Here is RTÉ’s reply to my complaint. It will make more sense if you read part one
Dear Mr Jordan,
I refer to your complaint regarding “Stolen” broadcast on RTÉ One on 26 August 2024.
Your complaint is that this documentary breached the following provisions:
Section 46L (1) (b) namely that the treatment of current affairs, including matters which are either of public controversy or the subject of current public debate, is fair to all interests concerned, and that the matter broadcast or made available is presented in an objective and impartial manner and without any expression of the broadcaster’s or provider’s own views.
Related provisions of the Code of Fairness, Objectivity and Impartiality in News and Current Affairs
And Principles 5 (Respect for Persons and Groups in Society) and 6(Protection of the Public Interest) from the Code of Programme Standards.
You reference various the RTÉ Journalism & Content Guidelines: for the purposes of the statutory complaints process, it is the Act and regulatory codes which come are relevant. However, the provisions in the RTÉ guidelines are consistent with those in the Act and codes.
RTÉ Response
RTÉ will first deal with the complaint concerning the provisions relating to news and current affairs.
STOLEN is a feature documentary personally authored by the director and co-producer, Margo Harkin and, while the issue of mother and baby institutions may appear in the news for many reasons, this film does not constitute part of RTÉ’s current affairs delivery.
The broadcasting regulator, Coimisiún na Meán provides a Guidance Note in respect of “authored programmes” as per below:
“Authored programmes can be seen as being somewhat similar to an opinion piece in a newspaper. They are currently most easily identified as regular insert pieces in current affairs programmes and often cover a wider variety of topics from a regular contributor. However, presenters of the authored programmes or inserts are not permitted to pursue a persistent point of view against a particular group or person which is not justified by the context or the public interest.”
The primary intention was to provide a voice for the survivors of mother and baby institutions and to allow them space to relate their personal experiences, and that is the core of the documentary: the personal stories of survivors.
Therefore, it is RTÉ’s view that the provisions of Section 46L (1) (b) and those of the related Code of Fairness, Objectivity and Impartiality in News and Current Affairs were fully complied with, as set out below.
This programme was fair to all interests and the Catholic Church and religious were afforded an opportunity to contribute and make their views known.
Principles 5 (Respect for Persons and Groups in Society) and 6(Protection of the Public Interest) from the Code of Programme Standards.
Your complaint rests primarily on your personal opinions which disagree with the opinions of those expressed in the film.
You state the programme is an example of self-loathing on the part of the producers and commentators. RTÉ is satisfied that there is no evidence or basis for this.
In the introduction to the film, the presenter states explicitly she loves this country, its people and its cultural life but she questions how and why sections of women and children suffered under decades of Irish governance.
Allegation of No Attempt to Provide a Balanced Narrative
RTÉ puts on record that the production team sought the views of the Catholic Church on the history and reporting of mother and baby institutions – and offered a ‘right to reply’ in response to the experiences of the interviewees in the film.
Several Church sources were sought and contacted, and significant work was undertaken to trace Sister Paul who is referred to in the film, and who features in an historic interview filmed by Radharc. Her order responded, in writing, that she had died. The Head of AMRI, a representative for the missions, was also contacted but was unable to arrange for a spokesperson to participate.
However, it was suggested that the programme could use their statement expressing sorrow after the publication of the Commission of Inquiry Report in January 2021.
Archbishop Eamon Martin, as the Archbishop had also issued an apology and was offered an opportunity to participate. The programme was referred to an interview he did with Mark Carruthers on The View on BBCNI – after the report was issued in January 2021 – as that was his definitive response.
Allegation that Marasmus is not Hunger
You reference the interview with journalist Alison O’Reilly where she refers to some of the children who died at St. Mary’s Mother and Baby Home at Tuam as suffering from marasmus which she describes as hunger. The cause of child death in 18 cases is clearly listed in the Galway Register of Deaths as marasmus.
The following Thesaurus link https://www.thesaurus.com/browse/marasmus offers the following ‘strong’ matches as synonyms for marasmus: anorexia. Atrophy, attenuation, boniness, consumption, malnutrition, skinniness, starvation, tabes, thinness, undernourishment, wasting and withering.
Miriam Webster https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/marasmusdefines marasmus as ‘a condition of chronic undernourishment occurring especially in children and usually caused by a diet deficient in calories and proteins’.
In addition there are many easily available sources for a definition or explanation of marasmus. The Oxford Dictionary of Public Health defines marasmus as follows: … Severe malnutrition that occurs after a period of prolonged hunger and starvation, usually with both protein and calorie shortage and deficiency of vitamins and essential minerals. It occurs in famine, in the advanced stage of certain diseases associated with malabsorption, and in some cases of child neglect. …
The internationally renowned Cleveland Clinic defines marasmus as follows: ‘Marasmus is a severe form of malnutrition — specifically, protein-energy undernutrition. It results from an overall lack of calories. Marasmus is a deficiency of all macronutrients: carbohydrates, fats, and protein. If you have marasmus, you lack the fuel necessary to maintain normal body functions. People with marasmus are visibly depleted, severely underweight and emaciated. Children may be stunted in size and development. Prolonged marasmus leads to starvation.’
Allegation that Marasmus was not Confined to the Mother and Baby institutions as it was Recorded in Many Hospitals
The programme does not dispute that marasmus was registered as a Cause of Death in hospitals in the past. Hospital was the end point for many sick and ailing children and marasmus, where it was recorded as the primary or a secondary cause of death in the periods discussed, would have been already advanced beyond recovery. The primary point is that the deaths of children, in the care of mother and baby institutions, were significantly higher than the national average, running, on occasion, at 5 times the national average and higher in some instances.
Allegation that the programme alleged Religious Orders Murdered Babies.
No such allegation is made in the film.
The programme dealt with the harm done historically by some religious orders and individuals. There was no breach of Principles 5 and 6 or of any of the statutory and regulatory codes.
If any member of the public is not satisfied with RTÉ’s response to a complaint made under RTÉ’s Code of Practice for Complaints Handling, they are entitled to refer the complaint to be considered by the media regulator, Coimisiún na Meán. Referrals to Coimisiún na Meán should be made within 14 days of receipt of the reply from RTÉ via email at usersupport@cnam.ie.
Information on the statutory and regulatory standards that apply to broadcast and audiovisual on demand content and on the complaints procedure can be found on the website – www.cnam.ie – or by contacting (01) 963 7755.
Kind regards,
