A major row has broken out in RTÉ, where journalists have accused senior bosses of manufacturing fake news.
The journalists are ‘livid’ over the station’s use of actors to play journalists in a promotional video filmed in the national broadcaster’s newsroom.
The Irish Daily Mail has also learned that aside from being upstaged by extras, the reporters are also furious that RTÉ went to some lengths to spruce up the newsroom for the cameras.
This included the introduction of new plants, which were removed when filming ended. Staff have long complained about the state of the offices in Donnybrook, with multiple reports that the canteen has become overrun with rodents in recent years, while one disgruntled RTÉ worker told the Mail the newsroom is a ‘f***ing kip’.
The new promotional video for RTÉ’s news and current affairs department is due to be launched this summer, but it has prompted angry exchanges between staff and senior management. Filming took place over the last two weeks, and while it features some well-known RTÉ faces, actors were hired to appear as journalists in the background.
Many staff are angry that the move is an ‘inauthentic’ and ‘dishonest’ representation of the newsroom, when the organisation prides itself on honesty and truth.
‘Everyone is hopping mad,’ one well-placed source said. Concerns are said to have been raised at the ‘highest level’ in the newsroom. One staffer told the Mail: ‘RTÉ management likes to preach to the audience that “the truth matters” but stunts like these are blatantly fake news and undermine us all.’
Another source said: ‘People are absolutely livid, and very annoyed and angry. I know lots of people have gone to management about it. There was a big hoo-ha about it in this morning’s conference. A good swathe of people from across the newsroom aren’t happy and have made that abundantly clear. It’s kind of an insult. Why don’t you actually look at what’s in front of you. What’s wrong with us?
‘They brought in plants and then took them away. Why do you have to make up a newsroom? It is absolutely about trust, it’s about how they view their staff. Are we not worthy of being seen? The plants and the extras are the huge thing for people. It’s an insult,’ they added.
It is understood that senior figures in the newsroom have raised their concerns with senior management about the issue. There is concern about the inauthentic nature of the promotional piece, given that authenticity and truth is at the heart of what the newsroom is trying to achieve.
A spokeswoman for RTÉ confirmed it was planning a new promotion ‘highlighting the work of journalists within RTÉ News and Current Affairs’. She confirmed that ‘some newsroom staff’ have asked questions about the new campaign. It was also confirmed that the promotion was created in-house, but some ‘additional filming crew’ were brought in to help shoot the ad. The video was paid for out of the existing PR budget. RTÉ would not say how much the promotional film had cost.
The spokeswoman said two plants were brought in for the duration of filming to cover electrical sockets. Asked about the use of extras, she said: ‘The ad will feature a number of RTÉ journalists well known to the public. A couple of extras were engaged to feature in the background at the time of filming and shot to be out of focus.
‘Most newsroom staff at the time of filming were engaged in their full-time roles of producing news content for the public,’ she said.
Responding to comments that the staff are ‘livid’ and feel ‘insulted’ by the video, a spokeswoman said: ‘The actual newsroom will feature in the promotion. RTÉ News has on numerous occasions over many years had journalists and correspondents report live from the floor of the newsroom into on-air broadcasts and regularly on social media.’
The Mail also put it to RTÉ that senior management had been made aware of the staff’s unhappiness with the situation. In reply, the spokeswoman would only say: ‘Senior management in the newsroom engage with staff on a daily basis, continually.’
On allegations that the newsroom was a ‘f***ing kip’, the spokeswoman said it planned to spend €50,000 refurbishing its newsroom.
RTÉ has faced a series of rolling crises since it emerged that Ryan Tubridy was paid more than was publicly known in the summer of 2023. It subsequently emerged that the broadcaster was in a major financial crisis that ultimately required a €725million bailout from the Government.
The broadcaster announced a voluntary redundancy programme in March, aiming to lay off around 400 staff over the coming years, with about 100 redundancies this year if funds allow for it.
