Things are not as simple as presented on TV

It strikes me sometimes that a lot of people are incapable of holding two or more competing ideas in their head at the same time. Or that many are unwilling to do so.

I had an exchange recently with RTÉ Director General, Kevin Bakhurst, at an Oireachtas Committee, over RTÉ’s decision to boycott the Eurovision Song Contest.

RTÉ is a member of the European Broadcasting Union. When it was apparent that Eurovision was going ahead with Israel taking part, RTÉ decided to pull out. It further decided not to broadcast next year’s Eurovision song contest, taking the decision to tune in, or not, away from the public RTÉ serves.

The song contest itself leaves me cold. For me it would be, in the words of Statler and Waldorf, “like a kind of torture to have to watch this show”. But the decision by our national broadcaster to shun an internationally-broadcast competition because another state has representatives competing is a very political one.

We shouldn’t expect, and shouldn’t want, a committee of people in RTÉ, whose names we don’t know, taking a decision that strongly identifies the whole country with a particular perspective”

We expect our country’s foreign policy to be determined by the Government, subject to the scrutiny of the Oireachtas. We expect foreign policy proposals from non-governmental organisations and individuals. We shouldn’t expect, and shouldn’t want, a committee of people in RTÉ, whose names we don’t know, taking a decision that strongly identifies the whole country with a particular perspective on the actions of a foreign state.

Perspective

The rightness or wrongness of the perspective is beside the point. I made clear in my comments that I support maximum pressure on Israel over illegal settlements in Palestine and the indiscriminate killing and injury of people in Gaza. RTÉ has an obvious duty of impartiality in its news and current affairs. But its responsibilities go further. It mustn’t undermine that neutrality in its other activities. Its entertainment wing must steer clear of politics.

As an aside, I disagree with Minister Patrick O’Donovan’s stress on the ‘independence’ of the national broadcaster, effectively washing his hands of this decision. RTÉ was not immune to comment from Government over a sweetheart deal with Ryan Tubridy that was not in itself illegal. In the same way it can’t be immune to a ministerial caution if it wades into foreign policy pronouncements.

I got four emails from people I didn’t know, three of which were abusive. The word ‘shame’ featured prominently”

After a short clip of my exchange with the D.G. was carried on RTÉ’s main evening news, I got four emails from people I didn’t know, three of which were abusive. The word ‘shame’ featured prominently, and one expressed regret over the embarrassment my family must feel over me. No worries. Those who write such emails are invariably activists. There is no point in wondering why they rush to judgment, fail to check facts or don’t consider more than one point of view. Their aim is to intimidate, embarrass and silence opponents. They are not up for ‘meeting over coffee’ to seek common ground.

Fooled

But there are others, I am convinced, who are too easily fooled by a soundbite on TV into thinking that things are as simple as presented. Or whose feelings of revulsion about, for example, the cruelty in Gaza, are so strong that they no longer care about the rights or wrongs of who says or decides what. They have become, consciously or unconsciously, remote protagonists in a conflict.

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Social media concerns a pretext for State surveillance?

Australia is in my good books. Its government’s decision to ban access to social media for under 16s has started an international conversation that will run and run. The jury is no longer out on the impact of social media on young children. It’s harming their concentration, their self-esteem and their mental health. The risks posed from online bullying, pornography, predatory advertising etc are numerous.

But, here again, we must be capable of contending with conflicting ideas in our heads. We badly need to restrict young people’s access to social media and to certain free and log-in based online content. But when Minister O’Donovan says he is going to hold the Australian solution in reserve, and focus instead on trialling a digital wallet system to check for people’s age and identity when going online, I wonder.

Strict age verification is vital to protect young people going online. The creation of multiple virtual identities by domestic and foreign activists manipulating public opinion is a threat to democracy and social cohesion. Complete online anonymity is impossible; people must be accountable if their actions or utterances are grounds for civil or criminal proceedings. All these problems should be addressed. But is a Government-issued digital wallet the solution? We’ve seen the vulnerability of data held by HSE. We hear about hacking and identity theft. And there are questions about the bona fides of the State itself. Haven’t we seen the harmful manipulation of our school curriculum by elites and insiders to whom the State now defers at the expense of parents and ordinary citizens?

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Make a Christmas visit to www.seanadvoter.ie

At the next election a new ‘Higher Education’ constituency replaces the old NUI and Trinity panels in the Seanad. Irish citizens with degrees from any college may now vote if they possess a degree from any college in the State (other than private colleges).

But the vast majority are unregistered, and don’t realise it.

What’s more, thousands of NUI and TCD graduates who voted in the most recent Seanad election last January don’t know that they have now been removed from the voters’ register. This is because everyone was required to actively re-register in order to keep their vote.