Newstalk presenter Chris Donohue has had a complaint against him partially upheld by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland as a result of him saying that he was pro-marriage equality.
The complaint was made by a listener regarding a piece on the 27th June about the Dublin Gay Pride Parade in which Donohue stated that he would vote in favour of a referendum on same-sex marriage, which Ray McIntyre, the complainant, argued was biased.
McIntyre's complaint to BAI stated that no one was there representing the other side of the argument: "the presenters were completely sympathetic to all of the panel’s arguments and did not challenge them on a single point". Newstalk said the piece was not a debate but rather a human-interest story, but did acknowledge that the presenter had expressed his voting preference.
According to RTÉ, the complaint was partially upheld against the presenter, saying that it "constitutes the statement of a partisan position by a news and current affairs presenter on a matter of current public debate, contrary to Rule 4.22 of the BAI Code of Fairness, Objectivity and Impartiality in News and Current Affairs".
Both the Irish Council for Civil Liberties and Marriage Equality have criticised the judgement and what they see as the BAI's use of complaints to "chill" public discussions about equality.
Via RTÉ
