Digital Commons Network^™

Walking The Walk: Ex-Prisoners, Lived Experience, And The Delivery Of Restorative Justice, Allely Albert

Articles

Although the role of prisoners and ex-prisoners has recently received significant attention in restorative justice research, the literature typically treats them as the ‘offending’ party within restorative justice processes. This article instead focuses on ex-prisoners as facilitators of restorative justice, highlighting their ability to lead such programmes. Using a case study from Northern Ireland, the article examines the way that experiences of incarceration have directly influenced practitioners’ skills and their ability to uphold restorative justice principles. It is contended that qualities developed and honed in the prison environment ultimately translate to unique characteristics that can improve the restorative process. As …

Clubbing Criminals: The Hirschfeld Centre And The Emergence Of Queer Club Culture In Dublin, Ann-Marie Hanlon

Irish Communication Review

Ireland in the 1970s and 80s was an extremely hostile place for the LGBT community: male homosexuality remained a criminal offence and social, legal and political oppression was the norm. This article documents the emergence of a nascent queer clubbing scene in Dublin in this period and investigates the historical intersection of partying and politics in a DIY translocal music scene defined by the sexual politics of the time. In particular, this research focuses on exploring the social and political importance of Ireland’s first purpose built queer club, Flikkers, which opened in the Hirschfeld Centre, Temple Bar on St. Patrick’s …

Submission To The Future Of The Media Commission, Brendan K. O'Rourke, Joseph K. Fitzgerald

Reports

Dr. Brendan K. O’Rourke is a Senior Lecturer at Technological University Dublin, where he focuses on learning in the area of discourses of the economy, in particular examining enterprise, policy and public discourses on the economy. His scholarly work has been widely published as chapters in edited volumes, encyclopedia / handbook entries and in over 20 peer-reviewed academic journals such the Critical Discourse Studies, Politics and Social Semiotics. More information on his work is available on www.brendankorourke.com . Dr. Joseph K. FitzGerald lectures in international strategy at Technological University Dublin and has published on topics such as how young men …

Posters, Handkerchiefs And Murals: Visual Gender Separation During The Troubles, Bradley Rohlf

Irish Communication Review

The Troubles in Northern Ireland provide a complex and intriguing topic for many scholars in various academic disciplines. Their violence, publicity and tragedy are common themes that elicit a plethora of emotional responses throughout the world. However, the very intimate nature of this conflict creates a much more complex system of friends, foes and experiences for those involved. While the very heart of the Irish nationalist movement is founded on liberal and progressive concepts such as socialism and equality, the media associated with it sometimes promote tradition and conservatism, especially regarding gender. This critical study examines a sociopolitical struggle through …

A Subaltern Pastor Versus A Dictator President In The #Thisflag Movement In Zimbabwe, Theophilus Nenjerama

Irish Communication Review

Social movements that challenge political infrastructures require substantial themes that resonate with the masses. The #ThisFlag movement was the first massive post-independent social media engendered protest that left an indelible mark on Zimbabwean politics and history. This study deem the movement the ‘cult of Mawarire’ due to the centrality of compelling issues used in galvanizing the masses to action. The cult is a reactionary force navigating sacrosanct issues of identity, politics, and nationalism as inscribed in the flag and the liberation struggle in Zimbabwe. To make meaning of the messages conveyed by Evan Mawarire, the study references to the videos …

The Crisis Of Communication In The Information Age: Revisiting C.P. Snow's Two Cultures In The Era Of Fake News, Aaron Green

Irish Communication Review

The purpose of this paper is to revisit C.P. Snow’s “Two Cultures” lecture in light of the cultural dominance of information technology. The crisis of communication in the information age, whether in fake news, political polarisation or science denial, has come about because both scientific and literary cultures, in seeking a world without entropy, have inadvertently stumbled upon a world without meaning. In order to explain how this has happened, the paper first explores Snow's challenge: to describe the second law of thermodynamics. The paper then provides a description of entropy that is neutral with regard to thermodynamics and information, …

Book Review Of Irish Media: A Critical History (John Horgan & Roddy Flynn), Michael Foley

Irish Communication Review

No abstract provided.

