I didnāt offer a solution, I offered an opinion.
Itās so refreshing the way TASD just cuts through the bullshit and refuses to swim with the tide. Straight shooters like him are all too rare these days
The latest update http://www.broadsheet.ie/2011/12/02/the-irish-times-and-kate-fitzgerald/
It is now six days since the Irish Timesā article about Kate Fitzgerald, who took her own life in August.
To recap. The piece did not mention her employer The Communications Clinic. It did however refer to Kateās original article (which was available on the Irish Times website), written anonymously, where she made a number of allegations against the company.
On Monday, after we posted that Kate had worked for The Communications Clinic (alongside a July employment tribunal hearing report about a employee alleging bullying and intimidation at the company), Kateās article which had been on the paperās website since September 9 was edited without any explanation
The paragraphs that contained the claims against her employer were removed. In fact so clumsy was the editing it appeared that she had no issues with The Communications Clinic. Kateās parents were not told in advance that this was happening.
Following a warning that we were facing a ālibel landmineā (see previous post, link below) and after taking our own legal advice, we took our posts down.
On Tuesday we received an email from The Irish Times online editor Hugh Linehan which asked:[indent]
āWas wondering why you took down that post. Was pressure applied?ā[/indent]
We replied that we had received a late night warning and added:[indent]
āThis was to be expected but [we] noticed you guys had pulled extracts from Kateās original piece (referring to her employer) presumably on legal advice (?) and became anxious as our posts were based on that piece. [we] spoke with a barrister friend at about 1am who advised us to remove the two posts about Kate.ā[/indent]
We said that we had tried to get contact details for Peter Murtagh, the author of Saturdayās article, but it had been too late. Mr Linehan sent us Peter Murtaghās phone number and email.
The conversation we had with Mr Murtagh was off the record but on Wednesday morning when, following a conversation with Kateās parents, we published our article about the editing of Kateās article we received an email from Peter Murtagh asking to contact him āurgentlyā about ārefs to us [Irish Times] that are incorrectā.
He told us that the The Irish Times did not edit Kateās article because of a threat of legal action from The Communications Clinic (as was our understanding based on our conversation) but on legal advice from the paperās own lawyer(s).
When we asked Mr Murtagh if the Irish Times had acted solely on its own volition he said that The Communications Clinic had been in touch āwith the paperā and had āregistered its unhappinessā about the allegations contained in Kateās original article.
Much about this story doesnāt make sense but this sounded especially odd as the paper regularly offers a right of reply to people who feel they have been misrepresented.
Also, to have edited an article that had been the authorās last words ā described by her mother as Kateās āsuicide noteā ā on the basis of someoneās āunhappinessā as opposed to a substantial legal threat simply beggared belief.
However, we amended our post to reflect the clarification from Mr Murtagh.
What we know is that Kate wrote an anonymous article about attitudes by employers towards people with depression. That she was dead before that article was published in The Irish Times. We know that Peter Murtagh was contacted by Kateās father Tom Fitzgerald, who confirmed his daughter was the author.
And that her article alleged wrongdoing at The Communications Clinic, a company that a month earlier had faced accusations of bullying and intimidation by another young worker.
And then. Nothing.
If this had happened in a local branch of Tesco you might expect a newspaper such as the Irish Times, would investigate.
It is very possible that Mr Murtagh, in his article on Saturday ā three monthās after Kateās death ā included her claims about the difficulties at her workplace in his article and it was removed on legal advice during the subbing process.
But if there were concerns why did Kateās article, in its original form with the allegations, remain on the paperās website site until Monday before it was, in her motherās words, ābutcheredā?
We know from talking with Kateās parents that Mr Murtagh has acted in their interest and has helped to raise the issues surrounding depression and mental illness that she attempted to put into the public domain. We do not know Mr Murtagh. But he is known as a journalist of the highest integrity and in a tough, often unpleasant industry, is extremely popular and respected.
On Wednesday night we were told and it has since been confirmed to us that Peter Murtagh has had a professional relationship going back more than 25 years with Terry Prone, owner of The Communications Clinic. We were surprised that Mr Murtagh had not told us about this. Particularly as we had spoken candidly with him of our fears (real or imagined) and those of Kateās mother about the influence and reach of The Communications Cinic within political and media circles in Ireland and that we had mentioned Terry Prone by name.
But we also realise that many journalists on most national newspapers know Ms Prone. It would be perhaps more unusual if Mr Murtagh did not know Terry Prone. We also understand that the Communications Clinic was unaware that Saturdayās article about Kate was about to appear.
