Meeja WAtch

Meeja WAtch

BY LLOYD GORMAN

Western Australia, and the rest of the country, are never far from the hearts and minds of many in Ireland, particularly those who have lived and worked here or amongst those still with family still here. Interest in WA in particular is high if this sample of news and feature articles amongst some of Ireland’s traditional print media are anything to go by....

On March 19, The West Australian carried this short article with photograph about the impact of Coronavirus on the cancelled celebrations for St. Patrick's Day. The story is one the newspaper would have picked up from a news agency. The photograph does capture the scene and sense of emptiness and isolation forced onto a city that should be in full festive flow, not lockdown. It doesn't make any difference to the story at all, but there is a small mistake that most Dubs would probably be able to pick up. The article says the street trader "stands in a deserted O'Connell Street". Nearly right but not quite. There are enough clues in the photograph to pin point his exact location. The lone 'sole trader' is actually pictured in Middle Abbey Street, which is just off O'Connell Street and not really worth quibbling about. Just above the tricolour to the top right of his cart is a small Guinness sign. That sign belongs to the Oval Bar, a good old fashioned Dublin pub, which sits at the side of the Eason's on O'Connell Street. Pandemic rains on this parade!

If the 24 hour news cycle wasn’t already in place, the media concept would have had to be introduced as a result of the pandemic. The early weeks of the outbreak particularly saw the government, media and everyone else scramble to try and come to terms with what was happening. It was a real case of ‘rí rá agus ruaille buaille’ (chaos and confusion). So much happened so quickly and things changed so much that it was hard to keep up with the unfolding crisis. Announcements and developments that would under other circumstances would be major news stories in their own right came thick and fast only only to be replaced quickly by a new wave of rolling updates. It was a blitzkrieg of sorts. The media had the important job of trying to communicate all this information to the public, quickly and accurately. In all the coverage and reporting in the media one there is one headline that we think stands out head and shoulders above anything else. Tabloids newspapers are renowned for catchy headlines and punchy stories but in this case some clever sub-editor at the Irish Daily Star excelled at their craft. On April 8, the Dublin based paper reported to a country already under siege that the lockdown had been extended, which meant Irish people would be forced to stay at home for even longer. The headline ‘Go out your back and tan’ summed it up brilliantly and may well be one of the outstanding headlines ever in an Irish newspaper. Anyone Irish will understand and appreciate the double meaning of the headline but a quick explanation for those without an Irish background might be useful. The inspired headline is a play on the famous Irish rebel song ‘Come out ye Black and Tans’. If you don’t know who the Black and Tans were, google them. In any case it exemplifies how with just a few words a headline can really lift a story and capture a moment in history. Rebel spirit channelled for Coronavirus clampdown

Irish Scene intends to make a physical impression into the future

On St. Patrick’s Day and amongst the deluge of COVID-19 related developments, the Irish Echo in Sydney made a significant announcement of its own. “After 31 years in print, the decision has been made to transition completely to digital,” the title announced on its website on March 17. “The development means that there will be no more print editions of the Irish Echo. Notwithstanding the broader challenges of the media industry and the particular difficulties associated with the coronavirus pandemic, we have made the decision to become a digital-only media outlet with immediate effect,” it went on to add. “This decision has been made in a bid to secure our future so we can continue to be a media voice for the Irish community in Australia.” The Irish Echo newspaper used to come out every two weeks, but some time ago became a monthly publication. It used to be available in Perth from some newsagents (where you would have to pay for it) and from Irish pubs (where it was free). Now it is a digital-only publication, a change it says was driven by demand from readers and advertisers. The Echo is not unique in going down this path, other newspapers and publications - such as Tinteán in Australia - have taken the same road in recent times or even several years ago. Unfortunately some have folded entirely, pushed over the edge by the coronavirus crisis and other factors. As the new owners of Irish Scene, Lloyd and Imelda Gorman wrote to Billy Cantwell, founding publisher of the Irish Echo, late last year to introduce themselves and wish the Echo continued success. The Irish in Australia were better served by having a diversity and choice of publications to be a voice for the community, we said at the time. Irish Scene still holds that view but now finds itself as the last man standing as a dedicated print title for the wider Irish community [I say this fully recognising the good work of the Australia Irish Heritage Association in Perth who continue to publish The Journal, which is a great read but generally only available to its members and subscribers]. So while this edition (May/June) of Irish Scene is only published online as a result of the virus and its impact on the country and economy, this is only a fallback position. Irish Scene has been around for 21 years and has never missed an issue. We weren’t going to start now. Our aim is to get your favourite cultural and entertainment magazine back into print as soon as possible on the other side of this crisis. Indeed, we will be looking at how Irish Scene can reach further and deeper into the Irish community across Australia. Watch this space!

Ramble away boys, ramble away!

In terms of keeping the show on the road in these crazy times, Meeja Watch would like to make special mention of Frank Murphy and Gerry Gannon. Frank and Gerry are the team behind Celtic Rambles on Radio Fremantle. Every Saturday morning starting at 8am they produce their live show which includes plenty of guests, cohosts, music and just about anything else you can fit into a studio and broadcast down a microphone. At the best of times it is a massive and time consuming undertaking to plan and put the show on. Frank - a former RTE man - has some health issues which he has mentioned on air but he keeps doing what he loves, with Gerry at his right hand. Even when in the early - and scary - stages of the pandemic outbreak when events like the St. Patrick’s Day parade and mass were cancelled at short notice, Frank and Gerry kept doing Celtic Rambles. Radio, as they proved, is a great way to stay informed but also to entertained. It was - and still is - a time for all of us to be our best and these two certainly did theirs. Thank you gentlemen!