Activating The Archive And The Postcolony In The Work Of Sven Augustijnen, Ann Curran

Irish Communication Review

The repression of colonial pasts reveal themselves in contemporary discourses and forms of representation – they are not nor can be ever fully deemed ‘past’ says T.J. Demos. Belgian filmmaker Sven Augustijnen excavates the troubling legacy of Belgian colonialism through his documentary films and installations. His investment in archival research and the presentation of media artifacts produces a multi-sensory experience for the viewer which in turn has implications for contemporary documentary practices, archive thinking and critical media literacy. In this article I will consider the relationship between the 2016 exhibition mounted by Augustijnenat Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane in …

A Comparison Of The Models And Methods Of Surveillance In East Germany And Northern Ireland And Their Relevance To Modern-Day Securitization Of Society, Cliodhna Pierce

Irish Communication Review

Despite increasing awareness of the rise in societal surveillance as a result of leaks by former NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden and subsequent revelations from Wikileaks, the damage of pervasive surveillance practices on the individual and on communities has yet to be measured. As John Gilliom has argued, ‘until we are able to generate sufficient research to make plausible sense of how differently situated people – welfare mothers, prisoners, students, middle-class professionals – speak of and respond to their various surveillance settings, we will be unable to devise a meaningful account of what surveillance is’ (2006, 126). Before we can examine …

In An Era Of Fake News, Information Literacy Has A Role To Play In Journalism Education In Ireland, Isabelle Courtney

Irish Communication Review

Framed by the problem of fake news and misinformation, a recent study into journalism education in Ireland focused on the overlaps that exist between two professions: journalism and librarianship. The emerging literature on fake news is overwhelmingly coming from these two disciplines. Historically both have deep roots in truth and fact and employ a specific range of tools for the evaluation of information. Librarians use a framework called information literacy, while journalism educators speak of media literacy, fact-checking and verification of sources. With the many overlaps in media and information literacy, journalists and librarians would appear to be natural partners …

O Say Can You See? Irish Advertising Agents Look To America, 1895-1936, Colum Kenny

Irish Communication Review

No abstract provided.

The Limits Of Journalism: How Fictional Narrative Compensates For Journalism's Shortcomings In John Banville's The Book Of Evidence, Ian Kilroy

Irish Communication Review

AS A NOVELIST AND JOURNALIST, John Banville (1945–) straddles two worlds. A former chief-sub-editor with the Irish Press, as well as former literary editor of the Irish Times (O’Toole 1989: 25), his narrative practice draws on the principals and paradigms of both fictional and journalistic composition. Indeed, it is only with commercial success as a novelist in recent years that Banville has left day-to-day professional journalism behind him, although he still does regularly contribute to newspapers and magazines. His employment of journalistic methodologies in his professional life is related to his concerns as a novelist. Journalism’s search for an objective, …

Untangling The Web: An Evaluation Of The Digital Strategies Of Irish News Organisations, Paul Hyland

Irish Communication Review

As Ireland’s print media continue to suffer a drop in their circulations, how important is the implementation of a viable and, above all, profitable web strategy, and how extensively are these currently being employed within four Irish news organisations? These include Ireland’s three best selling dailies: The Irish Times, the Irish Independent, and the Irish Daily Star, and a regional newspaper with a notable online presence, the Limerick Leader. This research examines the day-to-day operations of Irish news organisations; the resources devoted to their digital media/online departments, the revenue-generation strategies in place to monetize the work of these departments; and …

From Fun Factory To Current Affairs Machine: Coping With The Outbreak Of The Troubles At Ulster Television 1968-70, Orla Lafferty

Irish Communication Review

THE INDEPENDENT TELEVISION NETWORK has received only limited critical academic analysis and, as a consequence, there is a particular dearth of research into commercial broadcasting in Britain, but more specifically commercial broadcasting in Northern Ireland. In their publication ITV Cultures: Independent Television over fifty years, Catherine Johnson and Rob Turnock (2005) attempt to address this lack of scholarly analysis of ITVs’ regional structure but Ulster Television does not factor in their study. Whilst UTV at 50, a publication released for the company’s 50th Anniversary in 2009, provides some interesting insights into its progression as a broadcaster, it is primarily anecdotal. …

