Irish Media is an accomplice of Police Brutality

national | rights, freedoms and repression | opinion/analysis

Tuesday November 09, 2010 21:52

by Pepe

I just happen to work very near the Department of Finance and so I was a first hand witness to how events unfolded on November 3rd during the Students’ Protest. I came out to support the students -“hijack their protest” according to the lazy, subservient and incredibly pro-rich Irish mainstream media journalists, who are unable to understand a simple concept called “Solidarity”.

I just happen to work very near the Department of Finance and so I was a first hand witness to how events unfolded on November 3rd during the Students’ Protest. I came out to support the students -“hijack their protest” according to the lazy, subservient and incredibly pro-rich Irish mainstream media journalists, who are unable to understand a simple concept called “Solidarity”. I supported the students because their cause is fair and I agree with them. Also, I have children and care about their future. I think that it is unconceivable that ordinary workers like myself are made to pay the price of the failure and irresponsibility of Irish capitalists-speculators; after they amassed enormous fortunes, we have to clean up their mess. And now we are not only have our “surplus” extracted in the form of traditional exploitation of our labour, but also, now we are robbed in open daylight through the budget, levies, etc. so WE, the poor, the workers, the marginalised, make sure that THEM, the rich, the powerful, the greedy, keep living an idyllic life in their golden towers. Enough has been said about all this and I don’t want to repeat it all over again.

What I do want to comment on is the role of the Irish Media in all this. I was shocked about the coverage the protest and subsequent repression by the Black and Tans (I decline to call them Garda Siochana –“Guardians of Peace-me-arse”), received on the papers, radio shows and TV news. Sure, we all know this is the capitalist media, the shows of the establishment and their buddies. But this was completely out of order in terms of fabricating straight lies. It was not just biased information – it was open lies.

Civil Disobedience was deliberately turned into “Violent Protest”. “Eggs” were turned into “Bricks”. And a couple of Gardaí with minor injuries (one of them seemingly bit by their own dogs) were turned into the martyrs of the day. Three ambulances full of bleeding and battered students were completely ignored. The only honourable exception to this rule was Gene Kerrigan’s column in the Sunday Independent “The charge of the not-so-light brigade” (Nov. 7th)

Let us not forget that they were aided in this base task of manufacturing lies by that pathetic would-be politician Gary Redmond, who poses as student representative and found it perfectly normal to join the hysterical choir of condemnations against the victims on the very evening of November 3rd.

Now I was there and know what happened. I saw horses charging protestors and dogs being used to threaten them. I saw students being beaten unconscious, being beaten AT PLEASURE (literally) by the Black and Tans, after a peaceful sit-in. Peaceful in all the sense of the word. There was no serious attempt at resisting with violence or harming anyone. Whatever violence took place, came exclusively and unmotivated by the Black and Tans. I saw the chants against cuts turn into chants against police brutality.

There’s plenty of footage that proves this. There are no “two sides” of the story. It is crystal clear to everyone that the Black and Tans went out hyped up, ready to beat wantonly anything that moved. Now, today, November 9th, RTE six o’clock news shows, as if it was a great discovery, footage of the brutal repression that students were faced with a week ago http://www.rte.ie/player/#v=1084459 . A lot of my friends were glad that, at last, the Irish Media “dared” top tell the truth and show actual images of what happened that day, not selective two second clips. They were happy that the “truth” was coming out. I did not get happy. I actually got angry.

I got angry because these images come one week too late. I got angry because they had footage all along and they decided only to show it now, because thousands of people have been finding out the truth in youtube because the Irish media is not up to the job! Worse than that, because the Irish media actually decided to side 100% with the interests of the ruling clique in a shameless way and completely concealed from the public the reality of repression against a peaceful protest. They were forced to show these images of police violence by thousands that can now consult independent media like indymedia or footage in youtube, not out of some sense of responsible journalism. Their only worry was probably not to be exposed as what they are: the shameless apologists for a criminal ruling elite that are ruining the lives of millions.

But we need to do more than name and shame them. It is important to make pressure now on the media and find out why they decided to conceal the truth from the Irish people. Why they decided to deliberately lie about what happened that day. Who are to be held responsible for this blatant attack on a basic democratic right, that is the right to be informed?

I do believe that the violence against the students was nothing but a taster of what is to come after the next budget is revealed and the ordinary folks are forced to take to the streets. This illegitimate government has decreed a policy of Zero Tolerance to protest. They show that their knives are sharpened and that is not in vain that the only part of the budget that seems to be on the raise is that destined for the police to get new “toys”. The State and capitalism are showing their true colours. And the Media will be there to do the PR job for this government and for the financial thieves stealing away the right to education of generations to come.

The media are no less criminal than the Black and Tans that cowardly charged on the students and the government that, like a crazy Robin Hood, robs from the poor to give to the rich. Their cuts are criminal. Their violence is criminal. Their lies are criminal.

