A Ballyshannon Town Councillor has accused the media of portraying his town in a bad light to fill time and column inches.
At last nights council meeting the former Mayor of Ballyshannon Fine Gael Councillor Brendan Travers stated that he was very angry and concerned that Ballyshannon is getting tarred with a bad name.
He has taken issue with the coverage of ongoing anti-social behaviour in the Lawne Park area.
Councillor Travers says positive news stories about Ballyshannon are not getting coverage:
The Donegal Democrat was one of the organisations singled out by Councillor Travers for criticism – its Editor in Chief, Michael Daly issued this response:
‘This is an attempt to shoot the messenger because someone doesn’t like the message.
Our coverage of a series of incidents including the alleged threats to a mother and her son at Lawne Park was meticulously accurate – using direct quotes from, among others, a mother who said she was living in fear for her life and the safety of her son.
To do otherwise would have been a very serious failure on our part to tell the story as it is, rather than how some would wish it would be told – or perhaps not told at all.”
“In terms of positive coverage from Ballyshannon we would invite Cllr Travers to view our coverage of a plethora of events from and about Ballyshannon over any given time frame he chooses, the last week, month, or year or the last 92 years if he so wishes.
“To suggest that the Democrat has ignored positive news stories emerging from Ballyshannon is nonsense designed to damage the good name and reputation of our newspapers and nothing more than a sound bite from a councillor who has now succeeded in only one thing — creating more negative news about Lawne Park.”
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
