NewSuffrage

SPECTACULAR · @NewSuffrage

17th Sep 2017 from TwitLonger

What really happened George Hook at Newstalk -from politics.ie #marian


So it's pretty clear if you look for the signs which of my colleagues are the ones knifing George. Take a look for example at the tweets favourited by Richie McCormack from "Off the Ball". Those guys have long hated George because their rugby friends hate George over the head injury stuff.

twitter.com/RichieMcCormack/likes

They've also all got fairly radically left wing politics, like a lot of the newsroom does. Management is totally aware that in the country, people think this whole thing is a charade. The thing is, what we're seeing is an attempted palace coup by Chris Donoghue, who wants the slot, and the OTB crowd, who want Hook gone for reasons of long standing personal animus. It's all quite horrible.

There are some of us who are not total head the balls who really like George and hope he'll stay. He's been taking all this very badly, clearly never meant to phrase it the way he did, and is in terrible form.

The whole thing is disgusting. An attempt to tear down a really good person. Just venting here because twitter is a cess pit and if I speak in public with my real name, I'm done for.
Hah! Thanks for making me laugh.

In here, the sense is that George has the cautious backing of management. They don't want to lose him, and above all, don't want to be seen to give into it. Some of the stuff that is going on is disgraceful.

Advertisers pulling ads? You guys want to know what's really happening? These guys are getting 20 calls a day from journalists, and no calls at all from the public. Friend of mine in the advertising department was telling me about it. It's female journalists from the Journal, Today FM, and the Times, ringing them up all day asking them if they'll pull their ads. They're hearing nothing from the public at all, only support for George.

This thing with Dil? (Who, by the way, hardly anyone in here knows?) Organised. The people who want George gone are drip drip dripping to keep it alive and to try to panic management, creating a siege mentality. One of the ringleaders in here was saying this morning that two big things would happen today that would "make the position untenable". Lo and behold, Dil takes a week's holidays. I presume the Tesco thing is another one (they haven't stopped spending a cent with us, but they have asked to put High Noon ads on hold for a week or two till this all dies down).

Basically, it's vengeance for O'Donoghue and McInerney. They go drinking with their little clique, whereas Ivan, George, and Pat, keep to themselves. The idea is that the three guys hog all the good slots - but the rest of us know we'd be fecked without them.
I just want to emphasise one thing for the benefit of you all so that you know what a damn charade this whole thing is:

Dil is taking a week's leave. Essentially a day off. She has every intention of coming back, she told management. You guys think she's going to give up the opportunity to preach at her 12,000 listeners every week because of this? The purpose is purely PR - to ramp up pressure on George and make people who support him feel like they're in a minority.

I and others will be writing to management to complain formally about her behaviour, which is a blatant attempt to have a colleague sacked for her own personal gain, so she can preen and pose for the irish times.

Donoghue has always wanted the lunchtime slot, by the way. It was what he really wanted when George's retirement from the right hook caused the reshuffle. He wanted a show from 12 to 2.30, but they were never taking that time away from Sean. So he got the Drive slot, listeners tuned out, and now he's desperate for another chance.
You miss my point. They've explicitly told us that they're not going to reduce spending on advertising by a cent. Same number of ads, just slightly more during PK, Moncrieff, and Ivan, and none at lunch for a week or two.

As to the other questions, I don't think I'm being at all inconsistent. It's mainly the younger presenters who hate him, for the various reasons I've mentioned. Most of it comes across as professional jealousy. Remember - George Hook, Ivan, and Moncrieff don't have journalism degrees, and that rankles with some folks who think it makes them undeserving of their prominence. Sean gets away with it because he's Sean. George and Ivan don't because people think they're not sensitive enough. Or, in layman's terms, don't have the right politics.
There's no cover-up. It's as simple as there are a gang of people who think that Ivan, George, and to a lesser extent, PK, are dinosaurs, and think that their own careers are being impeded. These people also hang out with the Journal.ie crowd and think Fintan O'Toole is the ideal of what a journalist should be. So they're waging an internal campaign to take George out that is so far being resisted by management.

I can't tell you much more than that without compromising my identity, so I'll leave it there. Felt good to get it off my chest, though. Work is so upsetting at the moment. It's like watching the whole world go mad, and wondering if you're the one who's actually gone mad, do you know what I mean? As for the mention of Christmas parties, I don't think I'll be going this year. It's totally depressing watching what ambition turns people into. I'd like to say that if they sack George, I'll quit, but I need the money like everyone else, and you don't get a job in journalism in Ireland if you don't hold the right opinions. Thanks for letting me vent, P.ie.
It doesn't really matter much to me whether you believe it or not. It's the truth. I'm not alone, by the way, there are plenty of people in here who agree with me, but I'm not going to out them. Because that's what it is - it would be like outing them.
There's a much bigger conversation to be had about where journalism is at at the moment. Salaries are in the toilet, so most of the people in media are in their 20s - the researchers, sound people, etc. These people hold vast power - a researcher/producer basically decides at breakfast what you'll be listening to at lunch. The fact that Pat and George and Ivan overrule their producers so much is part of the resentment, I think.
Anyway, these kids are all on 20k a year, if they're lucky. They all come from that DCU journalism course that intelligent young people take because they want to change the world. That course is a cess pit of left wing indoctrination, these days. And so every new recruit we get basically waltzes in here with a microphone in one hand and a repeal the eigth badge in the other, and tries to get to work changing Ireland.
All the older folks are moving on, to PR or business or whatever. Jon Healy just left to set up a PR firm in Cork, for example. And what you're left with are a bunch of 20-somethings producing your news. Am I bitter about it? Maybe a bit. Mostly I'm sad about it. You can believe me if you want, but that's the issue. The media is fast becoming an echo chamber, and it's because we're losing anyone with a distinctive voice. To the commenter earlier who said I was excusing George - I'm not. What he said was clunky, wrong, and he was right to apologise. I can tell you he himself is in bits over it. But that's not why they want him gone. They want him gone because they don't understand him, don't understand how anyone could hold the opinions he holds in 2017, as someone said today.The fact that they can't understand those opinions is killing journalism, and they can't see it happening.
That made me laugh out loud. It's not just us, though. It's everyone - even the tabloids are going that way. The Sun, for crying out loud, is going that way. The issue is, as I said before, the DCU course and how it's basically a madrassa.
People bash RTE, but it's the one place that you'll get more balanced views than most Irish media, because most of the people working there are on 50k a year and have been there since 1972. That brings its own conservatism, even if that conservatism is of the "ah, sure isn't SIPTU great" variety.
I haven't experienced that, and I'm not sure I agree. I think if we gave Joe Higgins his own show, and he pullin a hundred thousand ears, talking daily about the importance of seizing the means of production, Tesco would still try and sell them half price sausages.
I could be wrong, though. And certainly, we are subject to other influences. I mean, open secret here, you won't be surprised, but the words moriarty tribunal are verboten around these parts. Anyway, I'm off. Good chatting. I am amused that the views on whether I am a troll or not tend to break down on pro/anti George lines. If nothing else, he's got the country talking

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