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Broadcasting Right of Reply scheme yet to be availed of

In 11 months, not one member of the public has used the correction scheme.

NOT ONE MEMBER of the public has availed of the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland’s Right of Reply scheme even though it has been in operation for more than eleven months.

The scheme came into effect on 4 May 2011 but the BAI has told TheJournal.ie it has yet to be used.

The process allows for members of the public to contact broadcasters directly to demand the correction of incorrect information without having to resort to legal proceedings.

As part of the Broadcasting Act 2009, anybody who has had their reputation damaged because of a broadcast has a right of reply. However, the right to reply is not the same as obtaining a broadcast of an alternative or contrary opinion.

In other words, a person may not be satisfied with the manner in which a broadcaster has relayed information about him/her, but a Right of Reply will not be granted unless the facts or information are factually incorrect such that their honour or reputation have been impugned.

A Right of Reply will generally take the form of a scripted statement agreed by both parties in the same timeslot as the original programme. If a complainant is not happy with the broadcaster’s response to a right of reply request, the BAI can be asked to step in.

A spokesperson for the BAI said that people are still more likely to go through the Authority’s complaints procedure and “that side of things is still busier”.

The scheme is still relatively new, which may be a reason, he added.

Chairman of the BAI, Bob Collins will be on The Media Show this Saturday on RTÉ Radio One to discuss the scheme.

Download the full details of the BAI’s Right of Reply scheme>

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17 Comments
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    Mute Stephen Brady
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    Oct 16th 2020, 1:12 PM

    Why do all you journos claim Trumps claims about election security are unfounded? There are plenty of stories in media including NYT and there have been arrests of both Dems and Republican.

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    Mute Tricia G
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    Oct 16th 2020, 2:00 PM

    @Stephen Brady: Because they are unfounded.

    Trump claims that it’s possible for people to submit multiple votes that aren’t theirs. That it’s possible for a foreign entity to “stuff ballot boxes”. That’s complete nonsense.

    There are numerous ways States try to ensure that people only vote once and if voting by mail, your signature has to match. And you only get one.

    Even if you sent in a mail in ballot and showed up on the day, only one get’s counted.

    Anyone caught voting twice is risking a criminal conviction.

    The real danger is things like what the Republican Party are doing n California, using illegal ballot collection boxes. Therefore risking peoples votes not being counted.

    That and voter intimidation, trying to reduce the efficiency of the postal service, voter ID and reducing the numbers of places where people can actually vote leading to long wait times. Up to 11 hours in some places (weirdly, that’s usually in democratic leaning areas in Republican States. )

    Voter suppression is what is really going on here and there is only one party pushing that.

    87
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    Mute Drunk in Dublin
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    Oct 16th 2020, 2:28 PM

    @Stephen Brady: because trump is a ch4rl4tan and everything he says is a lie.

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    Mute Stephen Brady
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    Oct 16th 2020, 4:22 PM

    @Tricia G: they are not unfounded. People dont get locked up for unfounded allegations. When you are found guilty it isn’t unfounded. Also the dems wanted to remove security features like signature verification and postmarks but yeah sure they dont intend to cheat. They are the good guys. Dream on

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    Mute Stephen Brady
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    Oct 16th 2020, 4:23 PM

    @Tricia G: you also do know that a lot of states use digital machines for voting. Of course they can be rigged too.

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    Mute Tricia G
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    Oct 16th 2020, 5:29 PM

    @Stephen Brady: Funny how Trump hasn’t said a word about the digital voting machines……. He’s only slated the mail in ballots.

    And that really can’t be rigged.

    And if you’d bothered to read the story you yourself posted you’d have seen the following (which supports my point) “But some election experts said it was somewhat misleading to use the Paterson scandal as a cudgel to discredit mail-in voting, noting that election fraud is extremely rare and, as the case in New Jersey shows, is usually easy to detect.”

    And the rest of the article REALLY shows why voting fraud is a non-issue….. Did you even bother to read it?!

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    Mute Tricia G
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    Oct 16th 2020, 5:30 PM

    @Stephen Brady: “dems wanted to remove security features like signature verification and postmarks” – Okay, you’re gonna need to provide evidence of that because I think that is a flat out lie.

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    Mute Dave O'Keeffe
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    Oct 16th 2020, 6:06 PM

    @Stephen Brady: fun fact: caught, arrested and a new election happening. If the same logic was applied to guns Republicans would lose their minds. Some people might misuse them so let’s get rid of them has never really been a republican stance.

