The Broadcasting Authority of Ireland has rejected a compaint submitted regarding an interview on Ocean FM’s North West Today show in relation to Covid regulations.
The show had interviewed GP, Dr Anne McCloskey, at a protest event in Sligo Town in January – the event had been organised by the United Against Segregation group, to oppose what they call medical coercion.
Dr McCloskey stood as a candidate in the last General Election in Sligo-Leitrim, and has been suspended by the UK’s Medical Council, pending an investigation into alleged disinformation on Covid vaccines.
A listener submitted a complaint to the BAI under its Code of Programme Standards, claiming the broadcast was harmful and irresponsible.
But the BAI’s Executive Complaints Forum rejected it, ruling that it was editorially legitimate for Ocean FM to cover the event and to interview speakers at it.
It said the broadcast clearly provided relevant facts in relation to Dr McCloskey’s suspended licence and the show’s presenter robustly challenged her views.
The Forum said it believed the manner in which the interview was conducted would not have caused harm to the audience, or adversely affected the public interest, and had therefore not breached the Code of Programme Standards.
