The future of public service media in Northern Ireland and beyondby Allan LEONARD9 May 2025 Ulster University (UU) held an important discussion on the role and future of public service media. Key speakers included Phil Ramsey (lecturer in media studies (UU), Siobhan Walsh (director of content policy (Ofcom)), and Catherine Johnson (professor of media and... Continue Reading →
Monitoring peace progress in Northern Ireland: a wellbeing framework
Monitoring peace progress in Northern Ireland: a wellbeing frameworkby Allan LEONARD4 March 2025 While much of the media coverage of the launch of the Northern Ireland Executive’s latest Programme for Government (PfG) rightly focused on the specific, quantifiable targets (or lack thereof), a complementary “wellbeing framework”, with dozens of regularly updated metrics, has received little comment. The... Continue Reading →
Constructive journalism is ‘pressing, urgent, and needed everywhere’: inaugural B° Future Festival
Constructive journalism is ‘pressing, urgent, and needed everywhere’: inaugural B° Future Festival by Allan LEONARD 15 September 2023 The Bonn Institute hosted an inaugural, two-day B° Future Festival for journalism and constructive dialogue, held in the city’s LVR LandesMuseum. The first day for registered delegates was conducted mainly in English and discussed various dimensions of... Continue Reading →
Book review — Reporting beyond the Problem (eds Karen Hopkinson and Nicole Dahmen)
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 →
Is ethical journalism possible in a contested place?
Is ethical journalism possible in a contested place? by Allan LEONARD 27 May 2019 At a public lecture event hosted by the Senator George J. Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice, at Queen’s University, Professor Steven Youngblood (Director, Center for Global Peace Journalism, Park University, Missouri) discussed the ethics of journalism in a... Continue Reading →
Book review — Don’t Mention the War (Vicky Cosstick)
Book review — Don’t Mention the War (Vicky Cosstick) by Allan LEONARD 5 March 2019 Don’t Mention the War is an e-book by Vicky Cosstick, published by ChangeAware in association with Northern Slant, that aims to explore aspects of legacy of the Troubles in Northern Ireland in a set of five chapters covering the peace process,... Continue Reading →
Stephen Nolan: Enhancing democratic debate in the era of fake news?
Stephen Nolan: Enhancing democratic debate in the era of fake news? by Allan LEONARD 26 February 2019 As part of their engagement programme, Queen’s University Belfast hosted a lecture by radio and television personality, Stephen Nolan, who was introduced by Ryan Feeney. Much of Nolan’s lecture was an autobiography of how he has developed his... Continue Reading →