According an article published yesterday in the Irish Independent, the publication was informed by Ryanair and its media advisors Edelman, that the reporter they had assigned would not be allowed attend the airline’s annual general meeting (AGM).
According to the article, the Independent was informed that media entry to the AGM and a press conference was “invitation only” and that they would not be allowed in. A reporter from an international title was also being reportedly banned while other media titles were free to send journalists.
After some initial backlash, Ryanair later said it would allow a different journalist to come.
Cormac Bourke, Editor-in-Chief of Mediahuis Ireland which publishes the Irish Independent, said there was no question Ryanair, or anyone else, could dictate the assignment of journalists.
“We would never countenance a situation where a company or indeed a minister, politician or other institution could handpick or veto the journalists who cover it.”
“Business journalists are the eyes and ears of ordinary investors and the wider public and the scrutiny they provide of big business is vital to a healthy economy,” he said.
The Irish Secretary of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) Seamus Dooley has condemned the attempt to control reporting.
“Customers and shareholders expect media organisations to provide coverage and the AGM is the most important event of the year.
“At one level the Irish Independent could take it as a compliment because it suggests the paper is doing its job.
“It is the function of media organisations to ask difficult questions, no matter how uncomfortable those questions might be.
“Any attempt to dictate who covers a story is completely unacceptable. Just as Mr O’Leary would not allow passengers to pick their pilot, Ryanair should respect the professionalism of Mediahuis staff.”
In 2019 the Office of the Press Ombudsman fully investigated a complaint by Ryanair in relation to reporting about the company and found in favour of the Irish Independent.
The meeting took place this morning (September 15) in Swords.
An extract from the Irish Independent’s article states: “In 2018 Ryanair tried to bar all media from its AGM, the first after the airline had endured industrial unrest in late 2017 following a pilot shortage that forced it to cancel thousands of flights. The airline’s management led by Michael O’Leary had taken particular issue with the Irish Independent’s leading, in-depth reporting and exclusives on the industrial strife during the period which had led the airline to recognise trade unions.
“The annual general meeting of shareholders in a public company, like Ryanair, is a rare opportunity for ordinary shareholders to put questions directly in front of powerful executives and directors in an open forum and the proceedings of such meetings are laid down and protected in law.
“Media reporting of statements made at an AGM have special legal status known as qualified privilege, similar but less far reaching than the protections for what is said in court or in the Dáil.”
