It's funny actually to read complaints about GAA teams not getting enough publicity from the Irish media, particularly RTE. Apart from what has already been stated about amateur players not being available to generate media interest in the way that professionals are, there is the rabid fear that many counties have about their teams or players actually GETTING publicity. I see this all the time from fans in my own county, Galway. If Galway are about to play an important game in the following few weeks, the attitude of the vast majority of Galway fans will be "I hope the players keep their heads down/ keep under the radar", " I don't want to hear any Galway players talking to the media", "look at the opposition -- they're keeping very quiet. We are getting too much exposure in the media " etc etc. When a player then actually does give an interview to the media they are often then lambasted for "loving the media attention/ more interested in publicity than in concentrating on their own game/ getting above themselves". This kind of nonsense has often been peddled at Galway players by fans in the run up to All Ireland semi finals and finals and I'm sure other counties are much the same. County managers too often enforce media bans. So some people complain when teams are not getting enough publicity and accuse the media of having a bias against the GAA and then others complain when their favourite team is receiving a lot of positive media attention. There's the makings of a comedy sketch in there somewhere!

PoolSturgeon (Galway) - Posts: 2011 - 11/03/2016 09:03:22    1833521

RTEwatch is Mediaman's Twitter handle. More whinging about this 'issue' but doing nothing about it. Must be a Fianna Fáil man or woman!!!

GreenandRed (Mayo) - Posts:2172 - 10/03/2016 21:46:42

Highlighting an issue is doing something about it.

It's generally seen as whinging when you disagree mind.

MesAmis (Dublin) - Posts: 13795 - 11/03/2016 12:24:07    1833604

No it isn't.

GreenandRed (Mayo) - Posts: 7927 - 11/03/2016 13:42:27    1833647

No it isn't.

GreenandRed (Mayo) - Posts:2173 - 11/03/2016 13:42:27

Yes it is.

Whinging about him doing it isn't going to stop him though ;)

MesAmis (Dublin) - Posts: 13795 - 11/03/2016 13:55:34    1833653

I don't disagree with him, probably is too much coverage for rugby over GAA. I disagree that he keeps repeating the same message for more than 18 months but doesn't have the inclination to try and rectify the 'issue'. This from someone who shows no knowledge of any sport other than the amount of media coverage it is/isn't getting. Just a troll trying to highlight his dislike of English sports, maybe even someone already on Hoganstand before these threads started.

GreenandRed (Mayo) - Posts: 7927 - 11/03/2016 14:20:42    1833662

I don't disagree with him, probably is too much coverage for rugby over GAA. I disagree that he keeps repeating the same message for more than 18 months but doesn't have the inclination to try and rectify the 'issue'. This from someone who shows no knowledge of any sport other than the amount of media coverage it is/isn't getting. Just a troll trying to highlight his dislike of English sports, maybe even someone already on Hoganstand before these threads started.
GreenandRed (Mayo) - Posts:2174 - 11/03/2016 14:20:42By what definition is there too much coverage for rugby over GAA? What exactly in your opinion is the correct coverage for each organisation?

ormondbannerman (Clare) - Posts: 13473 - 11/03/2016 15:19:29    1833686

"By what definition is there too much coverage for rugby over GAA? What exactly in your opinion is the correct coverage for each organisation?"

Here we go again! Whatever definitions were put forward (match attendances etc) you didn't agree with them....until you tried to use the same definitions to further your argument. By then, the realisation of talking to a wall became apparent.

keeper7 (Longford) - Posts: 4088 - 11/03/2016 15:56:55    1833697

To all those who say u20 matches aren't well attended and supported, turn to rte 2. The place is heaving with people. Definitely a crowd well in the hundreds if not about a thousand. I've seen more in Finn park when harps are on a bad run. And before anyone says it, yes they're have been plenty of bad runs over the last few years!!!! Can't wait to see the excuses rolled out as to why such a high profile game is so poorly attended. Those that are in attendance deserve a free pass into tomorrow's game.

Bain (Donegal) - Posts: 470 - 11/03/2016 20:05:41    1833753

"Those competing teams in rugby are professional. The RTE staff who work during the day can make videos/promo videos/take pics when all the GAA players are at work or in college. Its much harder to get coverage of GAA sides when theyre amateur players who also have jobs/college"

Oh yeah? Seó Spóirt on TG4 manages to do an hour long show every Friday night which is mostly on Gaelic Games & has plenty of interviews & features with these supposedly inaccessible amateurs.

keeper7 (Longford) - Posts: 4088 - 11/03/2016 20:44:49    1833761

"By what definition is there too much coverage for rugby over GAA? What exactly in your opinion is the correct coverage for each organisation?"

Here we go again! Whatever definitions were put forward (match attendances etc) you didn't agree with them....until you tried to use the same definitions to further your argument. By then, the realisation of talking to a wall became apparent.

keeper7 (Longford) - Posts:2711 - 11/03/2016 15:56:55 1833697

It's pretty impossible to come up with a definitive answer to that question.

I have to say measuring coverage of a game on the 6.01 news is a pretty poor benchmark for how much coverage a sport gets.

With RTE losing rights to more and more sport they will seek to over compensate in their other coverage of these sports to make up some of the deficit to their competitors.

Something else being ignored by Mediaman are the budgetary constraints on RTE in their coverage of sports. RTE will spend a huge amount of money covering a championship football match. It's a heck of a lot cheaper to send down one reporter and a small crew to meet up with a member of the Ireland rugby team for a report than it is to produce a championship GAA show.


