What Stephen Nolan can teach us about Journalism in Northern Ireland
Jane corscadden
The morning after delivering a lecture titled 'Enhancing Democratic Debate in the Era of Fake News' on Tuesday 26th Feburary at Queen's University, Stephen Nolan received a disturbing call on his BBC Ulster Radio show. Although not played directly onto the show - instead the transcript of the screened call was read aloud by Nolan - the call revealed the dangerous side of being a journalist in Northern Ireland.
"Someone may blow your F-ing brains out if you mention this again”, the caller warned while calling in during Nolan's discussion on the RHI Scandal. In particular, Nolan was discussing proposals to permanently end payments to RHI boiler owners. Nolan has been giving extensive coverage of the RHI scandal since news broke in 2016. The Renewable Heat Incentive scheme was supposed to incentivise farmers and business owners to switch to using wood pellet burners by offering them a subsidy to do so. However, alleged wrongdoing at executive level led to those engaging with the incentive then turning a profit on the public money used to subsidise the scheme by burning pellets at a higher level.
The threats were relayed to the PSNI, with Nolan stating "hopefully the police will take that and deal with the person and we'll continue to do the job that we're employed to do."
The call into the morning Nolan show has brought up an important question: is this the result of asking questions in Northern Ireland? How does trying to uncover the truth in a country polluted with political corruption still lead to ridiculous threats? Have we not moved on at all from the dark days of reporting during The Troubles?
During his talk at QUB on Tuesday, Nolan described his journalistic work as "genuinely life important." On his daily radio show and weekly TV show, Nolan uses his characteristically 'in your face' brand of journalism to talk about the political and social issues plaguing the masses in Northern Ireland. This is Nolan's way of uncovering the truth for regular people through his reporting. He achieves this truth by giving a platform for those who may not have a say in mainstream media, sometimes including controversial figures such as Jamie Bryson. He is unapologetic in his reporting even in the midst of threats; not sinking back and becoming quiet but, as he states during his lecture, "I will raise my voice! I will be aggressive!".
A key moment of Nolan's shows is making sure the public has a voice, whether it's asking a question on his TV show or calling in to his radio show to join the debate. Nolan has never been one to shy away from a controversial story and ask probing questions to those in the political establishment, shown through his extensive coverage on the NI flag protests for example. Many have argued that all this focus on shouting and division does is tear communities in NI further apart, however Nolan argues that by doing so he's opening up the debate to those who aren't heard from. He presents himself as his authentic self - he's someone everyone knows, and displays himself as someone his audiences can talk to as an equal.
Nolan must be commended for his focus on controversial issues, especially the RHI scandal. Although his style of journalistic reporting isn't everyone's cup of tea, he still opens up the floor to the common man and investigates issues that everyone's talking about. From Nolan, we should learn not to be afraid to research and bring to light injustices that society faces, even in the face of ridiculous threats. There will always be those who are looking to bring Northern Irish society back to the dark ages with such threats, but it needs to remain the role of the journalist to continue to share stories, investigate injustices, and learn what we can from the society around us.