Cowen & The Few Pints

I observed from a distance the furor that followed Brian Cowen's Morning Ireland interview. To say I was surprised would be understating it. This wasn't a good interview by any stretch but neither was it deserving of the genuine outrage which followed. Mr Cowen has never been a wonderful orator. He is a man possessed of a strong intellect but his communication skills have all too often been of the gruff and rushed variety. He is always on message however and that it what a citizen would demand of their leader.
The interview itself lasted around 10 minutes and Mr Cowen had a couple of slips of the tongue, to which he immediately corrected himself it should be said. He was attending a Fianna Fail party think in Galway. These occasions serve not only as a meeting of minds but also as a social occasion once the business of the day is over. As such Mr Cowen and his followers indulged in a number of pints and embraced the social side of the event. He had a late night, 3.30 am by some accounts, and then presented himself for the Morning Ireland interview shortly before 9 the next morning. His delivery was hoarse and hesitant, befitting someone with only a few hours sleep. He didn't make any major errors despite the case presented to the contrary. Fine Gael's Simon Coveney described him as 'halfway between drunk and hungover'. This was picked up by the Pat Kenny show and the baying masses begun to smell blood. The loony asylum that is Liveline gave the masses their voice, warranted or not.
If someone were to tune in to this show without knowing the background they would be forgiven for thinking this was an alcohol free society, filled with devout pioneers and that Cowen had been steamed on air at a quarter to nine. There was the odd modicum of sense from the minority of callers.However, it wasn't in the interest of RTE to push the minority callers view, ie the sensible analysis of the situation. Instead it attempted to hype this event to silly levels and further fuel the fires of an already disillusioned public. RTE took the easy sensationalist route on a public who didn't need much encouragement when it came to Fianna Fail bashing. This for me is the greatest worry to come out of this episode. That being the further slipping of standards across the media.
It isn't just confined to Ireland of course. This (non)story was syndicated across the world. At one point it was one of the most read stories on the BBC website. The effect being to reinforce the gombeen stereotype that is lazily used against Ireland. This at a time when Ireland's reputation is on its knees. This trashy tabloid centred style of journalism is unfortunately permeating media organisations across the world. The rational, researched and balanced article is being replaced by the hearsay, agenda based and sensational type article. The more space given over to these articles, the more de-sensitised the populace become to them. In the long run this is to the detriment of not only the reader but also to the goodwill and reputation built up by media organisations over time. The media organisations will argue that there is a market for this type of stuff but the reality is that they are being force fed it.
It's time for a return to good standards in journalism. Liveline will always be there for the wingers and sensationalists.