THE BROADCASTING Complaints Commission has upheld two objections from viewers of RTÉ's spoof news series, This Is Nightlive, which featured and was written by John Ryan.
The commission said a sketch involving a reference to a child dying of leukaemia was “in poor taste” and “went beyond acceptable standards”.
A complaint about another sketch featuring a terminally-ill young boy was also upheld. “The broadcaster did not exercise due care and the manner and content of the sketch were not appropriate or justifiable,” the commission said.
In response to both complaints, RTÉ said there was “no intention whatsoever to make humour at the expense of the sick child”.
The commission rejected a number of complaints relating to programmes about Libertas founder Declan Ganley and the Lisbon Treaty.
One complaint from a "TV licence fee payer" about an RTÉ Prime Timeprogramme on Mr Ganley claimed the documentary was "a litany of errors and smears".
However, the commission ruled that the broadcast was “fair to all interests concerned”. A spokesman for Libertas said yesterday the organisation had no comment to make on the matter.
The commission also rejected a complaint that Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin "was campaigning on the Lisbon Treaty . . . unopposed" on RTÉ's News at One.
