Ireland: The Silent Voices (3 Parts)

Synopsis

Northern Ireland has been at the centre of the world’s media attention for the last 15 years, but the image seen abroad is often very different from that seen in Britain. Foreign broadcasters and journalists explain the constraints and perspectives that influence their coverage. These are very different from those outlined by an IBA spokesman who reveals not only the guidelines set for all ITV producers covering Ireland but the justification for ‘excising’ certain sequences and banning outright some programmes on Northern Ireland. By using extracts from documentaries made by foreign television companies the omissions of British television coverage become apparent.
'If you don’t know what’s happening in Ireland you must be watching British television’ says a woman from Belfast. But what is it like making programmes for television on Ireland? Producers and journalists working for the BBC and ITV companies talk about the editorial processes imposed on them when reporting events in Northern Ireland. These constraints have prohibited all interviews with the provisional IRA and all para-military organisations since 1979 and banned some programmes outright. These restrictions, it is argued, have produced a ‘consensus view’ defined by emotive language and images which limit a wider understanding of the situation.
Looks at the cinema’s treatment of Ireland and examines the deep seated continuity between the commercial cinema and television from ODD MAN OUT to THE GENTLE GUNMAN and THE LONG GOOD FRIDAY. British cinema has tended to show Irish politics as limited to irrational acts of violence by individuals void of any political or historical context. Looks at the role of independent producers not constrained by the editorial processes of television or the commercialism of the cinema. Free from these constraints other difficulties emerge. When does commitment give way to propaganda and what are the consequences?

Language

English

Country

Great Britain

Medium

Video; Videocassette. VHS. col. 24, 30, 33 min.

Year of production

1983

Availability

Hire (BFI)

Documentation

'Televising Terrorism: Political Violence in Popular Culture’ by P Schlesinger, G Murdock and P Elliott, is recommended for background reading.

Uses

Second or third year undergraduates.*

Subjects

Media studies; Politics & government

Keywords

censorship; journalism; Northern Ireland; television broadcasting

Sections

Title

View from abroad

Title

The British media

Title

The cinema

Production Company

Name

Television Co-operative

Sponsor

Name

Channel Four Television

Phone

071-396 4444

Address

LONDON
SW1P 2TX

Distributor

Name

BFI Film Bookings Unit

Email

bookings.films@bfi.org.uk

Web

http://www.bfi.org.uk/about-bfi/help-faq/film-bookings External site opens in new window

Phone

020 7957 8938 / 8935

Address

21 Stephen Street
London
W1T 1LN