Una Mullally: Spotlight now on chasm between pay for ‘the talent’ at RTÉ and everyone else

For decades, people inside and outside RTÉ have wanted the organisation to change in many different ways. Could this be the moment? Could a scandal with multiple moving parts end up instigating the reform, transparency and accountability that so many know is needed?

What is useful about this crisis is that the broad brushstrokes of criticism directed at RTÉ are coming into sharp focus.

Everyone is beginning to understand the difference between those at the upper echelons and the ordinary workers within the organisation. For the people in RTÉ struggling to pay their rent on low or average salaries; for those trying to scrape money together for a mortgage; for those doing the sums to see if they can afford childcare, a holiday, a wedding, the weekly shop, car repairs, their children’s education costs or a sudden visit to the dentist; for every independent production company told their budget has been cut; for every Fair City actor trying to carve out a financially viable career; for every stomach-dropping moment anyone in that organisation has when they’re gathered together by their bosses to hear the latest dire financial news; for every studio technician or camera person or reporter struggling to get new equipment signed off on so they can do their job, the scandal over secret payments to Ryan Tubridy - which has prised open Pandora’s Montrose Box - is more than a breach of trust. It’s a betrayal.

People who work in and for RTÉ are also hugely aware of the massive distance between the financial compensation for “the talent” – big name presenters who get that umbrella term – and everyone else. As the highly-regarded journalist Sally Hayden pointed out on social media, freelancers get paid €120 when they do a report for RTÉ Radio 1’s World Report, “which involves reporting internationally, script writing, recording, and editing”. Hayden, a contributor to The Irish Times reporting on Africa and author of the award-winning book My Fourth Time, We Drowned, said she was “not dissing World Report at all here, I love the show. Just thought the comparison might be useful.” And she’s right. It is useful. Hayden loosely estimated that the hidden payments made to Tubridy “could have funded all of the weekly RTÉ World Report freelancers’ fees for around 19 years”.

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Freelancers and those working at a junior level in RTÉ graft, grind, hustle and put in long hours for years to gradually ascend within the organisation, although it is widely spoken about within media how difficult that is to do even when the work is being put in. While the rewards of being a behind-the-scenes worker – the engine of RTÉ's output – may not be bountiful financially if you don’t have an agent pushing for your salary, the prospect of having a relatively secure career in the national broadcaster is also related to RTÉ's reputation. Working for RTÉ should be something to be proud of. That pride has been shattered by what is now being revealed. The programme teams and journalists within RTÉ who are doggedly pursuing this story deserve praise and solidarity.

As this all plays out, another thorn in RTÉ's side will be those who work in the independent sector, producing a huge amount of programming – particularly across television – for RTÉ. Talk to anyone in the independent sector who deals with RTÉ and they will have a long list of anecdotes about stressful and tough interactions with the broadcaster. It is understandable that those who work in the independent sector may be reluctant to publicly criticise RTÉ, or detail any of the difficulties or shortcomings they face. Ireland has a vibrant media market, but when it comes to making television, for many RTÉ is the main game in town. Biting the hand that feeds you wouldn’t be a great strategy. But RTÉ has now opened the door to these tales being told. Many people in the independent sector have a breadth of insight regarding how RTÉ functions, and may now be slightly more comfortable speaking these stories out loud than they were before this multifaceted scandal started rolling.

[ 'Huge anger' among RTÉ staff over secret Tubridy payments, say NUJ officials ]

The approach by Minister for Arts Catherine Martin to focus on culture as well as finances and governance is good. The term “root and branch” will be welcomed by those inside and outside the organisation who could only dream of RTÉ getting shaken up. If there’s one electric thread of energy in this country right now, moving through multiple spheres in society, it is a demand for accountability and competence. This country has been rebuilding itself since the crash - socially, emotionally, politically, economically.

Perhaps there was an inevitability that RTÉ – as such a huge part of our media landscape – would be forced to ask itself tough questions as part of this drive for change.

What could not have been predicted was the catalyst to instigate that. Right now, RTÉ is in crisis. That crisis will continue, and there will be many twists and turns. But on the other side of it perhaps there really is something better. The idea that an entity as flawed and as important as RTÉ might experience a root and branch reform of governance and culture is tantalising. The best outcome now is that the short-term pain will result in long-term gain – for the workers, the broader media and, of course, the public.

[ We know RTÉ can produce great programming but do its executives know what they are doing?  ]