A woman clutches a dove of peace at a 1996 vigil. In Northern , hopes for peace and the realities of conflict shape daily journalism.

Interpreting the poisonous silences in a fractured society

JOHN O'FARRELL

N , to use "Ireland," is commonly used by Irish the internationally accepted name for nationalists or republicans who want to see I the place of which I write, it is generally the entire island consolidated into the Irish assumed that journalists take sides. The republic. "" is used by unionists or lace name you use spells out your alle- loyalists who favor the link with Britain. giance: "The North of Ireland," or just "Northern Ireland itself is favored by John O'Farrell: Divided People, Divided Press * British commentators and politicians, between the right wing of the Ulster while "The North" is the most commonly Unionist Party and 's Democra- used term in the . More tic Unionists. It is contemptuous of loyalist hard-line republicans call it "Occupied paramilitaries, but its real spleen is directed North-East Ireland," while loyalists recipro- at Irish nationalism in general and what it care by referring to the Republic of Ireland calls "Sinn FCinIIRAn in particular. It uses a ("The South" to northern nationalists) as house style that insists in calling the Repub- "Eire," a name officially dropped in 1949. lic "Eire,"and its taoiseach the "Irish prime Which province do you want minister," emphasizing the to live in? foreignness of its island We in Northern Ireland are John O'Farrell neighbor. a divided people. If the press is managing editor of takes a nonviolent nationalist reflects the society it reports, viewpoint; it is critical of Fornigh magazine in how do these division-ul- IRA violence but tends to tural,cal, evensocial, ethnic-manifest religious, politi- Belfast. blame the unionists and the L1British for the woes of "The themselves in reporting? Does North." The Telegraph is an a sectarian society necessarily have to have a evening paper that takes a liberal unionist sectarian press? If everyone is biased, is there viewpoint but allows regular opinion pieces an ideological center that can act as a ful- from all political viewpoints, from loyalist crum for a definition of fairness? Alternately, to republican. how far can bias go? Is it limited by the real- . Northern Ireland is unusually well served ization that the discrediting and destruction by a number of local weekly of an enemy may rebound? Is reporting of supported by a loyal readership of between the peace process subject to self-censorship ~o,oooto z5,ooo. Most decent-sized towns in order to maintain the process itself? have at least two newspapers, whose views reflect their readership. Dungannon, a mar- HE MEDIA THAT RREORT on ket town in County Tyrone with a roughly TNorthern Ireland can be divided into 50-yo unionistlnationalist population, has two groups: print and broadcast media both a unionist and a nationalist . within Northern Ireland, and print and Larne, a staunchly unionist town, has two broadcast media that serve news organiza- newspapers reflecting the two main strands tions based outside Northern Ireland. of unionism-the Ulster Unionists and These two groups operate, it can be argued, Democratic Unionists. These newspapers by different standards of "fairness," based do not attempt to educate or alter the per- on their audience and governmental restric- ceptions of their readers, rather they reflect tions. For example, in the city of Belfast, their views (or prejudices). there are three daily newspapers: the News Marshall McLuhan's aphorism about Letter, the Irish News and the Be@ We- people not reading their paper hut sinking graph. The News Letter, the oldest continu- into it like a warm bath is appropriate here. ously printed English-language newspaper Broadcast media is shackled by the legal on Earth, takes a unionist viewpoint, requirements to achieve "balancen-as The seasonal marches of the Protestant Unionists of the , who want to keep Northern Ireland in the United Kingdom, attract divided media attention.

defined by the codes of practice of the able political debate on radio and television British Broadcasting Corporation and the has been important for those parties obvi- Independent Broadcasting Authority-and ously, but also for the wider audience, who therefore outrages political operators of all tended to demonize them as terrorist apolo- hues. Nationalists accuse the BBC in par- gists. It has also been important for journal- ticular of being run by a Masonic cabal that ists, who could not easily dismiss the views tends towards an Anglocentric viewpoint, of these parties, particularly as recent elec- while unionists point accusingly at journal- tions have shown more than 20 percent ists with "Irish" names (such as SPamw or combined support for SF, the PUP and MairPad). Political parties with paramilitary UDR larger than the center vote, which connections point to a culture of self-cen- averages 15 percent of the electorate. sorship, replacing the statutory censorship that banned Sinn FCin, the Progressive HEN WE TURN to journalists who Unionists and Ulster Democrats from the W report for media organizations based airways from 1988 until 1994. The recent outside Northern Ireland, different rules inclusion of these three parties into accept- and agendas come into play. One of the John O'Farrell: Divided People, Divided Press

