"In May the governments launched talks to restore the NI Assembly, but we've yet to see any appetite to tackle deeper problems. "The needs of political parties have long trumped the needs of communities, but there might also be deeper reasons why the process is 'stuck'."
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"governments were forced into action by the murder of Lyra McKee. Her work put a spotlight on communities left behind in the peace process. "But just as her brand of journalism was sadly at the fringes of mainstream media debate, issues she championed are missing in the talks."
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"Real change is dependent on substantial efforts to help those “left behind” communities. "But our failure to grasp that fact and to properly debate a new future may lie in a rarely discussed development: the decline of the news media in Northern Ireland."
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Some feared talks would deliver a weak deal & a return of Stormont on a 'business as usual' basis. "Such an illusion of change would do nothing for communities living in the grip of poverty and paramilitaries – but we all know this, so why is it not penetrating public debate?"
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In the 1990s the search for peace was bolstered by public debate informed by a strong media landscape. "Today we see a weakened media: newspapers under pressure, broadcaster UTV has reduced its investigative output...debate is now dominated by mammoth news operation of BBC NI."
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"healthy public debate must reflect ethnic and racial diversity, it must cover the Republic of Ireland, as well as Britain, since both are interwoven with Northern Ireland life; it must give sustained coverage to factors that trap communities in grip of poverty & paramilitaries."
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But BBC NI public face "does not reflect the scale of diversity in Northern Ireland", there's minimal reporting from the rest of the island, and it doesn't give content required to "champion change for the disadvantaged 'left behind'."
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"If we are to overhaul our broken politics, we should start by debating how to rebalance our media landscape... "The realities of diversity, cross-border life, cultural difference and social inequality, have to be reflected to build a fair and just society."
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Read the full article here: Media in Northern Ireland must help deliver real changehttps://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/media-in-northern-ireland-must-help-deliver-real-change-1.3934923 …
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