Friday, May 29th,
6pm
Trinity Long Room
Hub, Trinity College DublinThe BBC’s ‘Irish Troubles’ Television, Conflict and Northern Ireland, by Robert Savage, Professor of the Practice of History at Boston College, uses recently released archival material from the BBC and a variety of UK government archives to explore the contentious relationship between broadcasting officials, politicians, the army, police and civil service from the outbreak of violence through to the 1980s.
Professor Savage
completed the new publication while a visiting research fellow at the Trinity
Long Room Hub Arts & Humanities Research Institute in Trinity College
Dublin. The book will be launched in Trinity Long Room Hub at 6pm on Friday,
May 29th, 2015.
Focusing on the incessant
wrangling between political elites, civil servants, military officials,
broadcasting authorities and journalists about what should and should not be
featured on the BBC's regional and national networks, Professor Savage
considers how the BBC’s broadcasts complicated the ‘Troubles' by challenging
decisions, policies and tactics developed by governments trying to defeat a
stubborn insurgency that threatened national security.
In many cases the anxiety
and controversy created by these political skirmishes challenged the ability of
the medium to accurately inform citizens of important events taking place, thereby
undermining the BBC's role as a public service provider, according to Professor
Savage.
The book illustrates that as the ‘Troubles’ escalated, the
BBC was attacked, threatened and bullied, by a variety of actors but did its
best to stand its ground and maintain editorial independence and journalistic
credibility.
Key Points:
·
In
spite of the infamous broadcasting restrictions put in place in 1988,
professional staff remained determined to provide the public with informed news
and information about the conflict. Broadcasters resisted government efforts to
silence voices that, although controversial, were critical to comprehending and
eventually resolving a long and bloody conflict. The broadcasting ban was seen
as despotic by many broadcasters who, with the support of senior staff,
cleverly worked around it by using sub-titles and then hiring actors to read
the words of Sinn Féin politicians. Reporting on ‘the Troubles’ became somewhat
surreal as talented actors including Stephen Rea and Ian McElhinney found work
dubbing the remarks of Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness.
·
The
BBC in Northern Ireland slowly evolved to become more independent and less
deferential to the Unionist Government at Stormont. By the late 1960s its
managers and editors understood the need for an independent editorial posture
and became more critical of the politics, policies and pronouncements of the
Unionist Government.
·
Labour
and Conservative Governments alike tried to pressure, censor and bully the BBC
both in Belfast and London. These governments were convinced that the BBC
coverage of the turmoil in Northern Ireland undermined their efforts to defeat
terrorism. These governments were acutely aware of the power of
television to damage the image of the United Kingdom at home and abroad and
struggled to succeed in winning the ‘propaganda war’.
·
The
national network knew little about the complexities of Northern Ireland until
the beginning of the campaign for civil rights began to gain traction in the
province. By providing informed, critical coverage of events the BBC helped
undermine a regional parliament that had long governed without consensus.
Professor Savage
commented: “Throughout the conflict British governments tried to shape the way
in which television depicted the struggle against paramilitaries, especially
the Provisional IRA. However, its relentless presence undermined government
efforts to present a simple picture of the forces of law and order trying to
defeat savage terrorists hell-bent on a campaign of murder and mayhem. All
those involved in the conflict hoped to produce a narrative for both domestic
and international audiences to justify their role in an increasingly bitter and
violent struggle.”
“The propaganda war that
ensued created much consternation for officials in London, Belfast, and Dublin
who understood the conflict presented a real and immediate threat to social
order. Rules, regulations and policies that tried to suppress, shape or ‘spin’
coverage of the conflict were intended to marginalise extremists. Governments
were acutely aware of the power of television to encourage sympathy or support
for the very organisations they sought to destroy.”
Professor Jürgen Barkoff, Director of Trinity Long Room Hub Arts & Humanities Research Institute commented: “The Trinity Long Room Hub is proud to have supported, through its Visiting research Fellows programme, such a groundbreaking book. Professor Savage’s stay at the research institute was an enriching and highly stimulating experience for everyone involved and we are particularly pleased that new collaborations developed out his time with us such as the special edition of the journal Éire/Ireland, co-edited with Professor Christopher Morash from the School of English.”
Media Contact:
Fiona Tyrrell, Press Officer for the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, Trinity College Dublin | tyrrellf@tcd.ie | + 353 1 8964337 and + 353 87 6169056
Jack Dunn, Director, Office of News
& Public Affairs, Boston College| jack.dunn@bc.edu | + 1 617 552 3350
About Robert
Savage:
Robert Savage
is Professor of the Practice of History at Boston College. He completed his
latest publication while a Visiting Research Fellow at the Trinity Long Room
Hub in 2012. Other publications include A Loss of Innocence? Television and
Irish Society 1960-1972
(2010), Sean
Lemass: a biography (1999 revised and expanded edition 2014), Irish
Television: the Political and Social Origins (1996). He is currently
co-editing a special edition of the journal Éire/Ireland with
Christopher Morash, Seamus Heaney Professor of Irish Writing at Trinity, and is
writing a chapter on film and the broadcast media for the four volume Cambridge
History of Ireland edited by Thomas Bartlett.
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