The Media coverage represents a brutal attack, as brutal as last Wednesday’s blows against the students, against the basic principles of any formal “democracy”.

They should be exposed for what they are: accomplices of Police brutality, accomplices of the attacks on the rights of the vulnerable.

Pepe

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Comments (7 of 7)

Pepe

by pat c

Tue Nov 09, 2010 23:25

Great article.

Don't forget the role of the NUJ. Why are they silent? They know that NUJ members, especially photographers, were assaulted by the garda. This makes the NUJ silence even more dumbfounding.

Why RTE did not report truthfully on the Student abuse/riot police incident...

by Ed Martin

Wed Nov 10, 2010 11:38

ugenics at gmail dot com

353868965954

To me its really quite obvious why they decided to conceal the truth from the Irish people, because the media aka RTE are in bed with the government. Who enforces the TV licence fee which goes to RTE and their programming??
I mean if you look at it on a deeper level, just think of the word program, who are they trying to program?? US
They do this by telling us [cue program] that things are not as they seem, it will get better and we all know it just keeps getting worse.
People need to rally together and come up with a solution, as the idiots who are in charge do not care about you, me or anyone else for that matter.

We need totally reform of our society in my opinion, Its not just Political reform we need as a society, we need change on a fundamental level.
Our society hasn't functioned well enough in the last 50-100 years, what we need is more than just law reform/political reform/ economic reform. We need a society that doesn't just think about the human race as a sum of parts, people as currency, the entire world as an eco-system is under serious threat and to think we don't need to look into all areas of betterment is a gross miscalculation. In my opinion RTE, The government our artificial existence is something that needs an overhaul.
We need to start asking ourselves real questions and get really involved.
For example, the so called democracy we live in, is a fallacy.
Those students are someones children and the government is supposed to be a voice of the people. personally speaking, my morals/needs/ethics are not represented in any of the political parties.
Its time for a huge change... you wouldn't ask an accountant to fix a burst water pipe, then why do we have all manner of people governing our existence. Surely if we want our world to function correctly and to have any chance of surviving to the next Millenia we need to take stock and realize that what we are doing here has implications everywhere.

Engineers & scientists need to be called in to fix our problems, people who are problem solvers, not someone who WANTS to be elected, the time for people with ego's ruling our civilization should be brought to an end. We need people using the heads & hearts, people who are flexible, people who think outside the box. Claiming our future probably has some well intentioned people aboard, i do hope their energies can be directed in a positive manner and not just a new face for an old ideal...

RTE and media

by opus diablos - the regressive hypocrite party

Wed Nov 10, 2010 12:09

'We need to start asking ourselves real questions...'

Just caught up with the movie 'Good Night and Good Luck'(2005, I'm a late developer). The story of the CBS news crew's stand against the McCarthy red-scare terror tactics of military/industrial boyos Eisenhower warned about as America's greatest potential threat.
Definitely asks a few of the 'real questions'; and shows they dont change too much with geography or time.

ongoing brutallity

by old codger - pensioner

Wed Nov 10, 2010 13:56

It seems that Fianna Fail have sanctioned their propaganda organisation RTE to allow exposure of their magnificent assault troops in action . This is done of course as a warning to any other group, of the treatment they will get if they dare to oppose the will of the government .They have controll of all sectors of Irish society and do not intend to let the peasants seek justice in such an audacious manner as peacefull protest.
They have been getting away with brutality in Rosport for years and the majority of the public stayed silent or even praised their actions.
NOW AT LAST THE PEOPLE WILL SEE THAT IRELAND IS RULED BY DICTATORS PRETENDING TO BE DEMOCRATS.
GOOD WISHES TO YOUR MARCH ihope you all stay safe from the thugs.

importance of independent media

by w

Wed Nov 10, 2010 14:06

the most important thing here is that people are now able to consult independent media instead of relying only on what mainstream media say. You don't need RTE to show footage of police violence to know what happened -thousands watched it anyway! this means we should start taking more seriously the role of independent media like indymedia...

Redmond in good company

by Kev - none

Wed Nov 10, 2010 15:22

Seems like Mr. Redmond is in good company - his English counterpart Aaron Porter, NUS president has condemned the breakaway march in London and the occupation of the Tory Party HQ by "trouble" makers.

Have these people no shame? Stupid question.

so-called?

by RAF

Thu Nov 11, 2010 23:01

It is absolutely bizarre that TV3 continues (eg today) to repeat, several times, on their news bulletins their phrase "so-called excessive use of force" by the Garda. How is this "so-called"?? It was manifestly REAL. This is truly the advent of Doublespeak, and an attempt to control of citizens' very perceptions via language and the impression of a higher, more knowledgeable authority.

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Irish Media is an accomplice of Police Brutality

Comments (7 of 7)