Northern Ireland documentary row

Title

Northern Ireland documentary row

Genre

News report; Speech

TX Date

Jul 1985

Year of production

1985

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Duration

00:04:23

Description

Report on the viewing by politicians and journalists and reaction to the controversial BBC television documentary Real Lives: The Edge Of The Union, about political extremism in Northern Ireland, in which interviewees Martin McGuinness of Sinn Fein and unionist Gregory Campbell condone the use of violence. The BBC bowed to political pressure from Home Secretary Leon Brittan and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher not to broadcast it, journalists then went on strike for 24 hours. Speakers are Conservative MP Michael Mates; shadow Home Secretary Gerald Kaufman; Northern Ireland Unionist Frank Miller; and Lord Annan (Noel Annan). Female reporter not identified.

Contributors

Gerald Kaufman; Michael Mates; Frank Miller; Noel Annan

Keywords

Politics; Internal politics; Margaret Thatcher; Northern Ireland; Terrorism; UK; Political protests; Violence; Censorship; BBC; Broadcasting; Freedom of the press; Mass media; Journalists; Television documentaries; Leon Brittan; Martin McGuinness; Gregory Campbell; Real Lives: The Edge Of The Union

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