TRAGEDY TREATED LIKE GAME SHOW ON LONDON-BASED TV PROGRAMME
Tragedy treated like 'game show' on London-based TV programme
A LOCAL councillor has accused London-based Carlton Television of reducing the Omagh tragedy to a "game show", following its 'Thursday Night Live' programme last week.
And Mr. Pat McDonnell claimed that, out of the hour-long programme, only seven minutes were devoted to the people from Omagh.
The local district council is to write to Carlton Television expressing its disappointment at the contents of the broadcast.
The show, hosted by former Radio 1 DJ, Nicky Campbell, featured a live link-up between the London studios and Omagh Leisure Centre, where relatives of those who were killed in the bombing had agreed to take part.
Some of the injured, local councillors and representatives from the emergency services were also guests on the programme, which included a phone-in on whether or not the peace process would continue.
Ulster Television was inundated with more than 1,000 calls of complaint - the highest ever for a single programme.
However, Carlton Television this week blamed a breakdown in the link-up between Omagh and London as the reason why so little time was devoted to the local people.
Mr. McDonnell, who appeared on the show, said he received a phone call on Saturday morning from one of the makers of the programme, who spent 10 minutes "abjectly apologising" for it.
"He wanted to know if they could make amends, and I said we would be back to him on that later," Mr. McDonnell said.
He said when he was approached to go on the programme, he asked for a preview of the proposed format.
"They hinted that there would be some political involvement and various linkages, but that that would be peripheral," he said.
"We thought this programme was about Omagh and the victims, and about the brave people, some of whom had come from funerals to share their feelings."
Mr. McDonnell said he only agreed to do the programme on that understanding, and on the proviso that he be the last person to speak.
Cut Short
He said he was now very glad that he had the chance to have the last word on what he thought of the broadcast, albeit that he was cut short by the signature tune. He received a round of applause for his comments.
"I was only starting," Mr. McDonnell said. And he went on to say he had been inundated by calls from people upset by the programme.
"The switchboard of the leisure centre jammed right away with calls from all over Britain and Ireland complaining about the tabloid nature of the programme," he said.
"There is a great anger right across the board. We had wonderful brave people there - people Omagh would be proud of - handling awesome grief and agreeing to help the media people out.
"These good people, both the bereaved and the injured, and the people who had been involved in the rescue - they were humiliated. I am angry that they did this to our people."
And, commenting on the "frivolous" nature of the phone-in, Mr McDonnell went on: "They were reducing our grief, our tragedy, to a game show."
Mr. Andrew Scott and his daughter Louise, who was injured in the bombing, also appeared on the programme.
He said he was disgusted with it, and felt particularly sorry for the bereaved who had come on to tell how they felt, but never got the chance.
"We were led to believe that this programme was going to be relayed across the UK and Ireland to portray the grieving and suffering of the Omagh people," he said.
But only seven minutes had been devoted to Omagh, he added.
"Some of those people there made a tremendous effort to come in, having just laid their loved ones to rest. They never had a chance to put their story across," he said.
He said Louise had spoken, but, like others, did not get the opportunity to express what she wanted.
'Used'
And he added that the people of Omagh had been used, while at their lowest ebb.
Mr. Scott said everyone expressed their disgust after they went off-air, but he pointed out that the ITN Northern Ireland correspondent, John Irvine, and researcher, Julia Kennedy, had tried to turn the programme around.
"During the commercial break, we could hear them appealing to the directors in London to give Omagh more coverage. But the controllers in London were completely insensitive to what we had come through," he said.
He said members of his family phoned UTV to complain, as did many others across Northern Ireland.
And he said he had received a phone call on Monday from someone in Carlton, saying he would be a written apology, but a public apology was what was called for.
Mr. Scott added that a group called 'Aftermath International', a worldwide counselling organisation, had now taken the matter on board.
"They have asked anyone who feels strongly about it to write to them, and they will channel all the complaints collectively to the television company," he said.
The address to write to is: Aftermath International (Northern Ireland), c/o Karin McBride, Shalom, 5 Dunleith Drive, Ballywalter, Co. Down,
BT22 2TE'
Meanwhile, district councillor, Mr. Oliver Gibson, said he was calling on Carlton to make a "practical apology", in the form of funding a professional promotional video to help market and rebuild Omagh.
He said he had contacted UTV and it supported his stance.
Mr. Gibson, who was invited to take part in the programme, did not get to speak, even though he was introduced at the outset.
"I was only one of about 30 others who did not get speaking. The whole thing turned into a political wrangle, which only served to add to the hurt of the people of Omagh," he said.
He went on to say he had written to the Northern Ireland Minister, Mr. Paul Murphy, who had also been one of the invited guests, to inform him that he knew the Northern Ireland Office had had nothing to do with the programme. Mr. Gibson said the Minister had told him later that he was equally "disgusted and ashamed" to have been on the programme.
"He, like the rest of us, was totally misled," he said.
A spokesman from Carlton said the producers had, with the best of intentions, gone to "great lengths" to have a balanced programme.
But he claimed the lack of time devoted to Omagh was mainly due to a technical problem, when links to the leisure centre broke down.
"This meant the producers were not able to give as much time to the relatives and people of Omagh as they had intended. That was unfortunate," he said.
The spokesman also pointed out that complaints had been made about the length of airtime Sinn Fein's Martin McGuinness had been allocated.
He explained: "The producers felt he was making some points about Sinn Fein's position which were quite revealing. They considered he should be pushed on that, and that, too, obviously took up time. But the principal problem was the failure of the link."
He said the producers had been working very closely with local people in the run-up to the programme, and that a number of those on the production team were themselves from Northern Ireland.
He added that he did not know if Carlton would be making a public apology for the show.