An Examination Of Seán Gallagher's Presidential Campaign In A Hybridized Media Environment, Siobhan Graham, John Hogan

Irish Communication Review

Political communications is an underdeveloped area of research in Ireland. There is no precise definition of political communications as the topic has developed as an ‘interdisciplinary endeavor, drawing on theoretical, philosophical, and practical foundations of diverse disciplines of study, including communication, political science, history, psychology, and sociology, among others’ (Miller and McKerrow, 2010: 61–2). Nimmo and Sanders (1981: 12) describe political communications as ‘one of three intervening processes (political leadership, and group structures being the other two) by means of which political influences are mobilized and transmitted between formal governmental institutions, on the one hand, and citizens voting behavior, on …

Young Men Consuming Newspaper Prostitution: A Discourse Analysis Of Responses To Irish Newspaper Coverage Of Prostitution, Joseph K. Fitzgerald, Brendan K. O'Rourke

Irish Communication Review

In this article we look at how young men consume coverage of prostitution in Irish newspapers. This is important for a number of reasons. Firstly, because the media, and newspapers in particular, seem to be an important source of information for people (Meade, 2008). This is especially true in the case of prostitution, as the only contact the citizenry generally have with sex-workers is through the media (Hallgrimsdottir, Phillips and Benoit, 2006). In many Western countries consuming media is one of the main activities that people, particularly young people, engage in and therefore is the prism through which they view …

Rté And The Coverage Of Northern Ireland On Television News Bulletins In The Early Years Of The Troubles, Gareth Ivory

Irish Communication Review

No abstract provided.

Blessed With The Faculty Of Mirthfulness: The New Journalism And Irish Local Newspapers In 1900, Mark Wehrly

Irish Communication Review

Throughout the nineteenth century, several developments contrived – mostly indirectly – to make newspaper publishing in Britain an attractive business prospect. These included rising literacy levels, the abolition of taxes on newspapers in 1855 and innovations in the way newspapers were produced and distributed. From the mid-nineteenth century onwards this had the effect, in both Britain and Ireland, of increasing in multiples the number of different newspapers that were published (Cullen, 1989: 4–5). Likewise, in Dublin as in London, lively debates took place on the desirability of these developments, and the question of the social function of journalism was widely …

Peering Through The Fog: American Newspapers And The Easter Rising, Robert Schmuhl

Irish Communication Review

Nearly a Century after the Easter Rising and its aftershocks thrust Ireland to the forefront of international attention and gave this island’s struggle for independence a stiff shove, journalistic coverage of those distant days still provokes questions and provides lessons of enduring pertinence, extending far beyond one academic’s obsession with the subject. This is particularly true for someone peering through the fog of time past and from afar in trying to come to terms with the events that occurred and the people who were involved during those momentous months of 1916.

The Irish Press Coverage Of The Troubles In The North From 1968 To 1995, Ray Burke

Irish Communication Review

The ‘Irish Press’ was the second-highest-selling daily newspaper on the island of Ireland at the beginning of the era that became known as the Troubles. With an average daily sale of nearly 103,000 copies during the second half of 1968, it had almost double the circulation of the Irish Times and the Belfast News Letter and it was outsold only by the perennially best-selling Irish Independent.

Book Reviews Volume 11

Irish Communication Review

No abstract provided.

Hollywood Representations Of Irish Journalism: A Case Study Of Veronica Guerin, Pat Brereton

Irish Communication Review

No abstract provided.

Media Discourses On Autonomy In Dying And Death, Christina Quinlan

Irish Communication Review

This paper is a synopsis of a research project designed to examine the representations of particular experiences of dying and death as represented in media consumed in Ireland. This media research is a small part of a large study commissioned by the Hospice Friendly Hospitals Programme, through the Irish Hospice Foundation. The large study, undertaken by a team of researchers from University College Cork and the Royal College of Surgeons Ireland, was tasked with the development of an ethical framework for health-care practitioners on patient autonomy in end-of life care. Patient autonomy at end-of-life is the degree of autonomy or …

Cultivating Habitats Of Meaning: Broadcasting, Participation And Interculturalism, Gavin Titley

