The Gazette 1994

GAZETTE

JULY 1994

N E W S

Soc i e ty Presents Just i ce Med ia Awa r ds

The overall winner of the Justice Media Awards Competition, organised by the Law Society, was RTE, the | broadcaster of the weekly television | series "Murphys' Law" which was made by an independent production company, Consortium Television. The awards which are aimed at rewarding journalism and broadcasting which contributes to the public's understanding of the Irish system of law and justice or any specific legal issue, were presented by the President of the Law Society, Michael V O'Mahony, at a ceremony in the Law Society on 8 July. In all, eleven awards were made in this year's competition. The prize for the overall winner of a trip for two to New Orleans was kindly sponsored by Aer Lingus. Addressing the awards ceremony, the Chairman of the Justice Media Awards Standing Committee, Ken Murphy, Law Society Council Member, explained that two types of award were made by the Society under the rules of the competition. Justice Media Awards were presented for outstanding contributions to the public's understanding of the Irish system of law and justice. Certificates of Merit were presented to entries judged to be noteworthy examples of public service in this regard. He pointed out that the presentation of an award by the Law Society did not depend on and did not necessarily represent an endorsement by the Law Society of the winning entrants' views. Murphys' Law, he said, was the unanimous choice of the Justice Media Awards Standing Committee as the overall winner of the competition. "This series of twenty programmes, produced by Consortium TV and broadcast each week by RTE television from September 1993 to April 1994, was an outstanding example of everything the competition exists to promote." In their citation, the judges of the competition praised

At the Justice Media Awards Ceremony were l-r: Ken Murphy, Chairman, Justice Media Awards Standing Committee; Richard Balls, Sunday Press; Feargal Keane, Sunday Tribune; Kieron Wood, Legal Affairs Correspondent, RTE; Tish Barry, Consortium TV; Robert Gahan, Deputy Director General, RTE; Jacqueline Mahon, Group Corporate Affairs, Aer Lingus; Michael V. O'Mahony, President, Law Society of Ireland; John Masterson, Series Editor, Tuesday File RTE; Kevin Dawson, Reporter, Tuesday File, RTE and Frank Connolly, Sunday Business Post.

sensationalism. Instead, it asked difficult questions of a series of people involved in different ways in the personal injury compensation system, presenting various arguments why the system should or should not be changed in the public interest. While the Law Society would not necessarily agree with the programme's conclusions, it recognises the excellence of the programme making and applauds the choice of topic." The award was accepted by John Masterson, Series Editor of Tuesday File, RTE. The Sunday Tribune for two articles by Feargal Keane entitled The Rocky Road to Divorce and Moving Towards Divorce, published on 30 January and 6 March 1994 respectively. The judges said that "these two articles comprised exceptionally balanced thought-provoking analysis of the legal and human problems faced by Irish policy makers in the area of divorce. They represented a substantial contribution to the public debate on this difficult legal and political issue. The award was accepted by Peter Murtagh, Editor of the Sunday Tribune and the journalist Feargal Keane.

the format of the programme. "A single area of the law was chosen, a legal expert was interviewed and encouraged to explain the principles of law at work in simple terms and then a panel of individuals, typically including both lawyers and non- lawyers, who had a direct involvement with the law in question, held a discussion. The two presenters, Mike Murphy and Cynthia Ní Mhurchú, were excellent as the viewers' representatives asking the simple yet searching questions and maintaining a clear focus on the issues under examination." The award was accepted by Robert Gahan, Deputy Director General, RTE and a presentation was also made to Consortium TV which was accepted by Tish Barry.

In addition Justice Media Awards were presented to:

RTE for a Tuesday File programme entitled The Compo, broadcast on 15 February 1994, which investigated the cultural and legal factors which have produced the Irish system for awarding compensation to personal injury victims. The judges said that

"the programme resisted the temptation to veer towards

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