RTÉ should have admitted it made a right hash of drugs ‘documentary’

THERE’S probably just one good thing that RTÉ can take from the controversy over the low editorial standards exposed in its now infamous High Society TV ‘documentary’ that purported to expose illegal narcotic consumption among the so-called elite of Irish society, a minister included.

It is that people are sufficiently interested to care about their relationship with RTÉ and to be angry when the necessary trust between the station and the public is broken. It derives partly from the fact that every TV owner has to fund the station to the tune of €158 each year, even if they do not want any of its output. If RTÉ is going to spend their money, it had better provide some value for the outlay.

But more importantly, there is a belief that, as the largest broadcaster and with the largest income from a variety of sources, RTÉ must fulfil its mandate to serve the public interest. Presenting fiction as fact — and High Society was dubbed a factual programme — does not meet the necessary public interest criteria.