In a year RTE will be responsible for providing the video for the 2 or 3 home Irish Rugby games a year and then will use the other broadcasters video for covering the other matches.

They only have to do this for about 5 international soccer matches a year.

They do this for over 30 GAA matches.

I think we really need to get a bit of perspective here.

From a GAA club player/fan who's barely touched a rugby ball in his life.

Whammo86 (Antrim) - Posts: 4515 - 12/03/2016 10:34:26    1833807

There was actually a countdown to this year's Six Nations....in the top right hand corner of the screen on RTE1 & RTE2 "6 Days to RBS Six Nations" for the entire preceding week. Will they do that for the GAA championship? Highly doubtful. The RTE 6.0 News is an interesting example as there seems to be an attempt to create a perception that rugby & soccer are more important than Gaelic Games through the prominence & frequency of features.

keeper7 (Longford) - Posts: 4088 - 12/03/2016 14:50:06    1833870

Rte news done an nice little feature the 6 days out from the club finals heading up to cushendall in anticipation of their final on st Patrick's day.

Great to see rte keeping up their undoubted commitment to Gaa in this country. Bravo.

tearintom (Wexford) - Posts: 1486 - 13/03/2016 12:30:31    1834027

Indeed, great to see. Let's have plenty more of that, eh?

keeper7 (Longford) - Posts: 4088 - 13/03/2016 13:04:58    1834042

Although our junior hurlers had a very good win in their opening league game last Friday night in what would have been seen as an upset against our more illustrious opponents.

I seen no mention of it on rte which was very disappointing and is no doubt further evidence of a bias against my club and its hurlers. A pint I will be raising on Twitter. It's clear evidence of a conspiracy against junior hurling as a whole!

tearintom (Wexford) - Posts: 1486 - 13/03/2016 14:03:08    1834058

"A pint I will be raising on Twitter"

Keep raising those pints, tearintom. Of course you're absolutely right...we should be thanking our lucky stars that RTE would do a short feature on a club who've reached an All-Ireland senior final. Clear evidence of a lack of bias right there.

keeper7 (Longford) - Posts: 4088 - 13/03/2016 16:17:42    1834115

This evening's RTE 6.01 News and Sport carried 5 items on sport. 1. Rugby Union 2. Soccer 3. Horse Racing 4. Hurling and 5. Gymnastics. In that order. The running order from previews 2-5 certainly makes sense. The soccer matches are being played tonight. Cheltenham takes place tomorrow. The Club Hurling Final is on Thursday and the gymnastics story related to the Summer Olympics. All in perfectly logical order except for Item 1. Despite the fact that Ireland's next dead-rubber match isn't until Saturday Rugby Union was again given priority over all other sports. And this in spite of the fact that the 6 Nations is already over and this weekend's match is really no more than a minor sideshow. But RTE still deems it more important than Cheltenham or the All-Ireland Club Finals days earlier.

mediaman (Antrim) - Posts: 355 - 14/03/2016 20:06:24    1834876

Another monster crowd at the u20's tonight. They'll have to play these in landsdowne road to satisfy demand in future. Who decides that this is the what people want to see on a Friday evening. Better off show a LOI match. At least there would be a crowd at them. Bias if ever evidence was needed.

Bain (Donegal) - Posts: 470 - 18/03/2016 20:55:40    1835870

Look even I will admit that this thread can become repetitive at times but I have to ask, am I the only one who spotted brawls at 3 different times in tonight's dead rubber. Nathan white who is English by birth? Threw at least two blatant punches at the Scottish scrum half after Toners try. Another brawl broke out at the other end sandwiched between blatant cheating from Ireland in an effort to stop the Scots getting a try. If this was Tyrone or Armagh it would appear on the news. The pundits choose not to mention it after the game. Will RTE news mention it?

sceptical (Cavan) - Posts: 544 - 19/03/2016 20:03:04    1836002

Look even I will admit that this thread can become repetitive at times but I have to ask, am I the only one who spotted brawls at 3 different times in tonight's dead rubber. Nathan white who is English by birth? Threw at least two blatant punches at the Scottish scrum half after Toners try. Another brawl broke out at the other end sandwiched between blatant cheating from Ireland in an effort to stop the Scots getting a try. If this was Tyrone or Armagh it would appear on the news. The pundits choose not to mention it after the game. Will RTE news mention it?
sceptical (Cavan) - Posts:385 - 19/03/2016 20:03:04Yes there was plenty of incidents. Nathan White isn't English by birth. Its New Zealand and what relevance does that have? What was the blatant cheating by Ireland? The pundits chose not to talk about it as there was nothing to talk about.
Why be so petty and dismissive talking about "dead rubber", "brawls" when they weren't brawls. scrum half from Scotland got what was coming to him as his actions in game were very antagonistic.

ormondbannerman (Clare) - Posts: 13473 - 19/03/2016 20:21:17    1836009

Got what was coming to him as he was very antagonistic? Your words not mine. He was punched! I personally think that a bit of handbags in any sport is not the end of the world BUT if a gaa team do it its thuggery so according to that logic what happened in that dead rubber game was thuggery! Two questions for you. 1- what do you call a game where neither team can win a six team tournament or finish bottom? 2-what do you mean by he got what was coming to him? You advocate targeting a player over his antics on field?

sceptical (Cavan) - Posts: 544 - 19/03/2016 20:36:54    1836018