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    Mute Tricia G
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    Oct 16th 2020, 1:07 PM

    There were a lot of voters that never thought Donald Trump could beat Hillary Clinton and they got a real shock when he won the election. Those people came out in 2018 for the mid-terms and they’re going to vote, come hell or highwater, in this Presidential Campaign.

    Trump scrapped in the last time. There has never been a US electorate more eager to vote. A high turnout bodes badly not just for Trump but for many Republican’s like Lindsey Graham. He never believed for a minute his race would be so close.

    Never say never, Trump could still pull out a miracle but there is a very motivated electorate trying to prevent it.

    85
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    Mute Robert O’H
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    Oct 16th 2020, 1:46 PM

    @Tricia G: I’ve always thought that the potential of a democrat victory has been undermined. They won a landslide in the 2018. There’s definitely some type of silent majority.

    21
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    Mute The Guy is Here
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    Oct 16th 2020, 2:30 PM

    @Tricia G: trump could still win, but I wouldn’t be surprised at a blue Tsunami. The dems will win a few extra senate seats that they had not anticipated to win.

    9
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    Mute Leo The Liar
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    Oct 16th 2020, 1:12 PM

    It’s going to be a Trump win.
    Creepy Joe has dementia and with all the new stories about his Corrupt and depraved son Hunter being silenced by big tech companies the Democrats can’t hide it anymore.
    People are fed up with the Democrats lies.

    118
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    Mute Stephen Brady
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    Oct 16th 2020, 1:16 PM

    @Leo The Liar: more worrying than Hunters behaviour is his dad’s. Remember Clinton was impeached for lying about his affair not having the affair. Biden has already lied about his knowledge of Hunters business dealings. Could this alone be enough? Who knows? There is a lot more to come on this.

    78
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    Mute Munster1
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    Oct 16th 2020, 1:40 PM

    @Leo The Liar: Trump wont win. The virus will win. Trump has made a bags of it and whoever is in the opposition was going to win.

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    Mute Tricia G
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    Oct 16th 2020, 1:53 PM

    @Leo The Liar: I guess all those people that are so fed up with the Dems stayed home in 2018 during the midterms.

    And don’t answer Polling questions that show the Dems having a large upswing.

    And the literally millions of people that have voted already in the US as democrats…….

    I’m seeing a flaw in your logic.

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    Mute Graham Manning
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    Oct 16th 2020, 2:33 PM

    @Leo The Liar: living up to your name there kid.

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    Mute Robert O’H
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    Oct 16th 2020, 4:05 PM

    @Leo The Liar: “Creepy Joe.” Surprised that you aren’t a bot.

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    Mute Teddy Bear
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    Oct 16th 2020, 5:42 PM

    @Leo The Liar: you clearly don’t have a clue mate. It’s all over bar the shouting.

    5
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    Mute Cian Nolan
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    Oct 16th 2020, 1:49 PM

    A lot of the states don’t actually start counting the postal ballots until the polls on election day are closed themselves. This will probably lead to Trump declaring “victory” on the night and claim “massive fraud” when the postal vote puts Biden back in the lead.

    25
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    Mute Sam Greene
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    Oct 16th 2020, 2:22 PM

    Are Trump and Biden the best America has to offer for leadership ?
    Really? The USA is in real trouble.

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    Mute Batster
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    Oct 16th 2020, 1:43 PM

    They are not voting for Biden as he is so uninspiring, they are voting for anyone but Trump.

    26
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    Mute Teddy Bear
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    Oct 16th 2020, 5:43 PM

    @Batster: he’s not exactly Obama but its the change of administration that’s required. Bidens Town Hall was excellent last night

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    Mute Tadhg O'shaughnessy
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    Oct 16th 2020, 4:22 PM

    Trump 4 more years

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    Mute Tom Mullally
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    Oct 16th 2020, 1:23 PM

    In Florida a Democratic lady said that they are being hurt as the Republicans are calling them socialists and Cubans who live there remember that they lost everything to socialists in Cuba.

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    Mute KilkennyProud
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    Oct 16th 2020, 1:27 PM

    @Tom Mullally: If all the Republicans have got is name calling then even they know they are going to lose.

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    Mute WreckDefier
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    Oct 16th 2020, 7:24 PM

    If Biden does win, and its a big if, it won’t be on merit

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    Mute Da_Dell
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    Oct 16th 2020, 6:22 PM

    At this stage I hope Trump does lose and then maybe the Irish Media will concentrate on our own inept and self serving power hungry politicians, especially #LeoTheLeak.

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