Heard the News? Banning Broadcasting Sound

Abstract

On 19 October 1988 British Home Secretary Douglas Hurd imposed unprecedented peacetime restrictions on broadcasting. The banning of direct interviews with eleven Irish organisations including Sinn Fein, a legal political party with elected councillors and an MP at Westminster, was widely condemned. We report research which documents the effect of the restrictions of British TV news. The research shows that Sinn Fein appearances on British Network News were 63% fewer in the year following the introduction of the restrictions than the previous year. We look at how journalists have reacted to the restrictions and examine the government's reasons for introducing this measure. In particular we look at whether 'terrorists' gain the 'oxygen of publicity' from television coverage. Finally we assess the relation between government and the media in the wake of what has become known as the Broadcasting Ban.