RTÉ may sue BAI over Holocaust remark rap
‘Only option would be the courts’
RTÉ is considering possible legal action after it was rapped by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland this week because journalist Kevin Myers was described as a ‘Holocaust denier’ on Morning Ireland last July.
The BAI upheld a complaint about the remark, and its Compliance Committee found the comment misrepresented Mr Myers’ views.
However, an RTÉ source said it was unhappy with the decision and is considering what action to take. ‘There is no appeals process against a BAI decision so the only option would be legal action in the courts,’ the source added.
In its official response to the upholding of the complaint, the national broadcaster said: ‘RTÉ is surprised by and disappointed with this finding and are considering our response.’
In the BAI’s judgment, it said: ‘The complainant states that one of the presenters on this programme described Mr Kevin Myers as a “Holocaust denier”.
‘The complainant states that this was an absurd claim based on a newspaper article written by Mr Myers over eight years ago under a misleading headline that he didn’t write. The complainant states that Mr Myers took issue with the word “Holocaust” on account of its Greek origin, meaning “destroy by fire”.
‘He stated that there was no single Holocaust because it took many forms; Jews were shot in pits, beaten to death, frozen and starved to death, burnt alive in their homes and synagogues and gassed. The complainant maintains that it is quite clear from the article that Mr Myers believes there was a Nazi genocide of the Jews – he typically and pedantically takes issue with the word.
‘The complainant adds that Mr Myers has written many times about the Holocaust and the suffering of the Jews and that it is ridiculous and offensive to label him as “Holocaust denier”.’
The BAI upheld the complaint, in a majority decision last week, and said: ‘While noting that Mr Myers had described himself as a “Holocaust denier” in a typically provocative newspaper article that he had written, it was evident from the article, as a whole, that his description did not in fact amount to a statement denying the genocide of the Jewish people at the hands of the Nazi regime.
‘Rather, the article was a comment on how language is used and the criminalisation of individuals or groups who engage in Holocaust denial. In this context, the comments by the presenter were considered to lack fairness.’
The BAI’s report, published last week, outlined RTÉ’s defence to the complaint. It said: ‘The broadcaster states that these are Mr Myers’ own words. He may have then qualified his headline statements by then writing that there certainly was genocide waged against the Jews by the Nazis, in what he describes as “one of the most satanic operations in world history.” The broadcaster maintains that if he is being referred to around the world as a Holocaust denier, it is because he described himself as such.’