Peacebuilding a shared Northern Irish society
In this episode of What Northern Ireland Means to Me, we meet Malachi O'Doherty, who is a writer and commentator. ๏ปฟ TRANSCRIPT I think in some ways there's a wave pattern in history in Northern Ireland, and the wave pattern being one between trouble and peace. A lot depends on where you were born on... Continue Reading →
In this episode of What Northern Ireland Means to Me, we meet Rich Dale, who is an entrepreneur and environmentalist. ๏ปฟ TRANSCRIPT I was born and raised in Portadown. I've lived in Belfast for about 20 years. Generally see myself as Northern Irish, first. But beyond any other identities, whether it's Irish or British or... Continue Reading →
Book review: Reporting beyond the Problem (eds Karen Hopkinson and Nicole Dahmen) by Allan LEONARD 9 September 2021 While there is a historic tradition of journalism that strives towards a common, public good (however defined), this has occurred in a paradigm of a professionalisation of journalism and a business model where editors responded to a... Continue Reading →
In this episode of What Northern Ireland Means to Me, we meet Quintin Oliver, who's an activist, a campaigner, a lobbyist, and a public policy specialist. ๏ปฟ TRANSCRIPT I was brought up in east Belfast in what was termed a Protestant house in a Protestant area. And I went to a Protestant school and my... Continue Reading →
The mediaโs role in peacebuilding: none of its business? by Allan LEONARD 9 June 2021 So is peacebuilding none of the mediaโs business? That was a conclusion that broadcaster and journalist, Declan Harvey, posed to a panel of fellow journalists and writers at an online webinar delivered through Belfast City Councilโs PEACE IV Programme, which... Continue Reading →
Disinformation in a pandemic: sharing fact checkersโ experiences 23 March 2021 As part of the Imagine! Belfast Festival of Ideas and Politics, editors from three fact-checking organisations across these isles shared their experiences of work during the pandemic โ Claire Milne (Full Fact), Christine Bohan (TheJournal.ie), and Allan Leonard (FactCheckNI). The event was hosted by... Continue Reading →
Appropriate and accessible storytelling in museums and heritage sites by Allan LEONARD 26 March 2021 During an Imagine! Festival event, academics and practitioners shared their knowledge and experiences of the use of storytelling in museum and heritage site environments, as a means of evoking emotion in appropriate and accessible ways. โStorytelling enables us to learn... Continue Reading →
Overcoming closed borders: opening up fact-checking solutions Interview with Giovanni ZAGNI (Director, Pagella Politica) by Allan LEONARD 24 November 2020 โI havenโt seen some of my colleagues in six months,โ remarked Giovanni Zagni, director of Pagella Politica, based in Milan. Conducting this interview via Zoom was a salutary reminder of unprecedented times in which we... Continue Reading →
Telling stories with data: FactCheckNI session at Global Fact 7 by Allan LEONARD 29 June 2020 As part of the annual summit of the International Fact-Checking Network, FactCheckNI hosted โTelling Stories with Dataโ at Global Fact 7, an online session that explored the use of data in news and information presented to the public. I... Continue Reading →
Itโs all about the test: Counting COVID-19 deaths by Allan LEONARD 14 April 2020 โThe figures on deaths relate in almost all cases to patients who have died in hospital and who have tested positive for COVID-19. Slight differences in reporting in devolved administrations may mean that they include a small number of deaths outside... Continue Reading →
Asking the right questions for a better-informed public by Allan LEONARD 28 January 2020 Representing FactCheckNI and as part of a four-person panel, I was invited to give evidence to the UK House of Lords Select Committee on Democracy and Digital Technologies. Fellow witnesses were Ed Humpherson (Director General for Regulation, Office for Statistics Regulation... Continue Reading →
Lies and democracy: Who are the truth tellers? by Allan LEONARD 6 December 2019 As part of the annual general meeting of NICVA, the umbrella body of the voluntary and community sector in Northern Ireland, there was a panel discussion on the topics of truth, trust, and how everyone engages with a bombardment of information.... Continue Reading →