Viewpoint: The relentless rise of the Whinge
Of course I'm being a little hard on us by saying 'a nation' of whingers. I know, as we all do, that most people take life as it comes and get on with it without public complaint. In many cases despite having serious difficulties in that same life. We mostly don't hear from these.
And isn't that the thing? Whingers get heard. These days they can get heard a lot more than they used to be. Communication which enables that has evolved in so many ways.
Let me be clear, I'm not writing here about people who have genuine grievances, and hardships, and injustices, which should be listened to and sorted. Sometimes getting a space on the airwaves and social media is, sadly, the only way that justified pressure can be brought to bear on their plight. And I'm right on message with them.
But the amplification effect of today's varied media means that genuine issues can be drowned out and sidelined by relatively unimportant ones. An incessant series of waves crashing from the 24-hour TV news cycles and social media can mean that real problems get lost quickly on the beach. Or get mashed into the sand by the sheer weight of the whinge.
Once upon a time the whinge was confined to gossips across the fence or at the counter of the pub. God knows in my own behind the bar days I heard enough of it, mostly related to politics, football, or golf. Although it is now clear that in all those conversations, none of us were hearing or talking about the hidden abuses and atrocities which, rightly, have finally been dragged kicking and screaming into the national conscience over recent years and decades.
I'm also very much aware of, and appreciate, the groundbreaking work of the Gay Byrne Show, Women Today, and Liveline in their early iterations. They lifted the stones in our social backyards and shone light on whatever was underneath. Equally the campaigns by national and local newspapers and magazines doing similar work. It isn't always easy to lift those stones, firmly stomped into their place by vested interests. Such journalism remains just as important as ever. Just because we see more than we used to be able to do doesn't mean that things don't get hidden. It is necessary to keep opening doors, sometimes with more force than ought to be necessary, where locks and hinges are stiff from non-use.
But there's a level of media competition now which brings the whingers into stronger focus. I can remember the competition between the daily papers in the Republic — the Independent, the Press, the Times, the Examiner — when they were the leading sources of breaking stories. In my days of presenting It Says In The Papers, I would regularly get a last-minute delivery of one of them which had held its breaking lead back until its rivals had already published their paper for that day.
That competition has moved to broadcast media. The pressure from hourly news on a myriad of local and national radio stations, current affairs programmes on radio and TV competing with rival stations and even within their own broadcasters, means the push and pull to have a fresh angle, a new story, or an extra target of interest, has become ferocious. Reporters and presenters are more demanding and persistent, often to the point of rudeness. They resort to asking the same questions over and over even when they have been answered, because it is not the answer they want. We are in the era of the 'celebrity presenter-journalist', where making a name for interviewee-baiting has become, sadly, a norm. The media whinge that 'you must tell me what I want to hear'.
It's just a fact that bad news sells news. However much we would be better off hearing positive stories, there's something macabre about human nature that draws us to the tragedy, the scandal, the catastrophe. Maybe we want to have the sense of relief that it's not ourselves in the worse position. Whatever, there have been many examples of attempts to establish 'good news' media, and virtually all of them were commercial failures. So newspaper editors will generally be looking downside. Briefs to reporters will usually tilt towards 'what's wrong?' rather than the more positive. 'Who's to blame?' will likely take precedence over 'What can we do?' when something goes wrong.
The whinge will always get a hearing before the explanation and the plan. Sure, it may sometimes take a whinge before there is something revealed to explain and fix, but even when much is going as right as it can be, given the circumstances, individuals or groups within society who are complaining about the situation will be the ones more likely to be highlighted.
People learned that very quickly. As programmes like Liveline developed, for instance, they became the first point for complaint rather than the last resort after negotiation. Someone with a relatively small grievance these days will threaten a 'call to Joe' from very early on in any discussion on redress. Late night radio talk shows pick up many discussion points in a similar way. While very valid topics are covered, the sheer need to fill airtime and keep listeners' attention means there's a good chance that anyone with a passable whinge will make it to air.
Social media came along and became a Whinge Wild West. One without the moderating influence of defamation law. At least up to recently — while the platforms enjoy a strange immunity from prosecution compared to traditional publishers, there have been repercussions in the courts for some users in the last while. Still, Facebook, Twitter, and predecessors such as BeBo et al, gave free and unfettered space for people to spew complaints — as well as untruths, slanders and libels, and to engage in trolling of others to sometimes criminal degree. The whinge went viral as much as the others.
It has to be said that the whinge starts from the top. We now have a political system where the first order of business from opposition is to condemn, simply as a matter of policy, any activity by Government. Whether legislation, action on a current matter, or simply day to day business, it is 'wrong', 'too little', 'too late', a 'cover up', or similar. Reaction from the Government side, by the nature of the process often on the back foot, can be just as badly playground muck-throwing in style. This percolates down through the political system — even some councillors have become much more personal in their attacks on each other. Though it should be said there is still a level of collegiality there when working for their local constituents.
Then there are the lobbyists. That much-expanded cohort of professional and highly-paid representatives of employers, individual business sectors, unions, and even some charities, who use the whinge to seek special treatment for their groups. The 'entitlement brigade' who, even in a lives-threatening pandemic, relentlessly argue their space as special. And those they represent as put-upon.
All of that suggests that it is no wonder the whinge has become a defining part of us today. Which, of course, is my own personal whinge.
So let's be kind instead. If we do it one day at a time it could become a habit.
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