A History of Ireland in Song

The Propaganda War

Since Britain is a sophisticated western democracy, her media is controlled not by open censorship, but by the old boy network: informal meetings and conversations, "a nod's as a good as a wink", etc. This method of operation, relying on the at least tacit consent of those controlled, is demonstrably much more effective than open censorship. Thus, every national newspaper, every major TV and radio station, cooperates in mystifying the causes and course of the conflict in Ireland. This does not mean that tensions don't exist between state and mass media; merely that such tensions tend to be resolved in the national interest. That's the British national interest, of course; why should they be bothered about what's good for Ireland?

As an example of how the system operates, take the killing of Billy Wright. The British media consistently treated this as one with the loyalist murders which followed, terming the lot a "spate of sectarian killings" — never mind the fact that Billy Wright was a member of the LVF and a psychopath whose deeds recalled the worst days of the Shankill Butchers, whereas the subsequent victims were all randomly chosen Catholics. The problem is just these mad Paddies and their religious bigotry, don't you know old chap, what?

This system has been operating from the start of the conflict, sometimes subtly as with Wright, sometimes more blatantly. The spin-doctoring over Bloody Sunday was a particularly notable example of the latter method. The British Press was first gagged until publication of the Widgery Report; and then... well, let the Daily Express speak for the Fourth Estate: "Widgery blames IRA and clears Army". Or the Daily Mail: "...the record shows — and it is a record which now includes Lord Widgery's report — that our troops are doing an impossible job impossibly well". In case you haven't bothered to follow the link, and since you'd never guess from those quotes, on Bloody Sunday, the British army shot dead 13 unarmed civilians on the streets of Derry. The soldiers were not under fire before or during the shootings. It wasn't a case of panic: this was the Parachute Regiment, quite possibly one of the finest bodies of fighting men in the world. Men like that don't panic. These soldiers were given an order, and like the good soldiers they are, they obeyed the order. What the order was is left as an exercise for the reader. Paul and Linda McCartney wrote a song after Bloody Sunday, called "Give Ireland Back to the Irish". Read the lyrics — they're easily available through a web search, and I think you will conclude that it's a harmless little ditty, is it not? Well, shortly after it's release the BBC banned it.

It must be noted that there are a few (alas, very few) honorable exceptions. Paul Foot in particular stands out as one freelance journalist who has always been prepared to speak the truth on Britain's Irish policy. But for the vast majority, it's business as usual, and the "mushroom treatment" for the British electorate.

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