A whiff of Cordite

[dave13]

Update: Ross O'Carroll Kelly not allowed into newstalk/TodayFM/Spin building to do interview on Spin due to ban.
Could be a book excerpt.

[simonokeeffe]

If theyre banning fictional characters now theyve really lost the plot

Theyve sacked a female presenter too. Whatever about PR of that/how it will effect advertisers, that seems like being legally risky to say the least

[arsebiscuits1]

Update: Ross O'Carroll Kelly not allowed into newstalk/TodayFM/Spin building to do interview on Spin due to ban.
Could be a book excerpt.

Ross being barred from a radio interview because of a billionaire throwing a tantrum over rape comments is undoubtedly the most ridiculous of all of his scenarios over the last 20 years.... and this one isn't fictional!!

[Dave Cahill]

If theyre banning fictional characters now theyve really lost the plot

Theyve sacked a female presenter too. Whatever about PR of that/how it will effect advertisers, that seems like being legally risky to say the least

She was on dodgy ground once she put the boot into the management about Hook.

I always thought her show to be an odd fit for post national licence Newstalk, that it would be more suited to RTE. I'd say they were dying to get rid of the show anyway, whatever about the presenter, because that kind of public service show rarely brings numbers or advertisers

[fourthirtythree]

She was an odd fit for Newstalk by being a woman in the first place. Never listened or knew anything about her show If the radio is on in my house on Saturday night it's because of opera night on Lyric - my 7 year old inexplicably developed a love of opera a couple of years ago and looks forward to it! She is the only opera fan in the house.

But they don't just fire women for criticising the station's offical misogyny in public. They do it when the concerns are brought up in private to management from the perspective that it leaves the station open to criticism and possible legal sanctions. Hope that case doesn't settle. Would be fun to get it in open court.

So for all the "free speech activists" complaining about a commercial decision being made to move Hook from the show he was on until the advertisers who dropped him cooled off it's worth noting that criticising rape apology gets you sacked but promoting rape "culture" does not. Because PC censorship don't you know.

Oh, and there is no free speech on Newstalk: they are a company and choose who they want on. Typically from a rather narrow range of views. But that's their business and if people want that or can tolerate it enough to stay tuned they will get advertisers.

[Oldschool]

Guess we are getting more ROC and maybe Murray Kinsella which is probably good, Indos hatred of Heaslip aside

Not exactly good PR for Newstalk though to go after the paper they share much of their audience with, but also essentially to retaliate over anti-George Hook stuff, well one article by someone who said they wont appear on heir station anymore

Update: Ross O'Carroll Kelly isn't affected by the ban

Billionaires are notoriously thin-skinned. Particularly Irish ones as they get to sue over anyone saying anything they don't like. This time they can't because they dropped their own presenter because of Twitter and their own sponsors.

Being a billionaire however is not a prerequisite for being thin skinned unfortunately.

[suisse]

Interesting development. Of the two, Thornley is assuredly the bigger loss even though he indulges in far too much playing to the crowd. Plenty of repetition and overuse of terms such as "red army", "dipping their bread", "return to the well", "fully locked and loaded", French words etc. Gavin Cummiskey is no loss. Whatsoever. He isn't insightful and has little credibility. He's almost always wrong in what he says.

[blockhead]

Andrew Dunne on Newstalk today was excellent. Cummisky is gone and long forgotten, already. Maybe he'll become a regular.

[curates_egg]

Gerry's barely disguised hatred of Leinster and Leinster fans very much in evidence today:
http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/rugby/g ... -1.3250027
Reggie must've pee'ed in his americano at some point.

[Dave Cahill]

Fair play to you, you really had to work hard to take offence at that one, but by god you put the effort in and found something to be annoyed about. And astonishingly it wasn't even the error in fact - Grumpy Old Man made that comment in The Melting Pot, not De Danu.

[curates_egg]

Fair play to you, you really had to work hard to take offence at that one, but by god you put the effort in and found something to be annoyed about. And astonishingly it wasn't even the error in fact - Grumpy Old Man made that comment in The Melting Pot, not De Danu.

You think? Is it just my thin skin?
The first two paragraphs are an utterly irrelevant snide dig at both Reggie and Leinster fans.
His fawning PR piece on how Munster are actually in a great place would have been just as valid (or not) without the ad hominen on Reggie (and Grumpy Old Man)...but then I'd say he gets extra scoops at their next away game for having dug up some inanity to slag Reggie about.

I've never been to De Danu BTW - always go to the other places. Trev's dig at fans in his autobiography took care of that for me

[molloyjh]

Ah yeah, he's clearly stoking the fire. Why bother with the De Danu comment? What on earth was the point of that? That said the most galling bit of all was this:

As had been the case since those days and beyond, the latest instalment of the Leinster-Munster rivalry was an intense and physical as ever, and it’s clear that the edge between the two provincial rivals remains intact.

That would be a massive buuuuuuuullllllsh**. It was pretty bloody clear that this fixture has lost that edge. In the stands and on the pitch. Where were the Munster players trying to rile up Fardy or Sexton for example. Neither side went at it full pelt on Saturday.

[riocard911]

He certainly was watching the match through red-toned glasses to be able to come out with this clanger: "But for Chris Farrell’s pass being adjudged forward..." LMFAO!!!!

[blockhead]

Gerry's barely disguised hatred of Leinster and Leinster fans very much in evidence today:
http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/rugby/g ... -1.3250027
Reggie must've pee'ed in his americano at some point.

The idea that Gerry has a "hatred" for Leinster is simply ludicrous and quite frankly, childish.

[curates_egg]

Gerry's barely disguised hatred of Leinster and Leinster fans very much in evidence today:
http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/rugby/g ... -1.3250027
Reggie must've pee'ed in his americano at some point.

The idea that Gerry has a "hatred" for Leinster is simply ludicrous and quite frankly, childish.

No: you're childish

[simonokeeffe]

He certainly was watching the match through red-toned glasses to be able to come out with this clanger: "But for Chris Farrell’s pass being adjudged forward..." LMFAO!!!!

Munster are the prodical son and we are the other more succesful one

[olaf the fat]

Gerry's barely disguised hatred of Leinster and Leinster fans very much in evidence today:
http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/rugby/g ... -1.3250027
Reggie must've pee'ed in his americano at some point.

The idea that Gerry has a "hatred" for Leinster is simply ludicrous and quite frankly, childish.

Yep. That last article was clearly just about Munster, with a titbit about Reggie. He will be writing plenty of fawning things about us before the end of the season.

In fairness to the guys that get offended by such things, there was a time when every piece about one team had to be based around a dig at the other.

[Angelsea Angst]

Gerry's barely disguised hatred of Leinster and Leinster fans very much in evidence today:
http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/rugby/g ... -1.3250027
Reggie must've pee'ed in his americano at some point.

The media in Ireland do not hate Leinster they are just indifferent to Leinster while they are totally infatuated by Munster. It has been that way since 2000 when Munster began to make a big advance in Europe. I don't think that it will ever change so it is best to ignore the mass media completely.

[Grumpy Old Man]

He must be stuck for a hook to hang his article on if he's digging up quotes from a French bar ten years ago. And yes, it was The Melting Pot.

[Dexter]

Didn't read the article tbh but saw this heading in the Indo:
"Erasmus and Stander back O'Mahony's reply to Corrigan"

Phew! That's good to know.. the silence was really worrying. All's well, carry on.