asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs if he will state the reason for the omission on Radio Éireann of the report on the Seanad proceedings on the night of 18th March last.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Broadcast Report of Seanad Proceedings.
17.
The Seanad proceedings were reported by Radio Éireann in the news broadcasts on March 18th. The extended report, "Today in the Seanad", was omitted on that night because it was displaced by the special recording from Washington of the President's address to the United States Congress. This change of arrangements was announced in the news broadcasts that night.
18.
asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs if he is satisfied that a fair and impartial report of the Seanad proceedings on the 18th and 19th March was included in the Radio Éireann news reports; and why the report of the Seanad proceedings was given no higher placing than seventh in the news report of Friday morning, 20th March.
I have looked at the Radio Éireann bulletins of 18th and 19th March and at the script of "Today in the Seanad" for the 19th and they appear to me to give an objective and balanced report of the Seanad proceedings.
The order of the report of the Seanad proceedings in the bulletin of Friday morning, 20th March, had no significance in regard to its importance. The tendency is to place fresh items towards the top of the bulletin and from the public point of view I think that is the proper procedure. The business in the Seanad had already been reported in a number of bulletins on the two previous days and in the special report "Today in the Seanad" on the previous night.