The Irish Examiner
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Friday 10th November 2006
Main Section
P1 Kidnap fears: gardai on alert for attacks- Garda Source. "Gardai fear.." And you should too. Well, if you work for a post office.
HSE accused of failing to probe 1,800 reports of elder abuse- Report on Report. Presents a series of conflicting claims without even trying to tell us which might be plausible and which isn't.
Key Limerick underworld figure gets life for murder- Court Report. Isn't Limerick awful?
P2
UN figures for Ireland 'outdated'- Report on Report. Minister says we can't be as bad as we were back in 1995. Asserts the numbers saying 22.6% of adults have literacy problems must therefore be wrong. But, if so, why haven't we measured our progress since?
Just the Trick for magician to earn TCD degree- Journalism. Unless its a reprint from the Irish Times.
Committee backs funding plea for spinal injuries centre- Dail Report. Now, lets pause for a moment. The government have a permanent majority on these committees. So when they call on the government to make some policy change or other, who's getting fooled? We'll never know from these reports.
P 3 Toys 4 Big Boys to have the latest KITT- Ad for weirdly misogynistic-feeling technoporn show.
Abbeville development plans get green light- A PR puffery for Manor Park Homes who, what a shocker, 'succeeded yesterday in retaining planning permission for practically all of their extensive hotel, golf course, leisure and residential development' on Haughey's old gaff. We can be sure of its PR source, as nobody but PRs use the word leisure as a noun. Also, a quick buzz down to auld An Taisce- Ireland's most consistent losers- for a quick quote to spice things up.
Taxpayers pay €75,000 to protect Shell workers in Corrib protest- Headline is a lie. Misunderstands the meaning of the figures in the Parliamentary question. 1) The money isn't being spent to protect anyone- it is being spent to police a demonstration. There is no suggestion that workers would be attacked without the police presence. 2) Not reported is the established legal principle that if you're creating a situation to profit yourself which will cause the potential for unrest, you are responsible for the cost of the extra policing. Hence, Leeds United had to pay for police on match days, because they knew there would be a risk of hooliganism but went ahead. Similarly, Employers bringing in strike breakers to cross pickets have been charged for the policing costs. Thus the meaning of the question was if the state is running up large policing bills for Shell's benefit, why are they not recouping that money? Missed entirely by the report. I'm marking this one Dail Report.
Page 4 Revenue accused of 'low-balling' taxpayers- Dail Report, from the Revenue Commissioner before PAC. Every paper took their own tale away from this meeting. It was the Dail Report of a thousand faces.
Forensics hope to shed light on botched 'tiger' kidnappings- Garda Sourced, with extra CSI style sexy.
Poor security measures leave offices unsafe, warn staff- A report, I kid you not, sourced from 'callers' into Joe Duffy's Liveline show. Reprint/ isn't it awful/ journalism(as they went to the trouble to ring around an Post, and the Postmaster's Union to see if they agreed with Joe's schmoes). Liveline is a perfectly respectable place to source a story, as long as you don't rely just on what you hear, but ring and question the people yourself. Crucially, you also get a chance to see if they're actually who they tell Joe they are.
Sidebar- 4 PRs and a Garda story.
Government to offer low-key response to backing of St Andrew's deal- So what? NI story.
Tribunal fails to identify 'Bertiegate' leak source- Tribunal Report.
Bird Survey raises fears for species- worthy, but Report on Report. "published jointly by Birdwatch Ireland, the Heritage Council and Dept of Envrionment". But which sent out the press release, I wonder.
Page 5
HSE contract talks show no progress- unexciting topic, but decently dealt with. journalism.
Roche rushes to act over voter register criticism- Press Release or Dail Report? I'll go with Dail Report. Though the headline is unwarrentedly kind to the Minister, who ignored the problem when it first was reported and has left officials with next to no time to fix it.
Curtin legal team to launch court challenge- Or 'may' launch court challenge as the first paragraph rather less certainly suggests. Dail Report. Quick gripe. 'It is understood that the judge, through his legal team, may challenge the decision in the courts.' By whom? On what basis? Why create an air of mystery for your readers that isn't needed. Say it straight out- you've been briefed by the legal team.
Page 6 Ireland's road safety record one of the worst in Europe- Report on Report. I feel like labeling it PR though, on the basis that it reads like an executive summary, rather than the result of actually reading the full report. Had tacked on, unchallenged, an ad for Martin Cullen and his hard work in fighting road death.
'I never saw anything like this. I feel their loss terribly'- When did funerals become events to be reported like this? Distastful journalism.
Sam safely back in the kingdom after gala scare- amusing reprint from the Irish post.
Super-authority to run capital's public transport programme- Or isn't, according to the Irish Times. Doesn't mention the important fact that failure to fully implement the recommendations of the advisory team led by Professor Margaret O'Mahony led to her declining the job of head of the Dublin Transport Authority. Leaving a vacancy at the top from the start. And what was the deal-breaker for the bould Minister Cullen, in his second appearance on this page? Only the suggestion that the DTA be given some power over land use. Wouldn't do at all, it seems.