reasons that "" has had a wide ship have operated in both capitals for the international audience, and therefore the past 30 years, producing a self-conscious consequent reason that people here have an consensus that has deepened over the past inflated impression of the importance of five years as Irish "soft" nationalism and our angst, is that we are white and speak British "soft" unionism have politically English. There are 1.y million people merged. involved. There have been just over 3,000 The consequence is a severe disincentive fatalities. Over 29 years. That's peanuts. to rock the boat. Questioning the peace There are loo violent conflicts on the boil process or its players invites accusations in the New World Order. Algeria, Kosovo, that one prefers a state of war. Questioning Rwanda, Chiapas, East Timor or Kurdistan the pervasive and intrusive security state make us look like amateurs. with casualtv that still exists in Northern Ireland invites lists that drown our real tragedies with the accusations that one is "soft" on terrorism. tears of millions. Northern Ireland is an Indeed, distancing oneself from "terrorism" important story. Its resolution will be a is a popular field sport. It means the bizarre sign, and not just to the people living here, spectacle of "democratic" politicians queu- that the demons of ethnic nationalism can ing up to "condemn" the latest atrocity be overcome, that the reason of the while challenging other politicians to do Enlightenment will prevail over the super- likewise in a unique ritual of the virility of stitious sectarianism of the Reformation their constitutionality. Those who do not and the Counter-Reformation. We can condemn, meaning those whose paramili- worry about postmodernism later. tary friends have done the ditty deed, are Reporters for news organizations based themselves condemned for not condemn- outside Northern Ireland see themselves as ing, and so it goes. uniquely impartial; as "outsiders" they are somehow above the fray. While their report- T THIS STAGE,I should bring myself ing is generally balanced, the editorial lines A.lnto the Frame, just so my apparent of their newspapers are anything but. With bias is clear. I was born in Dublin, where I the exception of the Daily Mirror, whose lived until four years ago. A planned stay in l "Trbops Out" line has been blunted over Belfast has become permanent, for personal l recent years, every London paper has always as much as professional reasons. Three years adopted a prounion stance. The Republic's ago, I became managing editor of Fortnight, I papers, with the exception of the Sunday a small independent current affairs and arts l Independent, take a "soft" nationalist line- magazine founded in 1970. Fortnight was \ somewhere between John Hume's Social specifically started as a response to the Democratic and Labor Party and the Irish Troubles and a reaction to the sectarian 1 government-which holds that Irish unity basis of print media in Northern Ireland. can only happen with unionist consent. Fortnight has a policy of encouraging It could be argued that the editorial lines debate by publishing the views of all politi- ! of papers in London and Dublin are at least cal persuasions, which naturally causes reac- subconsciously affected by the political tions. It is a point of perverse pride that the 1 moods around them. Policies of bipartisan- magazine has been accused of being pawns l of the IRA, Ulster Volunteer Force, the sive Unionists or the British Labor govern- Alliance Party, SDLP and British Intelli- ment? For what it's worth, I choose not to gence. On the big constitutional issues, it exercise my franchise here. I believe that I strives toward neutralinr,. but on social. eco- have a dutv to mv readers to strive for as little nomic and cultural issues, it is unashamedly partiality as possible; therefore I cop out of liberal. This means arguing for unpopular making the necessary subjective choices one measures, such as gay rights and the exten- has to make when one contemplates voting. sion of the abortion laws that the more I learn about the peo- rest of the United Kingdom ple and parties that offer them- but are vetoed here by the selves for election, the less I fundamentalist Catholic and ~h~ people most want to vote for any of them. Protestant supporters of the SDLP and unionist parties. THE SDLP EPITOMIZES The fact is, however, that my journalism the middle-class Catholic 11 . , 11 1 Fortnight faces justified chauvinism I grew up hating charges that it is as ghettoized 11 zre who II in the Republic. The Ulster as irih Newsor presume that 1 Unionists combine a smug the unionist News Letter; its owe them some "horn to rule" attitude with readers and contributors tend frightening sectarianism, allegiance. to be from a small leftlliberal institutionalized throueh" clique. Another unfortunate, but valid, perception is that the Orange Order. The Fortnight i; geographically limited: People I Democratic Unionists are a crypto-fascist in Britain think it is Irish; Irish people in the mdange of flat-earthers and cynical sectar- Republic think it is northern: Northern Ire- ian manipulators. Sinn FCin spout dreams land people from rural areas or Derv think of an Irish socialist utopia but exert control it is too Belfast; most of Belfast associate it of their ghetto strongholds through black- with the square mile around Queen's Uni- balling opponents and punishment beat- versity, a psychological ghetto of self-con- ings. The two loyalist parties are wannabe scious liberalism. Sinn FCins for poor Protestants. Alliance Nevertheless, this low-circulation (4,000) think the world owes them a living for not journal of the native "cultural elite" has some being as hate-ridden as the other parties. A clout among the local political class. Editing plaque on all their houses. There are indi- Fortnight has afforded me unique access to viduals within these parties who are hero- both the workings of power and the politics ically trying to alter the sclerosis that has of the paramilitaries. The reactions I get from afflicted the Nonlis political parties, but people ate interesting: As a southerner, am I those few good men and women tend to therefore a nationalist?As editor of Forteight, hide behind party lines when the going gets am I a liberal? As a middle-class (nonpractic- touch.0 ing) Roman Catholic, is my natural political It follows that the people most disap- home the SDLP or the Alliance Party? As a pointed by my journalism are those who socialist, do I favor Sinn FCin or the Progres- presume that I owe them some allegiance. John O'Farrell: Divided People, Divided Press

