Cormac Moore, the rather scratchy successor to the much missed and greatly lamented Eamon Phoenix as the historian of the Irish News, has a piece in the paper about BBC Northern Ireland’s bias down the century of its existence. He means institutional bias against nationalism. I can only lamely qualify that by saying not all of it was conscious and it wasn’t challenged half hard enough. There were too many estimable nice nationalists. With hindsight, but not only with hindsight, he fairly records “the perception.. that the Corporation was closely aligned with the Ulster Unionist government”. This was even though BBC NI was accountable not to Stormont but through the Royal Charter to Westminster. It was intended to guarantee the uneasy mix of accountability and independence which prevails today and is now up for renewal. To what extent will its monopolistic origins impact on its future in this world of bewildering, spinning change?
The real issue before the mid to late 1960s was not that BBCNI took orders from the old Stormont but that its tone and content were in broad accord with the prevailing character of unionist dominated public life, reflecting a 65/35 majority. This was the case with every other public institution that wasn’t specifically Catholic, like the police and judiciary. The BBC championed democracy and respected the government as its beneficiary. As many critics pointed out but were ignored, this was a flawed model for divided Northern Ireland. There was also the assumption that the Catholics went their own way with Radio Eireann as they did with education. Yet Protestants and Catholics alike were obliged to pay the same rates and taxes and the licence fee. Diversity and inclusion, which prevail today (and have their critics in culture wars), barely existed. Branding and symbolism was British, proclaimed every night by God Save the Queen at close down. The Union Jack flew aloft at BH. Today there isn’t even a flagpole.
On air the culture was unionist but more nuanced and seldom political. The Twelfth procession was carried live (and poorly) as it passed outside BH. Ulster Band survived every week until the late 1970s but there was no specific slot for ceilidh bands. Notoriously GAA was reported but barely covered. The Schools Cup Final was the sporting highlight around St Patrick’s Day.
Yet the culture was in its old fashioned way more diverse than that implies. Before mass television the BBC as a whole had a middle to high brow cultural mission, devised by the first director John Reith. BBC NI employed drama, classical music and serious features radio producers who fed into the radio networks. They spun off locally with, for example, Joe Tomelty’s highly appreciated soap the McCooeys – imagine that happening today – and David Curry’s Irish Rhythms with the BBC Light Orchestra.
As for opportunities for political bias, they were limited, because by today’s standards there was hardly any news. And such news as there was was in rigid bulletin form. At lunchtime for example in the 1970s and beyond, we had five minutes to include the weather. On TV 6-5 and Scene Around Six were dominated by light features with a news insert until the Troubles squeezed them out.
Until the birth of Radio Ulster in 1975, local radio output was mainly in opt outs from the Home Service and then Radio 4. We shared a wavelength with the North East of England – I remember forecasts for “Cumberland, Westmoreland, Northumberland and Durham”.
By the sixties things were changing, to keep pace with London – or at any rate to reduce the drag. We had a TV chat show and panel debate show. They actually hired a political correspondent in 1966, the celebrated W. D. Flackes.
Meanwhile in a little powerhouse tucked away in Bedford House, the Schools Department were creating a broader culture without borders- especially for younger children but for children of all ages. Programmes about our geography and how it shapes society, language, music, drama and yes – poetry. Written and presented by Seamus Heaney, Michael Longley, Stewart Parker, produced by folk singer David Hammond, Tony McAuley and Douglas Carson, all artists in their own right. Their TV programne list from the 70s features regularly on BBC 2 and BBC 4 today .A lot of of gold there. The energy generated created first the Billy Plays and grew into the celebrated Drama department, just as News spawned a Current Affairs Centre of Excellence. Both units also produce material not about Northern Ireland, a real breakthrough. BBCNI now has been given a platform for showcasing local production talent and things Irish to the rest of the world, like the international smash hit police drama Blue Lights.
Like War and rapid development, the Troubles produced a revolution in broadcasting as well as society – as if the staff were wont to be let loose. Live extended coverage of politics at Stormont. And those news reports from the likes of Martin Bell from the TV newsroom in London, more clear sighted perhaps than Belfast’s colleagues who had to live in the story but nevertheless learned much from London’s example. Searing interviews followed by relentless analysis of hapless Stormont ministers by the current affairs intellectual Keith Kyle. We had nobody like him in the province. All of them drew furious complaints. “What has happened to the BRITISH Broadcasting Corporation?”
Broadcasting had changed utterly. Interaction became universal, finally facilitated by the easing of fear as the Troubles ended. Today, while some complain about the survivlng British ethos, true parity of esteem and equality without land and sea borders reign, in the embodiment of the ideals of the GFA. Too few institutions can make such a claim.
Allegations of bias are more numerous than ever but in the far more dynamic environment of multi channels and social media. I retain some sympathy with the shade of Waldo Maguire, the BBC NI Controller at the outbreak of street violence, for trying – ultimately vainly – to tone down the coverage, but no acceptable line to draw could be found. However I give thanks that we didn’t have 24 hour news channels during the Troubles.
The BBC is now said to be fighting for its life. Its keener observers will know how it morphed successfully from the old establishment voice to a far more diverse forum, while retaining the essence of its character and mission. The public consultation on the BBC’s future ended last Tuesday. Cormac Moore’s critique ended more favourably by observing that its “structures and bulwarks make it one of the most reliable news sources available.” The polling evidence confirms that a healthy majority agrees.
So to its more implacable critics I would add: be careful what you wish for.
Former BBC journalist and manager in Belfast, Manchester and London, Editor Spolight; Political Editor BBC NI; Current Affairs Commissioning editor BBC Radio 4; Editor Political and Parliamentary Programmes, BBC Westminster; former London Editor Belfast Telegraph. Hon Senior Research Fellow, The Constitution Unit, Univ Coll. London
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