Old drinking haunt of Harris calls last orders- Good local story. Though is Limerick part of the Mid-West Correspondent's beat? Journalism.
Page 7 Le Brocquy celebrates a colourful 90th birthday- Press Release. Odd headline under a picture of khaki clad artist amongst monochromatic artworks.
Troubled Leas Cross runs up losses of €1m- Companies Office search as news. I'll give it journalism, for enterprise.
Hospital accused of covering up MRSA case negligence- MRSA is going to go huge soon. Court Report, with an unchallenged non-sequiter end quote from CEO of the hospital involved.
Dublin Bewley's to re-open under a new name- Press Release. A new name, new owners, new facade. In what way is this a re-opening?
Page 8 Ed on beded knees with public apology to girlfriend- Excellent colour piece about a huge apology ad in the Donegal Democrat. Ace stuff. Reprint or journalism? I'm going with Journalism. they did find out more about the author and his ex.
One-in-four women fail to attend breast exam- Report on Breast Check Annual report.
Mother takes Jordan to secret address- The thriving sub-genre of 'isn't limerick awful' continues. Journalism, I suppose.
Kenny unaware Breen threatened libel action in letter- journalism. Compare with the Evening Herald's outright lie on the same story.
Planning authorities fee gets approved- grammatically questionable headline. Court Report, but still feels as much like a press release from the government as it did when an almost identical story appeared in the Times.
Page 9 McCabe though of suicide after husband's murder- sourced from a book about to be published. Ad, I'm afraid.
Irish Smaller and fatter but still looking on the bright side- Glad I'm not the only one. Report on Report.
Page 10 Man who robbed two students jailed for five years- Court Report. Like the Irish Times, can't resist 'hour long ordeal' reference.
Burglar cites self defence in murder appeal bid- Good Court Report. Actual law referred to.
Attack on man out walking dog may leave him blind- Court Report, high awfulness factor.
Teen in custody over attack on woman with baby- Court Report.
Jailed wife claims lover battered husband to death with baseball bat- Court Report. Phew! is this the most court reports on one page? Wait, there's more!
€850,000 for family of road victim- Court Report
Sex Offender avoids prison again- Court Report.
Sidebar: 5 further court reports.
Janey Mack! Well, as each of these reports are credited to a different reporter, I can only say that the enterprising young journalist who doesn't nip down to the nearest courtroom and note the most lurid details is missing their obvious break into national print.
Page 11
Frail man died after radiator burnt skin- Horrific report from the Cork Coronor's court.
Widow waiting seven months for test results- public service journalism.
Drugs search led to charges of fake ATM card production- Court Report. Contains magnificent use of word 'nodge' to describe a lump of hash.
Tesco urged to promote workers' redundancy battle- Press release, of the most surreal kind. The workers don't work for Tesco. They work for a chicken factory. Why not urge the pope while you're at it? Still, not the journalist's fault that they're acting as stenographer to people not making sense.
Late Late Show to reveal man behind 'the tash'- Ad for The late late show with guest Willie O'Dea and also featuring Brendan O'Carroll. Self defeating, therefore.
Enterprise Ireland jobs to move from Dublin to Shannon- Press release trying to undo damage of story in Irish Times demonstrating exactly the opposite. Actual statement demonstrates headline is still wrong.
Page 12- World News
Twin blasts kill 16 as iraq minister puts insurgents victims at 150,000- AP reporter provides coverage for the Examiner on the side.
Israel will continue strikes, says Olmert- Another impressive contribution from the Examiner's Middle Eastern correspondents. Pity they all have to moonlight as AP wire reporters on the side to make ends meet.
Spears divorce heading for acrimonious custody battle- Even in the US, the double jobbing for the AP continues.
Minister sacked after being charged with child sex and drug offences- Wire again, from Australia.
Sidebar: 5 more wire stories.
Page 13
Bush bids for peace with hostile congress- journalism. Also features naked admission of surprise that democracy fails to conform to press briefings by those in power- 'In a rout once considered inconceivable...'
President selects veteran policymaker to tackle Iraq- Wire report.
Iraqis welcome resignation of unpopular Rumsfeld- AP.
Gervais equipped with ideal face for comedy- Ubiquitous ad for face morphing software gubbins.
Sea Urchins share our genes, research reveals- Reprint. Bastard Urchins!
Page 15
Our on his own- Ad for Jarvis Cocker. I like Jarvis Cocker. But it's still an ad.
Beauty in the eye of the buyers- journalism, on architecture no less. I love reports on architecture. This is Cork architecture, of course.
Pages 16-17 Ad for Bond. Fun ad. But an ad nonetheless.
Page 18
Time to put kidnap thugs out of action- Too long have we had this semi-state kidnap thug corporation distorting our economy. After long recital of kidnap stories already reported in paper, editorial gets down to the specifics of the hows- 'provide whatever resources are deemed necessary'. I vote for Godzilla.
