Channel 4

“They can take whatever they can, but Northern Ireland is still going to be British whether they like it or not”

Mick Fealty on February 6, 2013, 11:17 am | Readers 110

Not much to say by way of introduction that Becky Rowan does not say eloquently for herself… Other than at base, we have the politics of cultural contention… Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a regular guest and speaking events across Ireland, the UK and Europe. Twitter: @MickFealty

Richard III, history and the pressing needs of a modern university…

Mick Fealty on February 5, 2013, 11:18 am | Readers 65

I don’t know if you watched it, but C4 had a documentary on the uncovering of Richard III last night. R3, it seems, may have been more significant as a fictional character in Shakespeare than as an significant monarch in the history of the English state. A mere punctuation between prolonged civil war (as the natural condition of English public affairs) and the construction of a modern centralised state under Henry Tudor. Freakiest of all (isn’t that the trademark of …

IPC to scrutinise future media deals with the US and other ‘under-performing’ Paralympic nations…

Mick Fealty on September 11, 2012, 12:01 pm | Readers 47

Okay, so there’ve been pages now written on how great the Paralympics were in #London2012. But to give praise where it is undoubtedly due, it was probably Beijing that first raised the bar and the status of the Paralympic games to, if not equal status, then a great deal closer to the Olympics than at any time before. London’s achievement was to repackage and reengineer it as a product, not least by giving it the time and public attention that …

In praise of the Paralympics… and Channel 4

Mick Fealty on September 2, 2012, 12:24 pm | Readers 142

I won’t deny that sitting down to watch the Paralympics is, at first, an uncomfortable experience… We are seeing a range of disability that in the normal run of public life are generally kept well out of the public gaze… It’s odd seeing the Chinese backstroke swimmer holding on to a towel in her teeth… And it’s disconcerting when your seven year asks the blunt question ‘what’s wrong with this lot’ as a new set of un-decodable track event athletes ready …

War crimes: caught on camera?

Patrick Corrigan on June 14, 2011, 7:50 pm | Readers 283

Jon Snow says it is “one of the most important” stories he has ever reported. It may not be on TV until 11.05 pm, yet the screening tonight of Channel 4’s Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields (trailer here) has not exactly gone unnoticed. The programme was shown to the United Nations Human Rights Council at the end of May. A UN special envoy has already said the execution videos featured appear to show evidence of “serious international crimes”. Amnesty International has called …

Service not available in Northern Ireland

Ní Dhuibhir on May 21, 2010, 5:15 pm | Readers 11

Channel 4’s decision not to broadcast the Marie Stopes ‘Are you late?’ TV advert in Northern Ireland raises questions about what information it is criminal to distribute here. The Chief Executive of Marie Stopes International told the Guardian that ‘the advertising of abortion facilities, their contact numbers or addresses is against the law in Northern Ireland.’ The fact that the advert in question does not contain the word ‘abortion’, and is for an organisation that provides a wide range of …