The Real Lives Affair

A month after British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher declared that "terrorists should be starved of the oxygen of publicity", she learned that a senior Republican (Martin McGuinness) had been interviewed for a forthcoming BBC Real Lives documentary, At the Edge of the Union.

As a result, British Home Secretary Leon Brittan stated that transmission of the programme would be against the national interest and, more significantly, he wrote to the Chairman, Stuart Young, asking the BBC to cancel the broadcast.

Leon Brittan The Governors called an emergency meeting and, against the advice of senior BBC executives (acting in place of Director-General Alasdair Milne who was on holiday), decided to view the programme. They ruled that it could not go out.

This was interpreted inside and outside the BBC as government censorship, and the Governors found themselves at the centre of a furious storm. Staff went on strike for a day in protest, and the Assistant Director-General went into print saying the Governors were to the BBC what the iceberg was to the Titanic.

Alasdair Milne When the dust settled the programme was broadcast with minor tweaks. But inside the BBC procedures were tightened. Rules already existed about the referral procedures on delicate programmes about the North of Ireland, but they had been spelt out to news and current affairs staff - not to programme makers in the Features department, which was responsible for Real Lives. Now the rules applied across the board.

Originally scheduled to be transmitted in August 1985 it was postponed until October 1985.

The Strike called by BBC Journalists had crippled the BBC for a number of days and set a precedent in terms of freedom of press and information.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Real Lives
• Edge of the Union
• Martin McGuinness
• Gregory Campbell
• Derry
• Carrickmore
• Propaganda
• Censorship

[ksulley88]

does anyone know where i can actually view the full programme itself...only ever seen snippets and would been keen to watch the full version