Irish Communication Review

At the time of writing, buenas vistas of the digital landscape are far fewer than when this publication was first conceived. The last year (2002) has witnessed high profile European digital failures, a fraught domestic franchising process and a serious financial crisis at RTE. These factors, combined with the as yet ambiguous direction of postelection policy, conspire to make the future of digital terrestrial television very uncertain. More broadly, reports from Ireland1 and abroad suggest that there is still a significant battle for the ‘hearts and minds’ of potential digital converts. At least partially this involves convincing people that proposed …

Re-Imagined Communities?: Ireland, Europe And The Web As Shifting Sites Of Television Discourse, Maeve Connolly

Irish Communication Review

The rise of satellite and cable across Europe during the late 1980s contributed to the restructuring of communications spaces that had previously been dominated by national broadcasters. These changes were viewed with concern by many media commentators. Summarising the debate in 1989, David Morley and Kevin Robins noted that ‘it is broadly felt that these new technologies have disturbing and damaging implications for established national (and indeed continental) identities. There is a common fear of both their potential to disaggregate fixed national audiences and communities and to create new ones across national boundaries’ (Morley and Robins, 1989: 11). It seems …

Escaping The Evil Avenger And The Supercrip: Images Of Disability In Popular Television, Alison Harnett

Irish Communication Review

This article examines the extent and significance of the under-representation of the disabled community in fictional film and television, arguing that when it is portrayed onscreen, the images are often inaccurate or unfair. Whereas media treatment of women, the gay community, or ethnic minorities has received considerable academic attention, no such priority has been given to the nature of the portrayal of the disabled, or the lack of proportional visibility on our screens.

Cultural And Structural Change In Irish Television Drama, Edward Brennan

Irish Communication Review

According to Devereux (1998), RTÉ drama, and RTÉ television in general, excludes society’s powerless. This is, in his view, a result of the ideology of RTÉ drama producers. Devereux’s research on RTÉ drama concentrates on Glenroe1. It states that Glenroe fails to represent adequately those who are marginalised in Irish society. In passing, Devereux mentions some material and organisational constraints which may help to explain why this is so.

Maple And Shamrock: Seeking A Strategy For Survival In The Audiovisual Jungle, Colum Kenny

Irish Communication Review

Attempting to assess what the future might hold for Irish broadcasters and producers, especially in the light of digital and multimedia developments and of increasing competition, I recently paid a visit to Ontario and Quebec, two adjacent provinces of Canada. It is a country where audiovisual matters have long been taken seriously. Canada's proximity to the U.S. 'elephant', as that neighbour is sometimes known, concentrates the northern state's collective mind on survival strategies. Previous trips to Canada, including attendance at the Toronto Film Festival and participation as a guest in the Banff Television Festival in Alberta, had induced in the …

Book Reviews Volume 5

Irish Communication Review

Book Reviews

D. Butler, The Trouble With Reporting Northern Ireland Aldershot, Reviewed by Catherine Curran.

K. Tester, Media Culture and Morality, Reviewed by Eoin Devereux

B. Gunter, J. Sancho-Aidridge and P. Winston, Television - The Public's View, Reviewed by Amanda Dunne.

R. Winsbury and S. Fazal (eds.) Vision and Hindsight: The first 25 Years of the International Institute of Communications, Reviewed by Desmond Fisher.

R. Silverstone, Television and Everyday Life, Reviewed by Richard Fitzsimons.

J. Tambling, A Night in at the Opera London, Reviewed by lan Fox.

S. Moores, Interpreting Audiences, An Ethnography of Media Consumption Livingstone and P. Lunt …

Thatcher, The Iba And Death On The Rock, Tony Fleck

Irish Communication Review

Since its beginnings in the 1920s. broadcasting in these islands has always been considered by the vartous governments of the day. whatever their political complexion. to be too important to be left solely to the broadcasters. Successive administrations have attempted to regulate and control what is heard or seen over the airWaves by a series of acts of the British Parliament or Dail E!reann. These acts have been drafted so as to give designated ministers the power to decide on the composition and membership of the Authorities. Boards of Governors or Commissions established by law - and to dismiss them …