TV3 apologises to its staff over Lenihan story

Mick McCaffrey

Reporter Ursula Halligan: news alert

TV3 management has apologised to its staff over the way it handled aspects of the announcement of Brian Lenihan's cancer diagnosis and has set up a special telephone line to deal with the deluge of complaints from irate members of the public.

The Sunday Tribune has learned that chief executive David McRedmond, deputy director of news Bob Hughes and public relations manager Maureeen Catterson, addressed station staff at a series of specially convened meetings last Tuesday.

While they stood by the decision to reveal during a special St Stephen's Day news bulletin that the minister for finance had pancreatic cancer, they said they "regretted some aspects of the coverage", according to station sources. This "regret" is believed to have stemmed from the manner in which the news was reported, which has been widely criticised as being triumphalist.

The station issued an email "news alert" to national newspapers in advance of the broadcast, announcing that the station would be "running a news story of national importance, in our 5.30 bulletin" and also carried a live interview with cancer specialist Professor John Crown in which he discussed pancreatic cancer in general.

It is understood that the station has received hundreds of complaints from viewers furious that TV3 chose to break the story during the Christmas period, giving Lenihan just two days to inform his family about his illness.

The station has not been able to cope with the sheer volume of calls and has been forced to set up a special phone line. However, no staff will man the line and the station is not giving any commitment that it will phone people back to discuss their concerns.

In an email to all staff about the special "comment" number, management said: "We have set up a TV3 comments line which you can transfer callers to. These comments will be screened, but we are not giving any guarantee of reply. Comments will
be forwarded to the appropriate department."

January 10, 2010

Comments

#1 Isobel Murray commented, on January 10, 2010 at 6:32 p.m.:

Did I read this correctly? TV3 apologised to its staff? What about an apology to the Minister and his family?

#2 Barry McSweeney commented, on January 10, 2010 at 9:20 p.m.:

This is a non-story, of interest only to the "chattering classes". Those of us who live in the real world have more pressing concerns than the sensitivities of politicians. "If youcan't stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen"!

#3 Paul Leahy commented, on January 10, 2010 at 9:32 p.m.:

Did TV3 apologise to its staff for the discourtesy to Mr Lenihan and his family or to the inconvenience to its staff of the switchboard being jammed?

#4 mary egan commented, on January 10, 2010 at 10:35 p.m.:

I am not a supporter of brian lenihan, but the reporting of his illness on tv3 in such a savage and callous way is unforgiveable. Surely anyone with an ounce of humanity would stop to consider what the effect was when the doctor broke this news to brian and his wife. they had to think about telling their children, their family, so god knows they wanted no intrusion from the vultures in tv3.

#5 Terry Larkin commented, on January 11, 2010 at 1:02 a.m.:

"........ giving Lenihan just two days to inform his family about his illness."

According to Mr Lenihan he knew the diagnosis on 18th December and had told his family and friends about it in the week before Christmas. So where did the "just 2 days" come from, Mick?

#6 squid commented, on January 12, 2010 at 12:14 a.m.:

This is scandalous

Radio Limerick One lost it's licence for less.

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