But it is a question of transparency or, as media training consultants call it, the āopticsā. Mr Murtagh wrote in some detail about Kateās working life. The article did not mention her time at the Communications Clinic. Peter Murtagh is a friend of one of the owners of that company. Perhaps it should have been left to another journalist to cover that important area of Kateās life? We asked Mr Murtagh yesterday morning on the record about Ms Prone but he said he did not wish to speak to us anymore.
The Irish Times is a newspaper with a record of demanding extremely high standards from others. Certainly standards this website regularly fails to reach.
This was Kate Kitzgeraldās version of Kate Fitzgeraldās life and it was altered and revised by the paper that she went to for help.
Why?
Great to see some people in the media going against the grain in a proper, non sensational manner.
Hopefully these online blogs/newsites will create a big shake up in attitude in the mainstream print media.
Its a ballsy play by them and definitely to be commended for it. Doubt itāll get much into the mainstream though, its a closed shop out there. The internet is for weirdos.
Print media is fucked. They are attacking the competition in the worst possible way.
Theyāre in the clear now. The IT has apologised to them. And on the day of Kate Fitzgeraldās memorial service too. Can a newspaper be nominated for Cunt of the Year?
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2011/1203/1224308526623.html
Irish Times are coming out of this like right cunts.
kate fitzgerald was in no position to retract her allegations due to her suicide. i notice the times say there was no legal representations, i wonder what other pressure could have been applied to them given the savage family connections? anyway, the fact that this story has gotten such legs and is a pr disaster for the savages seems to indicate that they gave the same quality advice that they gave gay mitchell
Kate Fitzgeraldās parent are on Saturday Night Show on RTE 1 tonight.
Didnt see the Saturday Night Show, but broadsheet arenāt willing to let this go just yet anyway
http://www.broadsheet.ie/2011/12/07/kate-fitzgerald-asking-the-right-questions/
Kate Fitzgerald: Asking The Right Questions
10:35 am December 7, 2011 [/url][url=āhttp://www.broadsheet.ie/author/admin/ā]Admin
http://files.broadsheet.ie/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/kate-fitzgerald2.jpgWe apologise for the sporadic posting on Broadsheet.ie yesterday afternoon and this morning.
We are currently working on aspects of the Kate Fitzgerald story that are quite complicated. We hope to share some of that work with you in the next few hours.
Below is a post we had written up on Monday night in an effort to explain the unusual apology by the Irish Times to The Communications Clinic, but held off publishing until we had discussed it with Kateās parents, which we did in person at their home in Cork yesterday. The story has moved on significantly since we wrote this and further details have emerged which we will try to bring to you.
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The Irish Times apology to The Communications Clinic on Saturday referred to āsignificant assertionsā within the original piece that were ānot factualā. The Irish Times editor Kevin OāSullivan on Monday wrote: āAfter publication of the piece on Kateās life some further details of her final months emerged. This led to an Irish Times decision to edit the initial piece and to publish a clarification in Saturdayās editions.ā
We have discovered one inconsistency between assertions made in the Irish Times article of November 26 and Kateās anonymous article of September 9.
In the anonymous article of September 9 it is stated: āSome months ago I [Kate] attempted to take my own life. When I failed I was encouraged to check into a hospital ā they said they no longer could take care of me.ā The November 29 article states that Kate checked into the hospital on July 18 and this date was confirmed by Kateās parents to Brendan OāConnor on The Saturday Night Show on RTE One.
This would make the date of Kateās hospital admission only a month before she submitted her article for publicationa and not the āsome monthsā stated in her article. No effort is made to explain this inconsistency in the November 26 article.
A discrepancy also appreared to arise when Kateās parents spoke on the Saturday Night Show, with Brendan OāConnor. They said their daughter checked herself into St Patrickās Hospital for four days, from July 18 to 22. The anonymous article on September 9 states: āWhen I [Kate] returned from my two-week stint in mental health limbo, where doctors and nurses admonished me for my apparent need for need for control, my definition of myself through the value of my trade, I expected to be accepted back as the hard-working employee I have always been.ā Kate may have possibly been referring to a different admission to another psychiatric hospital but the paragraphs that follow this would suggest this was the most recent time she sought medical help.
