John Horgan

... When Kennedy visited Dublin in the summer of 1963 their political discussions centred largely on international problems: Kennedy's preoccupations were ... At a 1998 meeting in Dublin, the secretary-general of the Commonwealth, Chief Emeka Anyuoka, pointed out mildly that ...

The acquisition by the Irish newspaper group, Independent Newspapers plc, of a controlling interest in The Independent and T’he Independent on Sunday [U.K.], provides a new dimension to the emerging debate on media globalisation, and prompts a sharper focus on the ambitions and activities of Dr. A.J. F. O’Reilly, chairman of Independent Newspapers plc and one of the most controversial media figures in his own country

In physics, the Doppler effect describes how the properties of waves - as in sound waves - change in frequency as an observer, or listener, moves in relation to their source. This study of the modalities of reporting and commenting on the events of 1916 in Dublin across both the Unionist and Nationalist newspapers in what was to become Northern Ireland after 1922 offers new perspectives on the way in which both physical distance and embedded political positions will influence the selection and the presentation of news. While it demonstrates – as might have been expected - that intra-communitarian and sectarian tensions are echoed in the reports concerned, it also reveals sometimes unexpected distortions and adds several layers of complexity to the study of both Unionist and Nationalist media in this period. It also indicates the weakness of the traditional Orange/Green dichotomy as an explanatory paradigm of the complexity of Northern Ireland at this time. The ways in which 1916 in ...

RECENT EVENTS BOTH BEFORE AND AFTER the publication of Lord Justice Leveson’s Report into regulatory aspects of the newspaper industry in Britain have tended to concentrate on ethical and professional issues as manifested in the practices of a substantial number of British national papers. Of less immediate concern – but, it could be argued, of some significance in the longer term – has been the relationship between proprietors and editors. It can reasonably be suggested that because the issues surrounding journalism practice are at least as cultural as they are legal or regulatory, and because culture within organisations flows down from the top rather than seeps up from the bottom, these relationships are deserving of further study than they have received to date. In the specific British context, the role of the effective proprietor of the News International group of newspapers has been evident in two sharply contrasting ways: in Mr Murdoch’s doughty, if behind-the-scenes, defence...

Trotsky of Russia knows Francis McCullagh. So does President Calles of Mexico. Peter, the King of Serbia, was McCullagh’s friend. The headhunters of the upper Amazon list Francis McCullagh as one of their principal deities. The warring tribes of Morocco call him blood brother. A room is always ready for him in the imperial palace of Siam. The latchstrings of hundreds of Siberian peasant huts are out in anticipation of his coming.

Brroadcasting in the Republic of Ireland, which was a public service monopoly for most of the period, operated under government legislation which effectively prevented it from directly presenting the political views of para-military organisations or their political associates involved in the Northern Ireland crisis. Journalistic opposition to government policy on this issue chiefly involved broadcasters who were members of the National Union of Journalists. The union itself, which is British-based but which has a membership of approximately 4000 and also a semi-autonomous organisation in the Republic of Ireland, adopted a strong public stance on the issue. This examines and evaluates the  Union's record on this key issue relating to freedom of speech.

The political context as Ireland addressed the issue of joining the Common Market in 1972 reflected domestic, Irish-English, and international political dimensions in significant ways. This presentation to a meting of Irish politicians and historians in Leinster House on 20 January 2012, explores thee events.

The role of journalists in conflict situations has frequently been the subject of academic study, but this has generally been related to ethical issues. In the Republic of Ireland between 1971 and 1994, government censorship policies created new problems for journalists but--unusually--their efforts to confront this as a freedom of speech issue were hampered by deep political divisions which muffled the anticipated protest. The outcome of this detailed study of the events poses questions in relation to direct involvement by journalists and their unions in campaigns that have political as well as professional overtones, and suggests the need for more sophisticated forms of industrial action.

Journalism is traditionally thought of as a secondary source for historians. However, from a different perspective, it can be seen as a primary source, not only for cultural history, but for the motivations of historical actors which are too frequently analysed solely in terms of the outcomes of their actions.

Francis McCullagh, a journalist-adventurer who reported for a range of international newspapers from the Balkans, North Africa and the newly-created Soviet Union, was an exemplar of the roving foreign correspondents of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century whose professional skills enhanced their social mobility and who were as much participants as observers.

Newspapers in Northern Ireland were deeply divided on the issue of Home Rule in the first two decades of the twentieth century. This study contrasts the editorial and other attitudes of newspapers representing the nationalist and unionist political viewpoints in the area that became Northern Ireland after 1922.