(Not that John Hume or I lose sleep about occurred, with the middle classes, business, that.) The fact is that whenever a politician trade unions and agricultural interests evac- opens his mouth into a passing micro- uating the field. The character of those phone, no marrer if it's in South Africa ar attracted to politics tends towards the mav- South Armagh, the primary audience for erick. While "maverick" is usually a compli- his remarks are his (and it is almost always mentary description in our individualist his) immediate supporters. Such is the Western culture, the Northern Irish maver- parochial (not to say patriarchal) nature of ick tends towards the power hungry and politics in Northern Ireland that it is very ruthless end of the definition. We get the difficult to get politicians to go on the sort of man who is bursting with frustra- record with any original thoughts. tion until some level of power is reached The field is left to barren sectarian within his party, permanently watching his clichb, where "our" side is always the inno- back as he sharpens his knife, eyes fixed on cent victim of "their" crimes. Therefore the space between the shoulder blades of unionist spokesmen can overlook half a the party colleague ahead of him. century of abusive rule under the effective Journalists in Northern Ireland have to one-party state that was the Stormont gov- bear this in mind every time they get an ernment, scrapped by the British in 1972. interview or briefing from a politician here. and point at the crimes of the IRA over The chances of one risking his career by three decades as the beginning and end of sounding too magnanimous to the other all of our problems. The IRA justify their side, and therefore selling out his own party crimes as a reaction to Stormont, the Royal or people are minimal. Everyone remem- Ulster Constabulary or 800 years of British bers the lesson of Bill Craig, the fastest ris- involvement in Ireland. Loyalist paramili- ing star of the hard unionist right in the taries claim their sectarian murders of early 1970s until he thought twice about Catholics are provoked by the IRA. Both the violent consequences of his rhetoric and the British and Irish governments wash actions. When he proposed a voluntary their hands of any responsibilities, propa- coalition between the unionists and the gating the fiction that they are honest bro- constitutional nationalism of the SDLP, he kers in a religious-based tribal conflict, a fell victim to the same unionist backlash polite fiction whereby they depoliticize the that supported him: his Westminster seat situation, absolve themselves of blame for was taken by his former deputy, and he the political vacuum that encourages dema- sank into obscuriry and alcoholism. Among gogues and situate themselves above the current unionist leadership, David Trimble squabbling tribes. is savagely criticized from both within his Ulster Unionists party and the second APROBLEM .. WITH .. the "two tribes" largest unionist party, the Democratic analysls IS that it Ignores the real Unionists, for his participation in peace debate that happens continually within, as talks. much as between, the six or seven unionist Similarly, Sinn FCin's Gerry Adams faces parties and the five or six nationalist politi- accusations within the republican move- cal groupings. A real brain drain has ment, publicly from the sister of Bobby