A LOCAL councillor has accused London-based Carlton Television of reducing the Omagh tragedy to a "game show", following its 'Thursday Night Live' programme last week.
And Mr. Pat McDonnell claimed that, out of the hour-long programme, only seven minutes were devoted to the people from Omagh.
The local district council is to write to Carlton Television expressing its disappointment at the contents of the broadcast.
The show, hosted by former Radio 1 DJ, Nicky Campbell, featured a live link-up between the London studios and Omagh Leisure Centre, where relatives of those who were killed in the bombing had agreed to take part.
Some of the injured, local councillors and representatives from the emergency services were also guests on the programme, which included a phone-in on whether or not the peace process would continue.
Ulster Television was inundated with more than 1,000 calls of complaint - the highest ever for a single programme.
However, Carlton Television this week blamed a breakdown in the link-up between Omagh and London as the reason why so little time was devoted to the local people.
Mr. McDonnell, who appeared on the show, said he received a phone call on Saturday morning from one of the makers of the programme, who spent 10 minutes "abjectly apologising" for it.
"He wanted to know if they could make amends, and I said we would be back to him on that later," Mr. McDonnell said.
He said when he was approached to go on the programme, he asked for a preview of the proposed format.
"They hinted that there would be some political involvement and various linkages, but that that would be peripheral," he said.
"We thought this programme was about Omagh and the victims, and about the brave people, some of whom had come from funerals to share their feelings."
Mr. McDonnell said he only agreed to do the programme on that understanding, and on the proviso that he be the last person to speak.
Cut Short
He said he was now very glad that he had the chance to have the last word on what he thought of the broadcast, albeit that he was cut short by the signature tune. He received a round of applause for his comments.
"I was only starting," Mr. McDonnell said. And he went on to say he had been inundated by calls from people upset by the programme.
"The switchboard of the leisure centre jammed right away with calls from all over Britain and Ireland complaining about the tabloid nature of the programme," he said.
"There is a great anger right across the board. We had wonderful brave people there - people Omagh would be proud of - handling awesome grief and agreeing to help the media people out.
"These good people, both the bereaved and the injured, and the people who had been involved in the rescue - they were humiliated. I am angry that they did this to our people."
And, commenting on the "frivolous" nature of the phone-in, Mr McDonnell went on: "They were reducing our grief, our tragedy, to a game show."
Mr. Andrew Scott and his daughter Louise, who was injured in the bombing, also appeared on the programme.
He said he was disgusted with it, and felt particularly sorry for the bereaved who had come on to tell how they felt, but never got the chance.
"We were led to believe that this programme was going to be relayed across the UK and Ireland to portray the grieving and suffering of the Omagh people," he said.
But only seven minutes had been devoted to Omagh, he added.
"Some of those people there made a tremendous effort to come in, having just laid their loved ones to rest. They never had a chance to put their story across," he said.
He said Louise had spoken, but, like others, did not get the opportunity to express what she wanted.
'Used'
And he added that the people of Omagh had been used, while at their lowest ebb.
Mr. Scott said everyone expressed their disgust after they went off-air, but he pointed out that the ITN Northern Ireland correspondent, John Irvine, and researcher, Julia Kennedy, had tried to turn the programme around.
"During the commercial break, we could hear them appealing to the directors in London to give Omagh more coverage. But the controllers in London were completely insensitive to what we had come through," he said.
He said members of his family phoned UTV to complain, as did many others across Northern Ireland.
And he said he had received a phone call on Monday from someone in Carlton, saying he would be a written apology, but a public apology was what was called for.
Mr. Scott added that a group called 'Aftermath International', a worldwide counselling organisation, had now taken the matter on board.
"They have asked anyone who feels strongly about it to write to them, and they will channel all the complaints collectively to the television company," he said.
The address to write to is: Aftermath International (Northern Ireland), c/o Karin McBride, Shalom, 5 Dunleith Drive, Ballywalter, Co. Down,
BT22 2TE'
Meanwhile, district councillor, Mr. Oliver Gibson, said he was calling on Carlton to make a "practical apology", in the form of funding a professional promotional video to help market and rebuild Omagh.
He said he had contacted UTV and it supported his stance.
Mr. Gibson, who was invited to take part in the programme, did not get to speak, even though he was introduced at the outset.
"I was only one of about 30 others who did not get speaking. The whole thing turned into a political wrangle, which only served to add to the hurt of the people of Omagh," he said.
He went on to say he had written to the Northern Ireland Minister, Mr. Paul Murphy, who had also been one of the invited guests, to inform him that he knew the Northern Ireland Office had had nothing to do with the programme. Mr. Gibson said the Minister had told him later that he was equally "disgusted and ashamed" to have been on the programme.
"He, like the rest of us, was totally misled," he said.
A spokesman from Carlton said the producers had, with the best of intentions, gone to "great lengths" to have a balanced programme.
But he claimed the lack of time devoted to Omagh was mainly due to a technical problem, when links to the leisure centre broke down.
"This meant the producers were not able to give as much time to the relatives and people of Omagh as they had intended. That was unfortunate," he said.
The spokesman also pointed out that complaints had been made about the length of airtime Sinn Fein's Martin McGuinness had been allocated.
He explained: "The producers felt he was making some points about Sinn Fein's position which were quite revealing. They considered he should be pushed on that, and that, too, obviously took up time. But the principal problem was the failure of the link."
He said the producers had been working very closely with local people in the run-up to the programme, and that a number of those on the production team were themselves from Northern Ireland.
He added that he did not know if Carlton would be making a public apology for the show.
Further Information
Publisher: TYRONE CONSTITUTION
Ref: TC/0499
Published Date: 27-Aug-98
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