The sacking by the Irish Independent of journalist Gemma O’Doherty is another aspect of the drive to silence voices that those in authority don’t like the sound of. It also shows that censorship does not respect the borderline imposed by partition. Suppressing critical voices is a nationwide industry which often financially titillates fat cat censor lawyers into leading the assault.
Silencing Gemma O'Doherty might be good business for libel lawyers but it does nothing to enhance public understanding. As Labour Party senator John Gilroy noted:
When any journalist is sacked it is noteworthy, but when an investigative journalist of Ms O’Doherty’s standing is sacked this must raise great concerns for all democrats. I hope the Leader may arrange, at his earliest convenience, a debate in general terms on the freedom of the press.For the mechanisms of censorship to function there does not have to be an organised plan or a written blueprint. A few days back I passed comment on this blog that:
Even where there appears to be no direct coordination of their censorious activity, a centre of authoritarian gravity is pulling them together as a combined force to suppress the freedom to write.I would not be a cheerleader for the Independent although I can hardly deny that in recent years it has not been short of good writers. The right wing political slant is what bothers me. It seems a matter of record that it churns out much more robust material, even when skewered, than the paper of record, the doddering Old Lady of D’Olier Street, where limpness rather than limpidity seems to be considered an attribute.
Roy Greenslade in his Guardian blog reported that the dismissal of O’Doherty received virtually no coverage in the mainstream media. Internationally that seems to have been remedied but not so far in the Irish media. One tweeter commented: "International reaction to INM sacking Gemma O'Doherty. Not a peep from RTE, Irish Times, Daily Mail or SBP Why?"
Perhaps the answer to that question is to be found in the observation by Jacob Richards:
The Irish media strive on the failings of others but when it comes to critiquing itself it falls way below par. This is clearly evident in its failure to highlight the case of former Irish Independent journalist Gemma O’ Doherty.Even if there is no firm evidence of a conspiracy of silence it seems indisputable that a fog of hush was allowed to descend on the case thus blocking it from public view.
O’Doherty’s crime seems to have been that of investigating An Garda Siochana more vigorously than either it or her bosses thought advisable. She had both investigated and reported on two areas considered controversial to the Garda.
Moreover, Greenslade reported that Stephen Rae, editor-in-chief of the Dublin-based Independent titles, was furious at O'Doherty's action. Rae just happens to also be a former editor of the Garda Review magazine. Conflict of interests? Perhaps not but the penumbra of convergence will not easily dissipate. Her sacking would seem to be the:
culmination of years of dogged, single-minded investigative journalism by O'Doherty that brought her into conflict with senior police officers, leading politicians, the judiciary and the prosecuting authorities.The NUJ has waded in on behalf of O’Doherty. The union’s Irish secretary Seamus Dooley stated: ‘We believe she has been badly treated and has a case for unfair dismissal.’ Welcome as that is the fact remains that Dooley and his union colleagues faces a culture best summed up by the United Left Alliance:
This whole affair is a sad indictment of the state of the Irish Media. When an investigative reporter is reprimanded for asking hard questions there is clearly a serious problem at hand. We must ask ourselves some questions given the response of management at the Irish Independent. What is the extent of the relationship between senior Gardai and our national media given that such a scenario has occurred? The suggestion is one of inappropriateness and systemic cosiness given that few other Irish media organisations touched the story either. Ultimately our national media has hindered rather than helped the truth. Its subsequent treatment of Gemma O’ Doherty is an insult to the tenets of decent journalism. Anyone interested in justice, transparency and freedom of the press should add their voice to demand justice for Gemma O’ Doherty.