MER 1998 I l Residenrs of the Catholic Bogside neighborhood in Derry City, Northern Ireland, oppose Orange Order marches. Protests and parades vie for media attention.

Sands, whose death on hunger strike in 1981 way of learning what "the other side" was elevated him to the status of the move- saying. ment's most potent martyr, and privately It was a concentrated version of an old from dissident IRA men exploding bombs panern in Northern Ireland that is likely to and shooting people. persist into the future. Politicians feed sto- In the final hours of the Easter 1998 ries to journalists with an eye to how the negotiations in Stormont, as the British news will play to both their own side and and Irish prime ministers worked for three their adversaries. The "other side" interprets days to reach an agreement acceptable to the news according to the veraciry of the both sides, the spin operation from the par- story, the source, the journalist and their ties and governments was extraordinary. news organization. The result is a process of The story shifted every two hours in a communication that is intense yet wary and political tennis match. Reporters conveyed indirect. news to the newsmakers: For the parties in This has to be borne in mind while the talks, hourly bulletins and regular interviewing politicians. On the record, phone calls from journalists were the main one gets platitudes and clichds. Off the John O'Farrell: Divided People, Divided Press record, one can either hear unprintable sec- ists do not stand apart from this fight. tarian bile, or well-thought-out ideas on the Indeed, with all its problems and frustra- future. Politicians take into account the tions, many better journalists than I think track record of the reporter and herlhis Northern Ireland is the most interesting media organization. Previous bad press is story around. I daily pay private tribute to long remembered. To give a personal exam- the inspiring brilliance of people like David ple, WPleader David Trimble will have McKitterick of The Indepmdentof London, nothing to do with Fornight due to a dis- Mary Holland of The Observer, Peter Taylor agreement with a previous editor. of the BBC, Kevin Cullen of The Boston My Dublin accent precludes me from Globe, David Sharrock of The Guardian, safely entering loyalist areas in Belfast, David Dunseath of BBC Radio Ulster, where I may be seen as a hostile interloper. Deaglh De Bradlin of and The telephone is much safer. Eamonn McCann, Susan McKay and Ed Resistance and mistrust that confront Maloney of Dublin's Sunday Tribune. Fortnight have been overcome by invitations Yet in covering Northern Ireland, jour- to write op-ed pieces, which we run unal- nalists face painful dilemmas. Imagine tered, bearing only libel in mind. News yourself a reporter who possesses facts that, judgments have consequences too. We if published, could undermine politicians thought long and hard before publishing who might make a historic compromise evidence that the IRA were breaking their with sworn enemies. Do you publish and 1994-96 cease-fire by shooting alleged drug damn the consequences?What if the conse- dealers, using the cover name Direct Action quence is the toppling of a leader who Against Drugs. A local tabloid newspaper might risk leading his people to a peace set- had evidence that a prominent party leader tlement? What if it raises up yet another had engaged in a string of adulterous affairs, reactionary bigot who is happy to lead his but it succumbed to pressure from the two fanion to nowhere but the confirmation of governments as well as the individual con- their own worst fears and prejudices? cerned and killed the story on the basis that Those are the most pressing questions it would undermine the peace talks. relating to "fairness" while reporting on People are wary whether a settlement Northern Ireland. And this is the important can be reached, let alone work. That doesn't one: Is getting one's byline on a front page stop people from hoping that it will work. one Sunday worth bodies on the streets? It In Northern Ireland pessimism of the intel- is a gray area that evades easy answers. lect battles optimism of the spirit; journal-