In the wake of the Dublin Cork NFL Final the Southern media carried numerous articles critical of the fact that 'only' 31,000 attended the match in Croke Park. Yesterday despite the fact that it was given live RTE TV coverage (including world wide streaming) the Rugby Union league final attracted a crowd of around a thousand (I'm being generous) and yet RTE's Aertel and Web reports of the rugby tell us it was played 'in front of a good-sized Aviva Stadium crowd.' So a 31,000 crowd gets negative RTE comment but a 1,000 crowd gets positive RTE comment. Talk about viewing rugby union through rose tinted (RTE) glasses. That kind of Southern media bias poses a real threat to the image of our games and it's not even that subtle any more.

mediaman (Antrim) - Posts: 355 - 10/05/2015 18:11:45    1722120

Its the internet lads......all opinions,newspaper articles etc are only a click away so it does matter if ye never pickup a paper.

seanie_boy (Tyrone) - Posts: 4235 - 10/05/2015 18:58:41    1722142

There are other nuances also concerning Ulster posters and the rest of the country,It seems by and large that most people outside Ulster always want to see the Dubs get beat and thats not the case with most in the north.I have no grievance against the Dubs at all,even after 95 final! lol
I think it was my county man Brend who sads on another thread that the Dubs on here were most objective commentators on here when commenting on the U-2 final and I saw that to be true also.The Dubs are well used to being castigated so know the craic.The whole bite scandal they dealt with was one example.I do think its a very northern thing to wish your enemy well once your own team has exited the championship.I always wish the other Ulster counties well and have cheered on and wished Derry,Donegal,Armagh and Down the best of luck when they were going for their title shots.

seanie_boy (Tyrone) - Posts: 4235 - 10/05/2015 19:08:28    1722151

All media is bias. Depends on where the author is from or where the paper is published. The paper formerly known as the Cork examiner has a fair Cork bias, the evening herald is the most dublin bias piece of propaganda you'll ever read. It's just poor journalism not anti north south East or west.

tirawleybaron (Mayo) - Posts: 1316 - 10/05/2015 19:32:13    1722179

On the RTE Six News Sports this evening the item on the football championship was introduced with a caption showing a soccer ball. Time they took our games more seriously. Can't imagine it happening the other way round.

mediaman (Antrim) - Posts: 355 - 10/05/2015 20:19:45    1722214

mhunicean_abu- it is not many years ago when there were no Ulster championships matches shown on RTE. I would say one of the main reason for showing the matches now is that it is the only province where there is real competition.

browncows (Meath) - Posts: 2342 - 10/05/2015 21:13:47    1722252

browncows
County: Meath
Posts: 581

1722252 mhunicean_abu- it is not many years ago when there were no Ulster championships matches shown on RTE. I would say one of the main reason for showing the matches now is that it is the only province where there is real competition.

While the combined average strength of the teams in the Ulster Championship may be slightly stronger than other province's, there is still no major difference between the top sides from each Province. The top sides from each are fairly evenly matched, and so nobody can doubt the prestige or quality of being Provincial Champions from any of the 4 provinces.

The two stand out features from Ulster is
1. No one side has dominated for decades, thus most teams believe there equals.
2. Teams can generally expect to have 3 or 4 very tough matches enroute to winning Ulster.

GaryMc82 (Derry) - Posts: 3026 - 11/05/2015 14:22:03    1722457

On a related note. I listened to the Antrim/Westmeath match yesterday on Radio. 9 times out of 10 the commentator identified the Antrim players as, 'The Antrim Lad'. Clearly did no homework what so ever.

Glensboy (Antrim) - Posts: 321 - 11/05/2015 14:37:03    1722468

There is a definite bias on RTE towards Soccer and Rugby. But GAA do not help themselves either. "Pundits" like Joe Brolly, Pat Spillane, Martin Brehony all seem to make their living out of slagging off GAA especially football.

galwayford (Galway) - Posts: 2602 - 12/05/2015 10:05:36    1722649

The southern media are biased towards the south and the northern media are biased towards the north. Seems fairly fair and balanced to me.

KY4SAM2015 (Kerry) - Posts: 898 - 12/05/2015 17:42:51    1722915