Iread in the Irish Times that Pat Rabbitte has indicated that the Labour Party will vote against the government's forthcoming Privacy Bill. This announcement of a vital policy position was made during a radio talk show, and might have been better left unreported to save the blushes of the Labour leader. But needs must, and the signalling of support for the media's position from such a quarter is an important development in the current war.
Haunted Homes strikes fear into our hearts with its clichéd attempts to scare while Up for the Match is frightening for viewers, guests and presenters alike
How many interviews can you fit into your first week as party leader? How many different headlines can you make? As many as possible, if you are Michael McDowell, who is using the same 'climbing up a pole' strategy that he did in the run up to the last election – ie to get as much media coverage as possible, about anything.
Presumably, the Irish Times syndicates Charles Krauthammer's columns because they offer its readers a different point of view. They put forward the point of view of US neo-conservatives, a view that is both relatively unpopular in Ireland – evidenced by the lack of political groups who espouse it – and of interest due to its dominant position in the seats of global power.
There has been a huge reaction to the Pope's comments on Muslim and lack of an apology.
The NewsTalk 106 line-up for its national debut is God-awful. Claire Byrne of TV3 and Ger Gilroy will offer no challenge to RTÉ's Morning Ireland. Ryan Tubridy and Pat Kenny were/are there for the taking in the 9am to noon slot but Orla Barry and Brenda Power won't take them. Someone called Eamon Keane will present the lunchtime news against Sean O'Rourke on RTÉ's News At One. No contest. And on into the afternoon with only George Hook offering token resistance to RTÉ's new recruit Mary Wilson.
Kilkenny's getting swankier, according to RTÉ's new fly-on-the-wall series 5 Star, which charts the difficult run-up to the opening of a new hotel. Legend gets off to an equally slow start, but could be one to watch
As NewsTalk and Today FM dropped their planned programming to cut live to the Merrion Hotel on Thursday 7 September, Kylie Minogue was singing 'The Locomotion' on RTÉ Radio 1. Fifteen minutes later, as George Hook and Matt Cooper broke the news of Mary Harney's imminent retirement as leader of the PDs live from the press conference, RTÉ Radio 1 played Van Morrison. The Cathal Murray Show was eventually interrupted by a brief newsflash to let RTÉ listeners know what Today FM and NewsTalk listeners already knew.
In the Sunday Independent on 10 September, Brendan O'Connor bravely took on "the media, who love a consensus" in support of Michael McDowell. He informed us that despite the consensus that "Liz O'Donnell will be Taoiseach", McDowell was the only "serious contender". O'Connor saw this as a "stark example of the media choosing what it wanted to believe over reality".
As a "where were you when you heard...?" moment, it wasn't up there with JFK or 9/11. Still, Mary Harney's resignation as Progressive Democrat leader had an undeniable element of surprise – "bolt from the blue" was the phrase of the day. If "where you were" was RTÉ, you heard about it slightly, but significantly, later than if you were tuned to rival broadcasters.