She wrote: āWhen I could not get a firm answer as to when they would let me leave the hospital, I checked myself out, against medical advice, left in a taxi at midnight with my clothes packed in plastic bags. All because, I told myself and later my director, I wanted to go back to work. More than the urge not to live at all, I didnāt want to live without my work.ā
Also the following would indicate, she was only in hospital for psychiatric help one time. She said: āMine was not a work-related illness. At least not before I entered the hospital. However, when I was released and when I returned to my things became different.ā
Kates mother and father address the recent goings on via Broadsheet. This isnt going away
2:14 pm December 16, 2011 [/url][url=āhttp://www.broadsheet.ie/author/admin/ā]Admin
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http://files.broadsheet.ie/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Picture-150.jpeg
By Tom And Sally Ann Fitzgerald
Our daughter, 25 year-old Kate Fitzgerald, had the last conversation of her life just before 7 PM on August 22, 2011.
She spoke to Peter Murtagh, then Opinion Editor of the Irish Times. Peter promised that her article on depression, suicide and workplace attitudes to mental health would be published in the Irish Times.
Only hours later, Kate took her own life, fully believing that her last message to the world was in safe hands. Sadly, she was wrong.
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Kate was a great fan of the Irish Times. She was very proud that the Irish Times had published three of her articles. Her last published article was to be anonymous, at least for a while. To Kate, the Irish Times was the pinnacle of Irish journalism.
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True to his word, Peter Murtagh published Kateās last words on September 9, not realising that Kate was dead.
When we spoke to Peter on September 10/11, he was deeply moved by the story of Kate and wrote an excellent article that was published in the Irish Times on Saturday November 26.
The story shook the nation, becoming the most read story on Irish Times online for an unprecedented three days in a row.
On Monday, it was picked up by this website and within two days, became the #1 story on both Facebook and Twitter. This website had connected the dots and identified Kateās employer.
The Irish Times, Kateās iconic newspaper, ran for the hills. First, they butchered the article by removing key parts. Next, they blacked out the whole article, including the accompanying suicide hotline numbers.
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As a final indignity Irish Times editor, Kevin OāSullivan published an apology for publishing Kateās last words, saying that āsignificant assertions within the original piece were not factualā. We made it known that we stand behind her last words.
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Sally and I met with Kevin OāSullivan, editor, and Denis Staunton, deputy editor on Tuesday, December 13 at the Irish Times office in Dublin. Peter Murtaugh observed for part of the meeting. We demanded to know what elements of Kateās article were ānot factualā. The editor apologised for any distress he might have caused us.
Despite repeated requests, he could not identify a single statement from the article that was ānot factualā. He said they cut the article for ālegal reasonsā.
We asked for a retraction for calling Kate a liar and gave them two days to do so. Both editors stated that saying Kateās words were ānot factualā was not equivalent to calling her a liar.
Like many readers, we fail to see that distinction. Two days later, we received a call from Kevin OāSullivan, again apologizing for any offence caused, but declining to give us either a retraction or an apology, for ālegal reasonsā.
Mr. OāSullivan also presumptuously stated that Irish Times readers had no difficulty with his retraction.
On one level, Sally and I understand this. Sally is a voice teacher in Bantry who runs concerts for charity, and I run a small technical writing and Irish language services company in rural West Cork.
We do not advise Irelandās Taoiseach and the Fine Gael party. We do not chair Irelandās national broadcasting authority. We do not offer PR advice to the princes of the Catholic Church. We do not have daily access to talk shows and newspapers. In short, we are not influential.
When the Irish Times found itself between a rock and a hard place, it chose to go against us and our dead daughter.
We spoke to Kate almost every day for the last weeks of her life. What she told us in those conversations validates her final article.
We are happy that her final words have touched so many lives and promoted an awareness of mental health. We have heard from many people how it changed their lives, and several people were inspired to seek help for themselves because of it.
We are deeply hurt by the insensitivity of the Irish Times and its inability to grasp how its position has compounded our grief, and attempted to stilt the national debate on depression and suicide.
We are saddened that the Irish āpaper of recordā has chosen to delete Kateās last words from the public record. We consider it a tragedy that the Irish Times has let down one its greatest fans, an aspiring young writer, and erased her final message to the world.
We ask that the Irish people, and especially, the readers of the Irish Times, make their feelings known on this matter.
We have lost Kate forever, please help us ensure that her final message lives on.
Tom and Sally Ann Fitzgerald December 16, 2011
I have serious time for these people, Irish heroās.
+1
+2
Given the nature of the Irish Times initial good intentions, they fairly stamped all over them subsequently. Youād miss āMadam Editorā.
A big hats off to Kateās parents and Broadsheet.ie for keeping the pressure on the Irish Times.
I tend not to get too bothered about the media and cosy relationships but this is one that has really gotten my attention. Pretty disgusted by how easily the Irish Times rolled over for the Saveage/Prones.
But didnāt Broadsheet expose holes in Kateās original story a couple of weeks ago??