Media – Page 2 – Slugger O'Toole

With Paywall in Place, has the Tele Lost its Welly?

Hugo on May 4, 2020, 7:05 am

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Ten years ago, the Belfast Telegraph received a prestigious UK Award for Digital News Service of the Year. This was followed by multiple awards for website of the year, huge growth in on-line readers, and a new platform for digital debate that attracted thousands of comments. But with the installation of a new paywall on 19 May, are these achievements now at risk? Will the free and open voice of liberal unionism be silenced to all save a minority of …

SDLP suggestion for saving the press welcome, but publishers must dig deep too

Ian Clarke on April 23, 2020, 8:48 am

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Earlier this month I uploaded two articles here asking how our local press might emerge from lockdown and sharing my concerns about the ability of some of them to do so. Since then the future of regional and local newspapers all over the UK has become a pretty hot topic, with staff being furloughed at most papers and others even indefinitely suspending publication. Local journalists – including quite a few very good ones of my acquaintance – have been tweeting …

How does our press emerge from lockdown? Part two: Regional Daily Newspapers

Ian Clarke on April 15, 2020, 10:36 am

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Last week wrote of our local weekly newspaper sector and of the need to save them. I also said that I thought a lot of them COULD be saved if the will is there. But what of our three dailies? There may be less scope there for a happy ending in a sector that across the British Isles has been in freefall for over a decade. Up until the end of the troubles, the picture here was a simple one. …

How does our press emerge from lockdown? Part one: Local Weekly Newspapers

Ian Clarke on April 6, 2020, 12:56 pm

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In the past few weeks, we’ve heard a lot from the concerned voices representing various of our local industry sectors, all of them understandably concerned about how Covid-19 will impact their sector and how they will emerge from it. All legitimate concerns that we should share. But as yet we’ve heard little from the sector, I believe could be the biggest casualty of all, and one we would never be able to replace – the local newspaper industry. News outlets …

There is a case for Boris Johnson, the only one able to bring off the biggest screeching U -Turn of our times

Brian Walker on June 25, 2019, 2:31 pm

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Why does Boris rise and rise if he’s so hopeless? It’s the burning question. Talented bloke, on form a stylish and witty writer who has earned 600k in just over a year. The evidence suggests a Jekyll and Hyde character with egotistical and sociopathic tendencies. Not exactly unusual in leaders. A philanderer who compelled a girlfriend to have an abortion – like Lloyd George “the man who won the war” in 1918. I’ve been looking at the case in his …

Boris stonewalls for dear life

Brian Walker on June 22, 2019, 5:40 pm

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Daily Mail splash Can any politician survive such scrutiny? Hard to complain when the dastardly deed is almost live on camera like Mark Field’s collaring of the Greenpeace protestor – And what about Boris’s row with his girlfriend, loud enough to be recorded through the wall? Will either politician survive the twitter storm? There’s simply no way of knowing. In this supposedly more tolerant age the tumbrils roll for those whom we take …

Northern Ireland is a place as far apart as ever in the UK national media

Brian Walker on June 10, 2019, 9:13 am

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“Northern Ireland is boring” has been every London news editor’s motto for a lifetime. News by definition requires new developments to be “News” and what was seen from newsdesks as the endless monotony of the Troubles was a killer not just of people but circulations. And weren’t there bigger and better conflicts all over the place to use up the limited stock of compassion? Remember the cynical old maxim: “one killing in England is worth a hundred in Northern Ireland.” …

Shame on the London papers for ignoring the Ballymurphy inquest, while they support the campaign for a limited army amnesty

Brian Walker on May 26, 2019, 5:56 pm

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Roy Greenslade is both a supporter of Sinn Fein and writing in the Guardian, a fair minded and expert critic of his old profession. I mention this to anticipate an irrelevant smear. On the reporting of the Ballymurphy inquest, he’s absolutely right. A story that matches in horror the Birmingham pub bombs or the abuses in cause celebres such as Hillsborough or the murder of Stephen Lawrence is largely ignored because the initials “IRA” are involved. The old reflex …

What would a Festival of Britain and Northern Ireland say? “Politics and ceremonial are not separate subjects, the one serious, the other superficial. Ritual.. is itself a type of power”

Brian Walker on May 11, 2019, 12:48 pm

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Ulster 71 Exhibition BBC Image The headline quote is from David Cannadine in “Rituals of Royalty etc..” in “Traditional Societies”, ed. Cannadine and Simon Price, CAP 1987 p3, quoted by Gillian McIntosh (below) Anniversaries like death and taxes are always with us. Perhaps they’re even sent to challenge us. Politicians are tempted to lay on bread and circuses to show up the better face of things. Could it really work for Brexit? The Irish Times believes not. The paper has …

Should the Irish ambassador claim to speak for Ireland over “anti-Irish” comment?

