Ryanair has been convicted of trying to ‘dictate who covers’ the company’s news after it banned the Irish Independent journalist and at least one international media outlet from attending its annual general meeting.
he Irish Independent was told by Ryanair and its media advisers Edelman on Wednesday that its reporter would not be allowed to attend the airline’s annual general meeting (AGM) due to take place in Swords on Thursday morning.
This newspaper was told the media were entering the shareholders’ meeting and a press conference was “by invitation only” and the senior reporter appointed by the Irish Independent to cover the story would not be allowed in. A reporter from an international title was also blocked while other news titles were free to send reporters, the reporter was told.
Irish secretary of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) Seamus Dooley condemned the attempt to control reporting.
“Customers and shareholders expect media organizations to provide coverage and the AGM is the most important event of the year.
“From a corporate governance perspective, it is not a good idea for a company to seek to exclude selected media and I believe such behavior would not find favor with institutional investors and shareholders. “
There’s nothing to be ashamed of being singled out by airline management, he said.
“On one level the Irish Independent might take this as a compliment as it suggests the paper is doing its job.
“It is the role of media organizations to ask tough questions, however uncomfortable they may be,” he said.
Following its initial decision not to allow the Irish Independent journalist to attend the event, Ryanair later said it would allow another journalist to attend.
Cormac Bourke, editor of Mediahuis Ireland, which publishes the Irish Independent, said there was no doubt that Ryanair, or anyone else, could dictate the assignment of journalists.
“We would never accept a situation where a company or even a minister, politician or other institution could handpick or veto journalists covering it.”
“Business journalists are the eyes and ears of ordinary investors and the general public, and the scrutiny they bring to big business is vital to a healthy economy,” he said.
In 2019 the Office of the Press Ombudsman thoroughly investigated a complaint by Ryanair over reporting on the company and ruled in favor of the Irish Independent, it noted.
NUJ’s Seamus Dooley said: “Any attempt to dictate who covers a story is totally unacceptable. Just as Mr O’Leary would not allow passengers to choose their pilot, Ryanair should respect the professionalism of Mediahuis staff.
The annual general meeting of shareholders of a public company, such as Ryanair, is a rare opportunity for ordinary shareholders to ask questions directly before powerful executives and directors in an open forum and the procedures for such meetings are established and protected by the law.
Media reports of statements made at an AGM have a special legal status known as qualified privilege, similar to but less extensive than the protections for what is said in court or in the Dáil.
In 2018 Ryanair attempted to exclude all media from its annual general meeting, the first after the airline suffered social unrest in late 2017 following a pilot shortage that forced it to cancel thousands of flights. The airline’s management under Michael O’Leary had particularly taken issue with the Irish Independent’s leading in-depth and exclusive reporting on industrial disputes during the period that led to the airline recognizing unions.
An influential UK shareholder advisory firm, PIRC, said at the time that the proposed media ban “further weakens the company’s position in the public eye”.
