Broadcaster and political commentator Ivan Yates did not land himself in hot water for saying, controversially, that Fine Gael’s Heather Humphreys should “smear the bejaysus” out of her Independent opponent Catherine Connolly in the presidential election campaign.
It was the revelation that in late September he had given four hours’ media training to the Fianna Fáil candidate Jim Gavin that spelt trouble for him.
His work raised clear questions of a conflict of interest and that he had failed to disclose his work with Gavin during the campaign. He was dropped as co-host of the Path to Power political podcast, co-presented with journalist and broadcaster Matt Cooper, as a consequence.
It later emerged that Yates had given extensive media training to Fianna Fáil TDs over the past few years, bringing an inevitable focus on what that training actually involved.
Was Yates telling Fianna Fáil politicians what to say in debates, or merely telling them how to say what they themselves wanted to say?
[ Where was the broadcast media’s due diligence on Ivan Yates?Opens in new window ]
The debate over that distinction has been ongoing for more than half a century, since an RTÉ presenter Bunny Carr set up Carr Communications in 1973.
In a new broadcasting environment in which politici
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