Ban on Irish Nationalists on British Television and Radio

During the conflict in Northern Ireland, British television and radio companies often had to air programs on the subject of Ireland ^[1] . One such affected broadcast was the documentary television series At the Edge of the Union , aired on the BBC . In the episode "True Lives" ( eng. Real Lives ), shots were shown with the participation of a member of the " Sinn Fein " Martin McGuinness and a member of the Democratic Unionist Party Gregory Campbell. The program was withdrawn from the air after government intervention, but this led to a day of protest by the National Union of Journalists, who stopped working due to a violation of the principle of independent broadcasting ^[2] .

During the months of the prohibition of certain television shows and radio shows in Northern Ireland, riots broke out and skirmishes and terrorist attacks took place ^[3] . One of the bloodiest consequences was the explosion of a bus in Ballygowley , which killed eight British soldiers ^[4] . Another incident, the , who tried to disrupt the funeral of an assassinated IRA soldier, forced journalists to come into conflict with the government, especially after they refused to transfer photos from the scene of the Royal Ulster Police so as not to get under pressure ^[1] . In response, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher appealed to the House of Commons, in which she stated that the journalists refused to fulfill their professional duty as an aid to the investigation and in fact switched to the side of the terrorists ^[1] . The film about the Irish was ultimately banned from showing in general under the Prevention of Terrorism Act and the Emergency Act of 1973 ^[1] .

The Thatcher’s third government, represented by the conservatives, decided to ban Sinn Fein from using the media to justify the actions of the IRA ^[2] , to give an adequate response to increased violence in the region, to change the concept of the right to remain silent and to narrow down the use of clemency and parole ^{[3] [ 5]} . In September 1988, another reason for taking such measures was the late-night talk show ( After Dark ), in one of the episodes of which appeared on Channel 4 , the guest was Jerry Adams , head of Sinn Fein ^{[1] [ 6]} . Paul Wilkinson, a professor at Aberdeen University and an expert on the history of terrorism, demanded that the issue be immediately taken off the air, which was done ^[1] .

On October 19, 1988, Home Secretary Douglas Heard, on the basis of paragraph 13 (4) of the BBC Broadcasting License and paragraph 29 (3) of the 1981 Broadcasting Act, prohibited all television and radio broadcasts in which supporters and members of the Irish paramilitary take part formations or nationalist parties ^{[7] [8]} . The British media were forbidden to broadcast audio and video recordings with the presence of Irish nationalists (including recordings of their votes), loyalists and Republicans ^{[2] [4]} . Outlawed by this fact, the speeches of the IRA , INOA , the Ulster Defense Association and the Ulster volunteer forces were declared, although the main goal was Sinn Fein ^{[2] [3]} . Turning to the House of Commons, Heard stated that the terrorists are gaining support on radio and television, and the ban is designed to stop this phenomenon ^{[3] [9]} . Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher hoped that she would block the oxygen to Irish militants, depriving them of media support ^[6] .

The 1981 Act allowed the Minister of the Interior to take similar measures to ensure public interest without preliminary discussion in Parliament ^[10] , but Heard proposed the matter for consideration by the House of Commons on November 2, 1998 ^{[11] [12]} . The opposition, represented by the Labor Party , opposed the ban, arguing that it was unacceptable for a free society, but the majority of the conservatives supported the ban mainly ^[11] .

condemned the ban ^[13] , and the National Union of Journalists joined it on November 10 (however, due to disagreement, the strike of journalists ended before it could start) ^[1] . Several journalists tried to sue Parliament for violating their rights, but in May 1989 the High Court of England and Wales refused to satisfy their lawsuit, claiming that the Minister of the Interior acted legally ^[14] . The Court of Appeal in December 1989 upheld the decision of the High Court. ^[15]

Heard hoped that the ban would have to affect the media at any level, ranging from state to local. However, opponents of these measures objected, stating that they could be provided with false information that is not true and creates erroneous public opinion ^{[4] [16]} . The host, Scarlet McGuire, in 1989 said that the case is not so much about journalists who seek to provide truthful information, but about ordinary people who cannot understand what is happening thoroughly because of fragmentary or contradictory information ^[16] . Duke James Hussey, the head of the BBC , called the ban a very dangerous precedent ^[4] , and a year later a protest rally took place on Downing Street 10 . It presented a petition against the ban in the framework of the Campaign for Freedom of the Press and Broadcasting, signed by 50 deputies ^[4] .

