A poll is a snapshot, capturing a moment in time. A still image, and a blurry one at that. The margin of error (usually around three percent) means the picture isn’t always crystal clear. The margin of error can also tempt newspapers, hungry for exciting headlines, to pump up a statistically insignificant gain or loss in… Continue reading Snapshots, moving pictures, and unknowns
Tag: Labour
RTÉ and the political lobby
“Labour want US style political advertising” It wasn’t the biggest ever story, but the Sunday Times liked it enough to pay me for it. It even got a bit of social media traction at the time. And it was based on three lines at the end of an internal RTÉ memo. In May 2010, a… Continue reading RTÉ and the political lobby
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A Labour party delegation proposed the introduction of shorter US-style political advertisements in place of the staid party political broadcast format during a meeting with RTE Executives in the dying months of the last government. “We feel that there is merit in shorter more frequent broadcasts. This is something that would be worth examining in… Continue reading This message was brought to you by…
Copy that
Tucked into the Fine Gael manifesto were a couple of promises which affect journalists: a plan to pioneer US-style “fair use” in EU law, and a review of intellectual property (IP) law. Fair use, Fine Gael says, will “allow internet companies and digital innovators to bring their services to market”. The IP update would give… Continue reading Copy that
Home Thoughts While Abroad
I spent most of the week in London. From what I saw in newspapers and on television while there, Gordon Brown seemed preoccupied by the ongoing row over MPs expenses. He lost another minister on Wednesday, though Kitty Ussher was keen to say in her resignation letter that she had done nothing wrong, and was… Continue reading Home Thoughts While Abroad
Just One Ireland
Fianna Fáil has the support of one in five voters, if the latest Irish Times poll is to be believed. Labour are three points ahead of them, and Fine Gael lead the pack with 36%. Independents are supported by one in ten, Sinn Féin by one in twelve, and the Greens by only 3%, a… Continue reading Just One Ireland
De Mare
Dublin is to get a new directly-elected mayor within a year. The first directly elected city leader will be chosen by the capital’s citizens next summer. ‘2010 will see the direct election, by the people of the Dublin region, of a highly-visible and accountable Mayor who will have the authority and powers to deliver real… Continue reading De Mare
Celebrity Games
Fianna Fail are set to trump the Fine Gael coup in landing George Lee as an election candidate, announcing the Seoige Sisters as MEP candidates in the Ireland Northwest constituency. Stung by the news that one of their harshest economic critics is set to take the hustings for the opposition, party mandarins immediately met in… Continue reading Celebrity Games
Promises, Promises
Employers want to cut dole payments by 3%. They mentioned a few other ways for the government to save or raise money too, including an increase in the income levy, but the dole cut is the one making headlines. But some taxes should not be hiked, namely corporation tax, VAT and excise duties. Meanwhile Labour… Continue reading Promises, Promises
Poll Dancing
Brian Cowen must be wondering where it all went wrong. Support for his government and party have slumped to a record low, according a TNS MRBI opinion poll to be published in the Irish Times tomorrow. The polls confirms findings in a Red C poll commissioned by the Sunday Business Post a couple of weeks… Continue reading Poll Dancing