RTÉ HEAD OF Sport Declan McBennett has rejected Joe Brolly’s claim that his contract at the station was not renewed because of comments he made at half-time in the drawn All-Ireland final.
Brolly, who has since taken on a role as a pundit with eir Sport for the league, also criticised the national broadcaster for becoming banal and driven by statistics in a series of interviews since his high-profile departure last year.
Speaking on the Irish Examiner podcast, McBennett said: “The decision with regard to Joe’s contract was taken before the first drawn game.
“(It wasn’t down to) one thing in isolation but a combination of examples.
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“One of the statements Joe made was that the manipulation of public opinion is great fun when you pit X against Y and throw in a few grenades. That’s where I have the divergence with regard to pundits.
“I don’t believe in the manipulation of public opinion. I believe in standards that are informed, that are based in some sort of fact, not statistical data that has to be churned out but based in fact.”
Delving into the reasons for Brolly’s departure, he stated: “There are two reasons why people leave RTÉ. Number one is the passage of time means that things roll on. The other is if you have your contract cancelled and if your contract is not renewed you have to ask why was it not renewed.”
He explained there are four reasons why a pundit would not have their contract renewed:
“Not doing the hard yards in terms of preparation, if key people on my team don’t want to work with individuals anymore, if you’re damaging the credibility more than you’re enhancing it or if your interaction with other people engaged with RTÉ is not at the level we want it.
“Anybody who has a contract cancelled, if they want to understand why they have a contract cancelled, they can probably focus on on those four areas.”
Reluctant to get into a public debate with the Derry All-Ireland winner, McBennett remarked: ”The best piece of advice I got came from somebody who said even the winner gets dirty if you let yourself get dragged into a mud-fight.
“There were a number of things said by people who didn’t have their contracts renewed that were very direct and I have no intention of going there in the sense that I think the public in general are bored with it and I don’t believe getting into a tit-for-tat is of any basis.”
McBennett also denied that RTÉ pundits were being told what to say by producers.
“Nobody in RTÉ has ever been told what they can say and can’t say,” he said. “And nobody has ever been told to say something in particular.”
Listen to the full podcast below:
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'The decision on Joe Brolly’s contract was taken before the first drawn game' - RTÉ Head of Sport
RTÉ HEAD OF Sport Declan McBennett has rejected Joe Brolly’s claim that his contract at the station was not renewed because of comments he made at half-time in the drawn All-Ireland final.
Brolly, who has since taken on a role as a pundit with eir Sport for the league, also criticised the national broadcaster for becoming banal and driven by statistics in a series of interviews since his high-profile departure last year.
Speaking on the Irish Examiner podcast, McBennett said: “The decision with regard to Joe’s contract was taken before the first drawn game.
“(It wasn’t down to) one thing in isolation but a combination of examples.
“One of the statements Joe made was that the manipulation of public opinion is great fun when you pit X against Y and throw in a few grenades. That’s where I have the divergence with regard to pundits.
“I don’t believe in the manipulation of public opinion. I believe in standards that are informed, that are based in some sort of fact, not statistical data that has to be churned out but based in fact.”
Delving into the reasons for Brolly’s departure, he stated: “There are two reasons why people leave RTÉ. Number one is the passage of time means that things roll on. The other is if you have your contract cancelled and if your contract is not renewed you have to ask why was it not renewed.”
He explained there are four reasons why a pundit would not have their contract renewed:
“Not doing the hard yards in terms of preparation, if key people on my team don’t want to work with individuals anymore, if you’re damaging the credibility more than you’re enhancing it or if your interaction with other people engaged with RTÉ is not at the level we want it.
“Anybody who has a contract cancelled, if they want to understand why they have a contract cancelled, they can probably focus on on those four areas.”
Reluctant to get into a public debate with the Derry All-Ireland winner, McBennett remarked: ”The best piece of advice I got came from somebody who said even the winner gets dirty if you let yourself get dragged into a mud-fight.
“There were a number of things said by people who didn’t have their contracts renewed that were very direct and I have no intention of going there in the sense that I think the public in general are bored with it and I don’t believe getting into a tit-for-tat is of any basis.”
McBennett also denied that RTÉ pundits were being told what to say by producers.
“Nobody in RTÉ has ever been told what they can say and can’t say,” he said. “And nobody has ever been told to say something in particular.”
Listen to the full podcast below:
Irish Examiner Sport / SoundCloud
- Originally published at 12.26
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