Journalists were advised to circumvent the ban by any means possible. Initially, the ban also extended to archival material, but then it was removed from the ban ^[1] . In 2005, John Burth, a former BBC CEO, stated that Heard’s idea was invented from the air. Danny Morrison, in 1988, the director of the public relations department of Sinn Fein , after a meeting with television and radio journalists ^[2] managed to circumvent the ban: the idea of ​​introducing subtitles shallow, replacing it with the idea of ​​inviting actors to read out official statements ^[17] . The BBC and its commercial partners compiled a list of actors who could be invited to voice texts on the subject of the conflict in Northern Ireland in a relatively short time ^[2] . Actors read the text synchronously with the original author of the text. So, once such a method was tested on the American television channel CNN , when allegedly Jerry Adams gave an interview. The Americans did not realize that instead of Adams the text was read by an understudy ^[3] .

Numerous talk shows and television series fell under the ban. In December 1988, Secretary of State of Northern Ireland Tom King ordered Channel 4 to withdraw from the show the series of the television series Lou Grant , which described the fictional action movie IRA, but this episode had already been shown on television ^[4] . The documentary "Mother Ireland" ( English Mother Ireland ), which described the participation of women in the conflict and the journalist Mired Farrell , who was killed during the SAS special operation in Gibraltar ^{[4], was banned} . Much of one of the episodes of the Nation talk show featuring was also cut after a significant part of her speech was subtitled ^[18] .

An interview with Errol Smalley, one of the accomplices of eliminated from broadcast on County Sound in Surrey , although he later appeared on the radio ^[4] . In November 1988, The Pogues was banned from playing the radio song “ ” due to support for the , who was convicted of involvement in the bombings in Birmingham Pubs and the Guildford Four ^{[4] [ 18] [19]} .

During the parliamentary elections in 1992, the ban was temporarily removed for debate between Jerry Adams from Sinn Fein and John Hume from the Social Democratic and Labor Party . The ban was returned immediately after the closure of polling stations, preventing Adams from reacting to his defeat in the fight for a seat in parliament and not showing it on television or radio ^[20] . Genuine nationalist voices could have sounded if it was not about the conflict in Northern Ireland. It was also allowed to speak to a direct witness of the events related to the conflict. So, Gerard McGuigan, a member of Sinn Fein, appeared in the media in February 1992 when he told how gangsters from the Ulster Freedom Fighters ^[20] attacked his house and tried to rob him ^[17] . On the other hand, journalist Peter Taylor was allowed to interview IRA militants convicted and sent to Mayes prison, the material of which was included in the documentary. The militants talked about their life in prison, but part of the interview on the conditions of treatment (in particular, food supply) had to be re-voiced ^[2] . In 2005, Francis Welch, a television producer, called the incident the surreal nature of prohibitions ^[2] .

Thatcher's successor, John Major, made a speech in the House of Commons in November 1993 with a proposal to review the ban, saying that journalists who interviewed nationalists went too far in places ^{[6] [17]} . Following his statement on television, Jerry Adams interviewed Jill Knight, a member of parliament from the Conservative Party, described it as being caused by a crime against a huge number of people ^{[17] [21]} . Conservative backbenders and Ulster Unionists, for their part, demanded tightening restrictions ^[3] , and The Irish Times reported that the Major plans to completely suppress freedom of speech. However, journalists opposed the tightening of the law: John Simpson with the BBC said that then no one would be able to find out the truth about the events in Northern Ireland ^[17] . At that time, coverage of events in Northern Ireland became more and more frequent, as the peaceful resolution of the conflict had finally begun ^[6] . Secretary of State for Inheritance Peter Brooke did a little research, but in February 1994 the Major Government decided to restore the status quo ^[22] .