Gardai beginning to look top heavy but rather light down at street level- opinion, but well supported by facts.
Page 19 Devolution 'go slow'- More NI.
Saturday 11th November 2006
Main Section
Page 1 Main Photo - "End of an era". Examiner moves house.
"Leas Cross failings not an isolated case, HSE admits" An important story, but a report on a report nonetheless. In the middle of the story we learn that the report "is felt unlikely to result in prosecutions". Felt? By whom? Is granny feeling it in her hip? For all we know, this could be made up.
"Roche to hike plastic bag tax to 22c in New Year" Press Release/Briefing
"Organised crime costs businesses €4bn a year" Based in its entirety on quotes from Mr. Peter Dorrington who sells fraud solutions for a living. Shameless advertising.
Sidebar: "Shell Protestors Declare War". A lie. See page 3
Page 2 "Retailers Warned About Defamation" A reprint of an interview from RGDATA's "Checkout" magazine. Does not question any of the interviewee's rather sweeping and unsubstantiated assertions.
"Liquids pour in as airports hike security" PR
"Irish language group criticises Dingle name plebiscite" PR
Page 3 "Gardai causing a war, say anti-shell protestors" The front page trailer stated that the protestors had "declared war". Only by a very tortuous use interpretation of the phrase "declare war" could that be said to be true. The story itself is actual journalism, the first to be found thus far in the paper. It isn't good journalism though, reporting all views as having equal validity, not questioning which version is true, or asking each side to comment on the other's version of events.
"Serial killer says first victim was missing boy" Largely based on something from the London Evening Standard. Some extra work seems to have been done, though it might have been taken unattributed from elsewhere in the British press. In fact I suspect it was. Sill, I'll give it the benefit of the doubt and classify it as journalism, but only just.
"Brothers face questioning after man's fire death" More real journalism. The story could have been a bit longer though, and the bizarre phrase "self-styled vigilantes" used to describe the attackers goes unexplained, suggesting that the journalist doesn't know what "self-styled" means.
Page 4 Five stories on Leas Cross Report. One Report on Report, three PR stories, and one interview with relatives of victims, which is journalism.
Page 5 "It took Prime Time to expose what health authorities already knew" A mish-mash of PR material and reporting on a report, the number different sources is enough to make it journalism.
Page 6 "HSE underspends by €55m over delays" PR
"Hundreds mourn Croom man stabbed by burglar" Journalism - Isn't it awful
"EU issues warnings over fake medicines on market" PR
"Gardai appeal for information on three suspects after sexual assault" Garda Story. Includes phone number to call for those whoi can help. Fine Public Service stuff, but not journalism.
"Two seperate gangs suspected of 'tiger kidnappings'" Garda Story. Or rather, Garda non-story. The Gardai do not believe there was a connection between the two kidnappings in Dublin this week. That is not newsworthy, unless you're partaking in the tiger kidnapping scaremongering that's been appearing in all the papers recently.
Page 7 "Weapons amnesty figures jump" Dept of Justice PR
"Ahern refuses to rule out Flynn return" Reports on an interview with Mid West Radio. A reprint, essentially
"Taoiseach and Hain confident of progress on north" Northern Ireland
"Mental health service improvements explained" HSE PR
"Man on remand for murder of wife" Court Report
Page 9 "Security tight ahead of Hilton's arrival" Ad/PR
"Garda 'held her nerve' to report forgery suspicions" Court Report
"RPA attacks Cullen's plan to replace it with new agency" PR
"Report reveals high suicide rate among travellers" Report on a report
Pages 10 and 11 Feature: Examiner leaves its old home.
Page 12 12 stories of varying length, all court reports
Page 13 World News: Six stories. Though not presented as such, a moment's googling confirms that all are wire stories or reprints.
Page 14 News Review
"Baby news good for Bertie, bad for opposition" Opinion
"Limerick Shooting" Garda Story/Isn't Limerick awful
"Saddam Verdict" Reprint
"Dunne Deal" Advertising/Lifestyles of the rich and famous
"Friendly Firing" Rumsfeld. Opinion
"Samba Scoop" Info-tainment
"Welcome to wildlife" PR/Ad
"Controversy Rules" Opinion
Page 15 "Millen Cuts her Dublin Ribbon" An ad for Karen Millen. Also, lifestyles of the rich and famous. Interstingly, Gayle Killelea, whom I feel I've come to know well since I started this enterprise, is described as "heavily pregnant". The Daily Mail (was it?) begs to disagree.
Five other bits of PR fluff, with photos of dressed-up rich girls of varying attractiveness. It is the society page after all. Page 16
"Sleaze and scandal did republicans as much damage as the war in Iraq" Opinion.
"Parties must be pushed into action" Opinion
"Government promise has hollow ring" Opinion
Page 17
"Picking up the pieces" Opinion. Written by the same guy, and essentially saying the same thing as the "sleaze and scandal" story on page 15. Way to get paid twice dude.
"FF still sure of its right to rule" Opinion
"Earwicker" Political Gossip. Journalism of a sort, I suppose.
