Sinn Féin has risen in the polls again today, 14th of February, by a whopping 3 points and the Government has dropped 2 points despite the Irish Independent's relentless and permanent campaign to derail them, courtesy of the Red Sea poll. That campaign is always focused on the past that is a mixture of little fact, a lot of fiction and very creative writing.
If one would think of the Globe or the National Enquirer's style of reporting, you get the flow from where the Independent has learned its style and where it is increasingly mired in. It's mud reporting at it's best. Just keep throwing it, leaden it with lies and hope some of it will stick. Inevitably some does but its style too more belongs to an Ireland of the past when RTE was the only channel in town along with Irish radio, and Charlie Mc Quaid ran Dublin and the Government just before the other Charlie took over. Both crooks just with different hats. Ireland has changed and social media is taking over where truth is getting more breathing room and fact can flex it's muscles once again.
The Irish Independent peppers it's stories with lurid opening statements and paragraphs such as: A source close to............, an inside source....., it is understood......, A friend of......., an informed source......, locals have said....., a gun favoured by the IRA......., an alleged rapist....., suspected of...., and on and on it goes. When any of these openers appear, there lies the first clue that the reporter, if you could call he or she that, has not left their desk or done homework or a modicum of research. Impartiality, which is the core ethics of journalism is not there but favouritism and political allegiance is and usually all about the money. The Irish Independent has reduced itself more to opinion pieces than actual reporting for it is easier to waffle and not be sued than be caught out making fiction into a fact and getting sued.
Just look at some of the characters who they let unfettered write drivel on their pages, paid or unpaid: Bertie Ahern, IvanYates, Séan Gallagher, and Hugh ò Flaherty. The first guy had his hand in the countries till as he and his cronies bankrupted the country, the other two cleverly bankrupted their companies and landed their tax bills on us and one of them almost got elected as the President of this country before he was exposed. The last guy resigned off his judicial bench before they threw him off for he became confused between being a servant of the law and thinking he was the law itself. The fellow who has the controlling share of this rag mag has become so rich from the help of a very corrupt Michael Lowry, he has the means to tie up any court for decades to come. There is more but is there a point at this stage but social media is watching and listening and reporting on the reporting.
Barry Clifford
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