Pressure to lift bans increased after the Irish government lifted censorship against Sinn Fein and paramilitary groups in January 1994, ^[20] giving northern Irish people the right to finally see and hear their leaders on RTÉ : British media coverage these leaders were still banned. Commenting on the decision of Ireland, Adams said that censorship for 20 years did not allow anyone to obtain the right to information and create opportunities for a peaceful resolution of the conflict ^[20] . In 1994, Adams, visiting the United States, delivered a speech that was broadcast almost to all countries of the world, except Great Britain (it had to be duplicated there again) ^{[6] [23]} . In May 1994, the National Union of Journalists even filed a complaint with the European Commission on Human Rights with a request to help repeal the censorship ban law, but was refused. Irish journalists also made a similar request in 1991, opposing their government, but they were also refused ^{[6] [24]} .

On September 16, 1994, the day after the IRA announced a ceasefire, the ban on Irish nationalists and Republicans on television and radio was finally lifted ^{[25] [26]} . On the same day, Major announced the opening of ten roads between Northern Ireland and Ireland and promised to hold a referendum on the future management of Northern Ireland ^[27] . Martin McGuinness became the first MP from Sinn Fein to give an interview to British television after the ban was lifted (he spoke on Ulster television ^[28] ).

The lifting of the ban was welcomed by all television and radio companies. Channel 4 Executive Director Michael Grade said the lifting of the ban marked the end of a brutal era in which they tried to censor coverage of the most important post-war news. John Burt noted that now the events will again be possible to cover from all sides ^[3] . Sinn Fein also approved the whole lifting of the ban, and only the Unionists remained outraged by this decision. Peter Robinson, a member of the Democratic Unionist Party, noted that the decision was hasty because the IRA was not disarmed, and thus an armed organization potentially dangerous to Britain was officially recognized as legal ^[29] .

Francis Welch, producer of the BBC documentary, Speak No Evil , claimed the ban increased pressure on the Northern Ireland news coverage, while Danny Morrison called the law a government weapon in the war to silence the Republicans. Former Conservative Party member Norman Tebbit said the media gave Sinn Fein and the IRA the freedom they didn't deserve, and Peter Robinson called the use of the bill justified. ^[2]

In 1994, Baron Tony Hall, the head of the BBC news service in the UK, said that measures to censor the media did not allow viewers and listeners to adequately judge the events, as well as did not allow to distinguish a deceived voice from a genuine one. In particular, he cited the appearance of Jerry Adams on the talk show “ On the Record ” in September 1993, in which he talked about peace in Northern Ireland. Hall claimed that Adams was too worried and did not behave liberally during the interview, while presenter Sheena MacDonald claimed that military peace in Northern Ireland could not be achieved. However, the audience was not aware of the smallest details of the behavior of both participants. Hall also mentioned that British journalists complained about censorship, comparing it with censorship in India and Egypt ^[20] , and also stated that Sinn Fein and the IRA manipulated the ban, using it as an excuse to refuse to provide interviews ^[20] .

BBC Overseas News Editor John Simpson said he had similar difficulties during the Gulf War . When he worked in Baghdad , some of his colleagues criticized Iraqi censorship, in response to which Iraqis maliciously mentioned the ban on coverage of Sinn Fein, which caused Simpson's indignation and reluctance to see Britain along with Hussein Iraq ^[20] . At a conference on Northern Ireland held in November 1993 at the University of London, led by Irish Mary Holland, several privateers said they had to conduct journalistic investigations themselves ^[30] .

A study by notes that the coverage of Sinn Fein’s activities before the ban was relatively small: in 1988, the party appeared on television or radio only 93 times, 17 times gave interviews to the BBC (with 633 interviews total, of which 121 on the account of the Conservatives and 172 on the account of the Royal Ulster Police and Civil Services), moreover, he never gave it to the studio ^[31] . However, after the ban, popularity fell even lower, and the next year Sinn Fein appeared only 34 times. Delays and confusion, voice-overs and subtitles often led to the fact that programs and films were shot from the air ^[32] .

• BBC Broadcasting Scandals
• UK censorship