "independent" government run media.

As time continues I will learn more on the workings of RTE. After a little research it is difficult to find a good book on the history and the workings of the organisation (I am now in Ireland so the spelling is with an s and not a z). Perhaps this will be a little project further into the future.

If any of you have information on a good reference about RTE please let me know.

The referenced article says that sources within RTE say that the earnings report which will be published soon will cause "much embarrassment."

This is the beginning of my transition back to the Emerald Isle. "Embarrassment" at high earnings? What language do we speak here in Ireland? It was not so long ago that the Celtic Tiger was roaring, and talk of high earnings was anything but embarrassing. Is this a turn in the culture and psychology of the nation? Or is it just a reaction to a recession to placate the masses and to turn the books on the media for shining the light on the earnings of the Taoiseach?


Source for this post:

Horan, N. (Aug. 30, 2009). Calls to rein in salaries of RTE stars paid 'more than Obama'. Sunday Independent. p. 8.