Theme: Society & Culture | Content Type: Journal article

BBC Northern Ireland and the Public Service Challenge: Some Reflections

Bob Collins

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K Mitch Hodge

| 1 min read

Broadcasting in Northern Ireland reflects the abiding influence of conflict between the nationalist and unionist communities and the perception of Northern Ireland as a place somewhat apart. Decisions about broadcast content are made in an environment where each community expects to see itself and can be disturbed to find the other. But there are other communities, as well as many people, who do not think in binary terms. Broadcasting needs to respond to that and to the changing demography, with its more varied and nuanced views. BBCNI lacks both the governance and the resources to respond to this challenge. Key decisions are made in London, where the task ahead is not well understood and priorities can appear oriented towards a different audience.

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    Bob Collins

    Bob Collins is a former Director-General of RTÉ and a former Chief Commissioner of the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland.

    Articles by Bob Collins
Volume 96, Issue 3

Latest Journal Issue

Volume 96, Issue 3

This issue features a collection titled 'The Intellectual and Political Legacy of David Marquand', who died in April 2024, edited by Colin Crouch, Ben Jackson and Peter Sloman. In this collection, authors including Jean Seaton, Will Hutton and Hilary Wainwright consider Marquand's legacy as a great progressive thinker, his biography of Ramsay MacDonald, Labour's first prime minister, and the role of socialism for Marquand. Other articles include a commentary by Deborah Mabbett titled 'Welfare reform by numbers'; Jeremy Gilbert and Alex Williams on 'The Vices of Values: Matthew Goodwin and the Politics of Motivation'; Helen McCarthy on 'Why the WASPI has no Sting: Gender, Generation and Pension Inequalities'; and Sam Taylor Hill, Tariq Modood and John Denham on 'Multicultural Nationalism: Saving the White Working Class from Blue Labour?' A selection of book reviews feature Edmund Fawcett's review of 'Nationalism: A World History' by Eric Storm and Samuel Cohn's review of 'Controlling Contagion: Epidemics and Institutions from the Black Death to Covid' by Sheilagh Ogilvie.

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