Election 2016 – The battle for hearts and minds . . . and votes

THE MEDIA is revving up in a broad front against Sinn Féin as the Dáil general election is only weeks away. With radio and TV slavishly allowing the atrocious Sunday Independent to set the agenda each week, the Establishment media is once again gnashing its teeth and shrieking hysterically at the thought of the state being governed by someone other than their ideological soulmates in Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael.

Previously, Sinn Féin policies were subjected to forensic scrutiny by story-hunting reporters eager to trip the party up on any slip or lack of clarity. That experience has had the effect of making Sinn Féin's policy department the best in Leinster House in its Budget and legislation preparation.

“Economic illiteracy” and “fairytale economics” were the catch-all phrases used by the Government parties and Fianna Fáil to avoid any real discussion of a route diverging from their failed right-wing politics of privatisation and austerity. Those phrases don't appear as much anymore; the new aim is to perpetuate the lie that a Left-led Government would be bad for jobs.

Now the media try their best to either ignore Sinn Féin as much as possible or, lately, act like they are an unknown quantity and best avoided– thus feeding into Fine Gael's mantra that the best way to maintain “stability” is by 'not rocking the boat'.

One of the favoured tactics of those media personalities hostile to Sinn Féin is to feign ignorance as to their policies. A fine example of this came last week from the Political Editor of the Irish Examiner, Daniel McConnell.

McConnell, who cut his teeth as Political Correspondent for the republican-baiting Sunday Independent spending an inordinate amount of time fixating on Sinn Féin's past – appeared on the Moncrieff Show on Newstalk Radio. Asked about the various party positions on the Universal Social Charge, McConnell said:

“Fianna Fáil have basically said they want to cut USC. Labour want to cut USC.” Then he added glibly: “Sinn Féin – I don't really know what they want to do but nobody really does in terms of the economy.”*

Really, Daniel? You're the Political Editor of a national newspaper and you don't know the position of one of the four main parties on a major issue?

When challenged on his comments and asked whether he had even bothered reading Sinn Féin's policy proposals, he responded: “[I] have done and made my judgement on it. But I know the Movement frowns on people thinking for themselves.” And there McConnell's inherently hostile attitude to Sinn Féin shines through.

The childish dig at republicans is nothing new. Journalists in Leinster House are amazed that, unlike other parties, Sinn Féin elected representatives and staff don't waltz out of internal meetings and blab about everything that was just discussed to whoever will listen in the hope of securing a few column inches for self-promotion or to do down colleagues

Interestingly, McConnell's “judgement” here is that Sinn Féin's position on the USC isn't worth reporting.

As the election nears, more and more of these so-called “experts” will appear on the airwaves and our TV screens – ostensibly to give a neutral analysis – but in reality pushing their own political opinion and withholding other facts from citizens.

And that is why republicans, over the coming weeks need to challenge the misinformation campaign – be that on the doorsteps, in their communities, in the media and online.

Beir bua!

• For media information, Sinn Féin would instead ease the tax burden on working families by taking 277,000 workers out of the USC net where anyone earning up to €19,572 would be entirely exempt from the measure. Sinn Féin would also scrap the regressive property and water taxes.