Friday was the last academic lecture that we had here in Northern Ireland. We had a panel discussion from community based organization leaders from across L’Derry. The panel was composed off Michael Doherty, Bryan Doherty (not related), Eamon Dean and Maureen Hetherington. This panel discussion served as a culmination of everything that we have learned since being here in Northern Ireland.

The theme that stuck with me the most arose within 30 seconds of the start discussion; around the media in Northern Ireland , when Brian explained that his placement had been at the Derry News. Eamon Dean asked him about the editorial policies, especially regarding sectarianism and Brain was unsure of exactly how to answer at the time. Many times throughout the two hours we were at the junction, shots were made at the media. The problems that the group expressed were cases of avoidance of real issues in local media and throughout the UK. From the panel’s prospective, issues of sectarianism must be addressed; and for the media to gloss over them to avoid pushing buttons is only perpetuating the problems that exist. I found this an interesting twist on media in comparison to the media in the U.S. In the United States reporters seem to always be looking to break the big story and tell the news as biased as it might be sometimes. In Northern Ireland the media seems to be more interested in anything that is not the conflicts and disputes that go on. I have been reading the paper on the days at my placement; and it seems that more of the papers are devoted to pictures from local night clubs than any sort of real news which makes the papers a bit less appetizing to read. I can only assume that it is because the people here are so tired of the conflict that they don’t even want to write about it let alone read about it. The problem that the members of this panel had with this ideology is that their work is all about people talking about their problems and interacting with members of the other community; and they feel that the media is almost working against them. I think that this really shows the human side to the conflicts because it is human nature to want to avoid the tough issues. This issue also exemplifies the dynamic of being an outsider to the conflict vs. having to go through with it and deal with issues on a day to day basis.

I feel that the panel is right in their disagreements surrounding the media and their lack of addressing of the issues. Everything that I have learned in NI has led me to believe that people need to deal with the issues; and glossing over the problems and issues is like standing still and that is not going to cut it as far as I am concerned