Northern Ireland: Foreign News Media (Hansard, 5 June 1981)

Baroness Vickers
My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.

§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Northern Ireland Office (Lord Elton)
My Lords, Her Majesty's Government counter hostile foreign reporting on Northern Ireland by keeping our diplomatic posts abroad constantly up to date with factual information, including ministerial statements, so that they may keep the news media fully informed. This method has met with a measure of success, notably in the United States where our ambasssador and members of his staff have, in addition, made personal contributions to television and radio programmes. In some parts of Europe, however, there is evidence that the Government's position is still not fully understood and the effort already being made in these countries is therefore being increased.

Baroness Vickers
My Lords, I thank my noble friend for that reply and the action he has already taken. May I ask the noble Lord whether he considers that much of the information that comes out creates sympathy for the wrongdoers and is detrimental to the loyal citizens, to the police, and to the Army?

§ Lord Elton
My Lords, certainly one would wish to see a proper balance obtain in reporting, and in that context it is important to distinguish between reporting and editorial opinion. The Government's recent study shows that the majority of newspapers in the free world support Her Majesty's Government's policy on political status. A new booklet setting out editorial opinion both in the United Kingdom and abroad is being issued widely and copies are available in your Lordships' Library.
The noble Baroness referred to the balance of what is shown and written about, and I think she will agree that it is has been noticeable that in recent weeks more attention has been paid by the national news media, including television, to non-violent events in Northern Ireland such as the United Kingdom athletics championships, the new Short's airliner coming up six months ahead of schedule, and visits of the Archbishop of Canterbury and Princess Alexandra, the Londonderry Marathon, and so on. I think things are going the right way.

§ Baroness Gaitskell
My Lords, would it not be true to say that if we have a free press the only alternative is a dictatorship? Whatever one may say about a free press, that alternative would not be very welcome to a country like ours.

§ Lord Elton
My Lords, I am not certain from the noble Baroness's tone whether she is imputing to me or to the Government the idea of a censorship of the press.

§ Baroness Gaitskell
No.

§ Lord Elton
Nothing could be further from the case. As I have said, the free use of the free press is beginning to bear fruits in that the public is better seized of the implications of the campaigns now being waged in Northern Ireland.

§ The Earl of Lauderdale
My Lords, can my noble friend tell the House whether there is any reason to suppose that some of the scenes filmed by television may well have been prepared for the purpose, inasmuch as the television crews with all their gear seem to be at the right place at the right time for the purpose of getting gruesome pictures?

§ Lord Elton
My Lords, I would not go so far as to make a statement about that. I would, however, observe that there are occasions when cameras appear to precipitate events very soon after their arrival, and the rapidity with which an event ensues appears to be proportionate to the number of the cameras.

§ Viscount Hanworth
My Lords, can the noble Lord say why the Government do not make perfectly clear to people overseas the likely results of moving the Army out of Northern Ireland?

§ Lord Elton
My Lords, as I have already said, our diplomatic posts abroad are kept constantly up to date, both with factual developments and with Government policy. The point that the noble Viscount has made is of course to be found in that material.

§ Lord Segal
My Lords, would the noble Lord not agree that one of the aims of the media ought to be the conscious promotion of peace as well as the unbiased reporting of news?

§ Lord Elton
My Lords, I accept that, and I think there is evidence that the media themselves are now tending to accept it also, because the subject of the news is not merely the violence in Northern Ireland but the condition of Northern Ireland, and outside restricted areas of extreme violence there is a very large part of the Province, much the greater part of it, where normal lives are happily led in peace.

§ Baroness Trumpington
My Lords, have the Government considered buying space on American television in order to counteract IRA propaganda in the media in that country?

§ Lord Elton
My Lords, so far as I am aware, the broadcasts made by the ambassador and others to which I referred were secured at no cost to the public expense.

§ Lord Gladwyn
My Lords, would the Government agree that efforts of our representatives in the United States have had much success in influencing in every way and inducing the free press of America to give expression more to the views of Her Majesty's Government on the situation in Northern Ireland, and not on making heroes of the IRA?

§ Lord Elton
My Lords, indeed it has been satisfactory, and if your Lordships would care to look at the summary to which I referred, which is available in the Library, your Lordships would see the extent of that success.

§ Lord Glenamara
My Lords, can the noble Lord say whether the Government have taken up with the BBC the broadcasting throughout the day, at half hourly intervals from seven o'clock in the morning, of information about the visit of Princess Alexandra? Many of us believe that those broadcasts were the height of irresponsibility.

§ Lord Elton
My Lords, it was not the intention of Her Majesty's Government that that news should have been made public in advance of the event.