Brian Walker on April 13, 2019, 1:24 pm

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Was it appropriate for Adrian O’Neill the Irish ambassador to Great Britain ( sic) to complain publicly about an article in the Spectator at all, and specifically because he thought it was “anti-Irish?” I can’t reproduce it but article complained of by Robert Hardiman, made an ironic point about the Republic’s decision to join the Francophone commonwealth at this time of shifting relationships, rather than what used to be called the British Commonwealth. ( No please don’t get diverted to …

Is it possible to leave the EU without wreaking serious self harm? The answer No is all the more powerful, coming from a reforming Brexiteer

Brian Walker on April 8, 2019, 4:22 pm

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Peter Oborne is an often emotional and brutally frank political journalist, an instinctive but very independent minded conservative. For the website Open Democracy he has penned a model recantation from his support for Brexit. It’s nearly three years since I, along with 17. 4 million other Britons, voted for Brexit. Today I have to admit that the Brexit project has gone sour. Brexit has paralysed the system. It has turned Britain into a laughing stock. And it is certain to …

“we need to remove legacy policing from contemporary policing…”

Pete Baker on March 17, 2019, 3:00 pm

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A timely reminder, should one be needed, from Newton Emerson in the Irish Times this week, that when Sinn Féin talk about ‘agreement’ on the “need to remove legacy policing from contemporary policing” what they mean is “No prosecutions, please.” From Newton Emerson in the Irish Times It is all or nothing on dealing with the legacy of the Troubles. Either all sides must face the same prospect of prosecutions and convictions, or all sides must be given an amnesty …

Give us the softest Brexit and a plague on all your houses! In Northern Ireland, the gap between people and politicians is wider than ever – latest North-South poll

Brian Walker on March 8, 2019, 11:26 am

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It’s a snap shot in a febrile atmosphere I know, but who can be surprised? A new poll from the Irish Times and Ipsos/MRBI – in fact parallel polls north and south – find that 59 per cent of Northern Ireland voters want a special arrangement for Northern Ireland for no checks on the border – even if that means some checks on goods travelling between Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The poll also found that 67 per cent of voters …

Media guidelines potential remedy for damaging past reportage

Allan LEONARD (Mr Ulster) on March 8, 2019, 6:48 am

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Media guidelines potential remedy for damaging past reportage by Allan LEONARD 5 March 2019 The project team of “Victims and Dealing with the Past” at Queen’s University Belfast hosted a launch event of two complementary media guideline publications: one for victims and survivors of the Northern Ireland conflict on how to best engage with the media, and another for journalists, editors, and educators on how to best engage with victims and survivors and report on legacy issues. As Dr Cheryl …

Just Say Momo – how the PSNI are helping to spread hoaxes and hysteria online

Peter Donaghy (Salmon of Data) on February 27, 2019, 12:30 pm

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If you are a member of any parents’ social media groups, then you might have heard of “Momo”, apparently a game that challenges children to perform dangerous tasks. The story is often accompanied by a horrifying picture, which is actually a sculpture created by a Japanese special effects company called Link Factory. The story is a well-known hoax, and the urban legend debunking site Snopes article has an excellent article on the subject. At the time of writing, the hoax …

“Fair employment and equal opportunities legislation are built upon open and transparent practices, free from political interference…”

Pete Baker on February 19, 2019, 4:26 pm

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The, at best, ill-considered comments by Sinn Féin president Mary Lou McDonald yesterday, on potential candidates from within the PSNI to succeed George Hamilton as Chief Constable, have prompted a sharp reminder from the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland to the NI Policing Board of its responsibilities under equality legislation to recruit in a non-discriminatory way. The Equality Commission has expressed its concern about the recent comments made by the Sinn Féin President about the appointment of a new Chief …

“Media that care more about spectacle than clarity only encourage the culture of bullshit.”

Pete Baker on February 3, 2019, 5:21 pm

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I have mentioned this before, but it’s a point worth repeating every now and again. [Any particular reason this time? – Ed] Oh, one or two… From Kenan Malik in the Guardian Media that care more about spectacle than clarity only encourage the culture of bullshit. We live in an age obsessed by fake news and politicians’ lies. These are issues important to tackle. We should not ignore, however, the more insidious culture of bullshit. A liar, observed Frankfurt, knows …

“Such pressure as is on Ireland (and it will be significant) will come from the reality of the situation…”

Pete Baker on February 2, 2019, 3:03 pm

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Worth quoting at length from Pat Leahy in the Irish Times on the Irish Government’s role in the ongoing Brexit negotiations. It’s a welcome, un-hysterical look at a key player in what will unfold. [And all too rare here! – Ed] Indeed. From the Irish Times By and large, Leo Varadkar, Simon Coveney and the Government apparatus as a whole have handled the Brexit crisis well – just as the Opposition, in the main, has been pretty responsible. Contrast our …

“the big message from Saturday was that the Northern nationalist mood of resentment, annoyance and frustration needs to be heeded.”

Pete Baker on January 28, 2019, 2:54 pm

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[Having thrown their toys out of the pram two years ago… – Ed] ANYhoo… In the Irish Times, Gerry Moriarty reports from the nationalist “gurn-fest” in Belfast at the weekend. From the Irish Times report Essentially this was nationalism speaking to nationalism although there were few people in the hall from a unionist or Protestant background. Unionist politicians weren’t invited but they will have heard the message nonetheless, and will have been alarmed by it. Southern politicians including Minister for Education …

“Sinn Fein’s Arder Carson said that it was his democratic right to choose not to be painted…”

Pete Baker on January 13, 2019, 3:09 pm

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Or, indeed, not to wear clothes… ANYhoo… On Thursday The Belfast Telegraph reported Sinn Féin’s ‘farcical’ attempt to prevent Belfast City Council granting permission for local artist and political cartoonist Brian John Spencer to “sketch the Council Chamber and the Council meeting in January”. At a Council Strategic Policy and Resources Committee meeting in December 2018 a Sinn Féin motion rejecting the request – which “would involve Mr Spencer being allowed access to the Chamber for a couple of hours …