"Is the Irish Media Hideously White?"

dublin | arts and media | event notice Monday September 25, 2006 18:23 by David Nevin - Suas Educational Development / Concern buildingunity at suas dot ie

Thursday, 28th September, 2006: Suas Educational Development (www.suas.ie) in conjunction with Concern (www.concern.net) will host a lunchtime panel discussion entitled “Is Irish Media Hideously White?” at 12 midday on Thursday 28th September in the Goethe Institute, 37 Merrion Square East, Dublin 2. The discussion will focus on Intercultural Integration in the Irish Media and the representation of non Irish national journalists in mainstream media in Ireland.

Is the Irish Media “Hideously White”?

Thursday, 28th September, 2006: Suas Educational Development (www.suas.ie) in conjunction with Concern (www.concern.net) will host a lunchtime panel discussion entitled “Is Irish Media Hideously White?” at 12 midday on Thursday 28th September in the Goethe Institute, 37 Merrion Square East, Dublin 2. The discussion will focus on Intercultural Integration in the Irish Media and the representation of non Irish national journalists in mainstream media in Ireland.

Ireland has very quickly become a cosmopolitan of colours and cultures in recent years. This has impacted greatly upon society and how we see ourselves as a nation. In an interview with BBC Radio Scotland in 2001, BBC Director General Greg Dyke accused the organisation of being “Hideously White”, claiming that it was unrepresentative of the ethnic make up of its viewers. Since this comment, the organisation has made more efforts to increase ethnic representation and diversity amongst its staff and programming.

Key speakers at the seminar in Dublin will discuss this topic and similarities between this situation and the Irish media. Speakers include, Ian O’ Doherty, Irish Independent; the National Union of Journalists; Dr. Gavan Titley of Maynooth University, John MacMahon, RTE and Izabela Chudzicka, City Channel. Karen Coleman, Foreign Editor, Newstalk 106fm will chair the discussion. Questions from the floor and open debate will be encouraged throughout the debate.

Commenting on the seminar, David Nevin of Suas said: “The Irish media has a key role to play at this time of transition. While there are many ethnic journalists working for ethnic papers and radio stations, few are seen in the mainstream media. The question that is posed at this seminar is whether mainstream print and programming is representative of the array of cultures now present in Ireland.”

The “Is Irish Media Hideously White?” seminar is taking place as part of the ‘Building Unity Through Diversity’ project which includes a series of events focusing on issues of interculturalism and diversity. The campaign coincides with the ‘1000 Families’ free photographic exhibition at Merrion Square from 13th September until 29th October. The exhibition consists of approximately 70 large images taken by acclaimed German photographer Uwe Ommer and featuring families from over 130 countries around the world.

To book a place at the seminar, please contact David Nevin, Suas at 01 662 1410 / buildingunity@suas.ie. For further information on the ‘Building Unity Through Diverstiy’ campaign and associated events, please log on to www.buildingunity.ie; www.suas.ie; www.concern.net.