UTV & BBC & RTE & TV3

[ziggysego]

Lets start from the beginning, in my eyes anway.

What happened to Darren was an absoluate disgrace and should never have happened. The people who did it are nothing but knuckle draggers. Fermanagh County Board did all they could and Darren seems satisified with that. There is now a policy in place and ensure this if this happens again, something can be done about it.

As for UTV, well they took what was a non-story and ran with it. Even Darren seems to be surprised with the attention the story got. He appeared to just want an apology, but the media wouldn't let it rest.

As some of the posters have stated above, catholic soccer player receive similar abuse up and around Down, but where are the reporters and journalist there?

I, unlike most here, do not blame Logie for this. Sure he's the Sport's Editor, but ultimately he doesn't have the final say. He would be told what to put in his segments. The fact that he has a bust up with UTV a few years back, appears to show that. Anyway, personal insults help no-one. Certainly doesn't show us in a favourable light, rightly or wrongly.

[rrhf]

Broadcasting services:
I was never a fan of pay per view, but I believe the initial delivery has to be quality ie the setanta broadcast and if the secondary portions ie to UTV and BBC are of qulaity then you are guranteed a better presentation.  The setanta presentation for one game the DUBS V TYRONE UNDER LIGHTS was exceptional.  Maybe that was their sales pitch.  RTES performance is on the wain and is generally highly critical of the games.  They cannot claim it in their rights as  national broadcaster if they perform as badly for the GAA as they have been doing so.    TG4 have been the most generous of all and maybe could be encouraged to be the voice of club championship football with highlights also for all the big games. BBC and UTV are available to the highest bidder.  Thats not the GAA at the moment but maybe the highlights they crave would be better delieved through Setanta than RTE.  I believe the snubbing of both channels by the GAA in the south over the last image rights may have contributed to the negative situation also and has to be rectified.   
The market:   
The GAA has the ability over the next 10 - 15 years to strengthen with schooling in particular in N ireland having possibly been guilty of discrimination against it.  Unfortunately some may see this to be at the expense of rugby and soccor.  Im not sure that it is at all.  All sporting progress is to be welcomed,  Do you really think think the rugby and soccor afficionados will be crying into their starters tonight, about the negative publicity generated by previously deemed unimportant gulpins from Kinawley direction. No i suspect they will have a lighter skip in their step as they go about their business, safe in the knowledge that their work is being done for them... that negative PR in relation to the GAA is as important as positive PR of their own. 

[Sandy Hill]

The setanta presentation for one game the DUBS V TYRONE UNDER LIGHTS was exceptional

rrhf, I signed up with Setanta on the evening of that game and I remember being very disappointed with the commentary on the match and the almost lethargic discussion at half and full time which generated absolutely no atmosphere. Visually the game was well covered but the rest left me cold! Eugene Magee was one of the studio pundits that night but I can't remember who the others were.

However anything would be better than what BBC and UTV offer!

[orangeman]

But we pay for what BBC and UTV are supposed to produce via the licence fee !

[pintsofguinness]

You dont have to read far back on this thread to see some posters engaging in whataboutery.

So whataboutery is the same as condoning?  That's a new one on me.

With people like scalder and Rav67 who needs UTV or BBC.

[Rav67]

POG- it condones it by implication.

Me and scalder's comments are hardly those of gaa-haters

[pintsofguinness]

POG- it condones it by implication.

No it doesnt.  People made the point that the same thing happens in soccer and no programmes are made, they didn't condone what happened and I've no doubt they'd be among the first to condem what happened to Graham. 

[ziggysego]

Orangeman, UTV are a commercial broadcaster, they do not get any cut of the licence fee.

It could be argued that we buy the products that advertise on the channel.

[orangeman]

Sorry - forgot about the licence fee goes to BBC -

[armaghniac]

However if you feel strong about it there may be a clause regarding UTVs broadcasting contract that could allow yourself to make a complaint to Ofcom. E.g. not providing a fair and balanced view on a matter.

There is no scope for a complaint to Ofcom etc about this specific programme. It give both sides of the story by talking to the GAA and interviewed Brennan etc. In fact it wasn't the worst programme as such. The problem is the overall balance of coverage, lack of coverage of GAA games, emphasis on the negative and ignoring the positive. 

[scalder]

Yeah not GAA hating at all, I just love it so much that I don't want to see it tarnished and well I want us to maintain the highest standards. Comparing ourselves to soccer is like comparing a fine wine with a can of stale Dutch Gold. As for the BBC and UTV situations your right there is a bias but viewing figures drive these things, so vote with your feet and switch them off – BBC should also be lobbied as they must have a mandate to be even handed in their coverage.

[Puckoon]

Posted by whiskeysteve:

This is what I sent:

Why is the GAA coverage so sparse on UTV, when it is the most popular spectator sport in Northern Ireland? The news bulletins are so brief as to be ridiculous. Could you also explain why your channel dedicates more time to showing the GAA in a negative light (last nights Spotlight) than it does on big matches (which up to 80,000 people attend)

It was on insight, numbnuts.

Anyway, I would never condone the sectarian abuse that Darren Graham was subjected to and I would agree that it has no place in the GAA. I am not going to start on whataboutery as I would be here all week. However, will this problem ever be dealt with? How can it be dealt with? I have played football with and against members of the travelling community/locationally challenged or whatever the correct term may be, and they have suffered the same abuse, as has everyone who ever played football. How can the GAA change this attitude? If they are at fault they will need to think fast due to the number of foreign nationals taking up Gaelic games. I don't think that the problem lies with the GAA but I don't know who it lies with. These attitudes definitely didn't come from the GAA that I grew up with. In my opinion, they came from the street, homes, news or anywhere that people may pick up opinions towards other people. Does this lie with the GAA? Was I ever told in the changing room that someone was a "wee black bastard"? No and I don't think that it has ever happened. I have been called manys a thing while playing football and hurling, sometimes by my friends and very often my own team mates.. Things get out of hand at times in any game but you cannot blame the association on it. That is my problem with the Darren Graham saga.

Apologies to skull1 and 5iveTimes for the length of this post.

Thats an interesting point hardstation. An angle I hadnt thought about before. Still though, the association is the back drop for the scenario, so they are ultimately responsible for clearing up the mess, or at least appearing to. Its kind of like a nightclub that discovers someone selling drugs. They didnt bring the badness in, but they certainly need to get it sorted out.

[ziggysego]

According to Gaelic Life, the BBC are going to cease covering club matches on the radio from now on. Sunday Sportsounds will only cover inter-county games.

This is a disgrace.

[Sandy Hill]

According to Gaelic Life, the BBC are going to cease covering club matches on the radio from now on.

When did this start? I was travelling from Donegal last Sunday and tried unsuccessfully to get the score (on BBC) from Crossmaglen.

[bloody mary]

It's funny/sad that has no-one has noticed this (probably cos of the way radio ulster has diluted its coverage steadily over the last few years and cos people just use highland or omagh radio or whatever) but they haven't had a sunday show since August! they just dropped it, just like that. imagine if they had done that on saturday. the sunday show was a bit of an instution since the 70s and now there isn't even a result or report to be found.