Lisbon No side seeks equality on broadcasting

August 19, 2009 by Infowars Ireland

www.irishtimes.com

A GROUP campaigning for a No vote in the October 2nd referendum on the Lisbon Treaty has expressed concern over guidelines issued to broadcasters that remove any requirement for them to give equal airtime to the Yes and No sides in the debate.

Vote No to Lisbon, formerly the Campaign Against the EU Constitution, opened its campaign in Dublin yesterday.

Speaking at the press conference, Socialist Party MEP Joe Higgins said there were just six weeks and three days to go in the campaign and that a lot of time was needed to clarify the issues.

He said nothing had changed in the Lisbon Treaty since the referendum in June last year, but a “fresh debate” was needed.

Mr Higgins said the treaty was a “profoundly undemocratic” document that enshrined “as the norm the running of essential public services for profit, including health and education”.

In its campaign statement, the group said the electorate was being “threatened, cajoled and lied to” in relation to the treaty.

It claimed the guarantees secured by the Government in relation to issues such as abortion and neutrality did not alter the treaty in any way, and that the electorate was being asked to vote on exactly the same document it rejected in the June 2008 referendum.

Mr Higgins said he was also “very concerned” at how the debate would be conducted in the media.

He said guidelines issued to broadcasters by the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI) indicating they did not have to allocate 50:50 airtime to the Yes and No sides were “extremely sinister”. Read full article…