Sunday Independent Article

daveirl

This post has been deleted.

aidan_dunne

Well that's only to be expected from the Independent Group of newspapers. After all, their owner, Sir A.J. O' Reilly, also has a big stake in a little telecoms company called Eircom, doesn't he? :rolleyes:

I wonder if there are any laws against this kind of thing?

vampyre

Yes there are Aidan but they don't apply to AJF. In Britain the monoploies commision would have to deal with him but they would probably just be bought off. I complained when he was negotiating to buy Eircom that it was an unfair advantage over the competition to have access to the biggest printed media in ireland. I was told no, strict safe guards blahblahblah. Well there was that ludicrous use the net supplement a few months ago, this all colour article and a palpable general bias towards eircom. Esat can't afford such things as sponsoring a supplement. if they could I wonder would it be priced at the same rates eircom pay and would there as there is every saturday ( Eddie lennons or whoever doing the value for money column) be mistakes in reporting Esat's tariffs that lead you to believe the prices are much higher than they are. This is not a one off, it happens every time and also to O2 prices. I cannot tell you how sick I am of this country being effectively the dominion of Dr. AJF O'Reilly.

gandalf

Lads to be honest I think your getting carried away with the conspiricy theories here.

I've read the piece, it is an extremely lazy piece of journalism (probably ghost written). I am writing a letter into the Indo pointing out its one sided nature and I suggest that you guys do the same.

Gandalf.

vinnyfitz

Gandalf I agree with you.
One might imagine Eircom are promoting the service by installing it in the homes of selected journalists I presume for free.
The journos in return are supposed to write reviews like any motoring correspondent or whatever.
This was certainly lazy journalism - you don't need dsl to download material from the RTE site for example.

The tactic of lettrs to the editor and to the journalist in question is the right one.

vampyre

It is not exactly without foundation that the indo are craven to AJF. There was the breathless fawning account of AJF's performance at parc de princes when he never actually played there coupled with the fact i am friendly with indo and herald hacks who tell it like it is. But believe the genial owner bit if you will.

gandalf

Well vampyre if you really believe that then I suggest that you complain to the competition authority as it is something that falls into their area.

http://www.tca.ie/

Let us know how you get on.

Gandalf.

Shinji

I'm not convinced that O'Reilly's Eircom interest is what's being pursued here - just crappy journalism, like everything that is ever written by mainstream journalists about tech issues.

That being said, Gandalf, the catalogue of evidence for the various Independent Newspapers papers actively altering their agendas to suit Tony's business interests of the moment is as long as your arm. See Private Eye "passim ad nauseum" for what I'm talking about; once is circumstance, twice is coincidence, fifty times a year and you start to think there might be more to it....

jmcc

Originally posted by Shinji
I'm not convinced that O'Reilly's Eircom interest is what's being pursued here - just crappy journalism, like everything that is ever written by mainstream journalists about tech issues.

Give 'em a press release and they will run it with a by-line. Basically the technology section in the Indo (if that is what is being discussed) is generally cluefree press release stuff or the latest geewhizz freebie write-up. As far as I remember it is assembled by that NewsConnected crowd. Hell it probably even likes IEDR.

Regards...jmcc

timod

Originally posted by gandalf
Well vampyre if you really believe that then I suggest that you complain to the competition authority as it is something that falls into their area.

FWIW:

http://www.clubi.ie/competition/compframesite/news/EircomSued.htm

Telecom Eireann Sued by Competition Authority for Abuse of Monopoly

from June '99

vampyre

sigh. Not particularly in this case, but it is a fact if you read the paper on a daily basis his companies get an easy ride. That feature on Sunday would normally have had "Advertising Feature" on the head of the page. I have complained btw. Look how sky are trashed but chorus are adored. Yet customer dissatisfction with chorus is massive. Before AJF bought into Eircom at the time of the share collapse they were savaged daily by the indo. But since govt. ministers tell me I should be in a state of ecstasy to have their service I am obviously living in an alternate reality.