Cathaoirleach praises 'fair and balanced' print media in Mayo

A councillor has praised the role the local print media in Mayo plays in reporting meetings of Mayo County Council, municipal districts and other committees.

At the final meeting of this term of the Claremorris-Swinford Municipal District, cathaoirleach Sinn Féin Cllr Gerry Murray closed the meeting by paying tribute to the Western People, Connaught Telegraph and  Mayo News for the role they play in local democracy.

“As social media gets a bigger grip on the country, the print media gets all the more vitally important,” he said.

Describing the practice as ‘Donald Trump syndrome’, Cllr Murray criticised local campaign or lobbying groups who fail to make their online followers aware of council decisions that go against them or their cause.

“The difference between social media pages and the print media is if there is a meeting of the council or the municipal district and decisions that don’t go in favour of their campaign are made, there will be no report of it on their Facebook page and it will be ignored."

“They think then their campaign is still going on and democracy hasn’t taken place. The best word I can use to describe it is the Donald Trump syndrome.”

“The media can always be relied upon to print a fair and accurate account,” he added.

Leading the meeting in a round of applause for the work of local print media, Cllr Murray thanked them for their diligent work.

“I want to thank the print media for their accurate reporting of the happenings of this municipal district. They do a very fair and balanced job.”