Sir, – Noel Whelan asserts that because most of those involved in RTÉ news and current affairs read it, The Irish Times exerts a disproportionate influence on their agenda (Opinion, August 4th). The greatest influence on news and current affairs output is the evolving events of the day. It could be argued that RTÉ, in turn, exerts a considerable influence on newspapers. The late Vinny Doyle, the long-serving editor of the Irish Independent, told me he never decided on the content of his front page until he had watched the main evening news bulletin on RTÉ in order to give a fresh look to the paper. – Yours, etc,