Community Media and Identity in Ireland

Jack Rosenberry

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2017
• ISBN:
  9781351397018
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Languages & Linguistics
• Subtopic: Journalism
• Index: Languages & Linguistics

This book explores how Ireland's community media outlets reflect and shape identity at the local level. While aspects of its culture date back centuries, the nation-state of Ireland is less than one hundred years old. Because of this and other elements of the island's history, Irish identity is a contested topic and the island is a place where culture, identity and geography are tightly intertwined. By addressing how community media serve as agents for community building, the book examines how they in turn influence the way individuals connect with their communities.

1
Community Media and Identity in Ireland

Ireland is an ancient land, but a young nation. While aspects of its culture date back centuries, or even millennia, the nation-state of Ireland is less than 100 years old, born of violent rebellion against a colonial master. The Easter Rising of April 1916 led to a war of independence against Great Britain, followed by the creation of the Irish Free State in 1922. Even that didn’t settle matters, as the rebellion was followed by a brutal civil war that ended in 1923. The opposing sides in that struggle were factions that accepted, and those that rejected, terms of the treaty that ended rebellion and established the Free State, but also partitioned the island, with six northern counties remaining part of the United Kingdom.

Because of this and other elements of the island’s history, Irish identity is a contested topic and the island is a place where culture, identity, and geography are tightly intertwined. From the idea that the cultural values of the peasant West represent real Irishness (Graham, 1997; Cusack, 2001; Lysaght, 2009) to the distinct political and cultural identities created by the partition of the island to the emergence of an updated sense of “Irishness” in the modern era, Ireland’s distinct yet evolving political and cultural identity remains a fascinating topic. This can be seen in research about Irish media, which is heavy on historical events and topics such as framing the way media covers religion, sports, and other cultural markers.

The birth of the Irish nation in the 1920s literally corresponded with the birth of electronic media (radio broadcasting), and the history of the era illustrates connections of media and national identity. Legislation establishing a national radio broadcaster “stressed the importance of maintaining and consolidating the national identity” for the new Free State (Gibbons, 1996, p. 70). When the station went on the air in 1926, the first broadcast was by Douglas Hyde, head of the nationalist Gaelic League, who spoke in Irish. Even the call letters of the first Irish radio station—2RN—helped reinforce cultural identity as a play on words on the phrase “to Erin” (Horgan, 2002). Similarly in print media, “post-independence, many national newspapers were effectively the organs or semi-organs of the dominant institutions within the state” (O’Brien, 2014, p. 159).

The ensuing history of Irish media and politics through the mid-20th century continued to reflect the role of media in developing national identity, and the closeness of media organizations to the political establishment. As one prominent example, Éamon de Valera served as either taoiseach (prime minister) or president of Ireland for approximately 40 of the 50 years after its founding, and is generally considered the most influential leader in the country’s history. During many of those same years, however, he was also managing director of a leading national newspaper, the Irish Press.

The Republic of Ireland is a small country; with just 27,140 square miles, it’s about the size of the 41st largest of the United States (West Virginia) or the southern third of the United Kingdom (Manchester/Sheffield area south to the Channel). It’s possible to drive coast to coast (Dublin to Galway) in less than three hours. Because of this, it has an interesting duality in its contemporary media structure. It has fewer than 10 daily newspapers, all but one of which circulate nationally. (The number of titles available for consumption, however, is larger because of imported British dailies.) All television broadcasts are nationwide as well; unlike in the United States and many other countries, there are no such things as local TV stations broadcasting their own content. In fact, only since the late 1980s has Ireland had any outlet other than national broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ) to supply TV and radio content. Commercial radio first appeared in Ireland in 1989 and the first commercial television station wasn’t established until 1998. (Again, this refers to indigenous production; a wide array of British, American, and other imports is available via cable and satellite. And both before and since RTÉ predecessors Raidió Éireann and Teilifís Éireann went on the air, BBC broadcasts from western England, Wales, and Northern Ireland have reached the country.)

This small number of national outlets is augmented by a robust community media in the form of local and regional weekly newspapers and a growing number of local and regional radio stations. However, the literature about Irish media lacks a comprehensive look at its community media and their contributions to identity formation. Such relationships have been thoroughly explored for US media, addressing how community media serve as an agent for community building and how media influence the way individuals connect with their communities (e.g., Byerly, 1961; Janowitz, 1967; Stamm, 1985; Lauterer, 2006; Reader & Hatcher, 2011).

Comparable research has not been conducted about Irish community media. In describing the growth of the Irish provincial press, Cullen noted that regional newspapers “stimulated both new-fangled nationalism and local identity in ways which still remain to be studied” (1984, p. 27). The purpose here is to do exactly that, though in a contemporary setting rather than a historical one. Community media can be defined in any number of ways to describe media with different forms and functions (Hess & Waller, 2013, p. 121). Community in the context of this project is construed as social interactions within a localized geographic space, and community media therefore are the local outlets (mostly newspapers and radio stations) that reflect those interactions and processes in their work. Previous research has demonstrated that community journalists maintain a close bond with the areas they cover (Reader, 2012), an approach that has been elsewhere applied to European community media (e.g., Hatcher & Haavik, 2014).

Because of its position at the periphery of Europe, throughout its colonial era and early independence in the early 20th century, Ireland was one of the continent’s most isolated and insular areas. Historical scholarship on media and identity describes efforts to preserve this isolationism (e.g., Horgan, 2002). Less than 100 years after its founding, though, Ireland was ranked by the World Economic Forum as the most globalized nation in the world (Nicol, 2015). This rapid evolution makes questions such as “What is Irishness?” or “What influences Irish identity?” all the more significant.

Identity, Community, and Geography

In evaluating community media’s intersection with identity, it becomes necessary first to determine baseline meanings for constructs such as “community” and “identity” and also to examine how they interact with one another. Because community media often have a geographic component, “place” is another key construct that must be taken into account, as well as the idea that identity, community, and even place are subject to a process of symbolic construction, the notion that individual and collective perceptions of the social world come from how that world is symbolically described or represented. Popular media are a common means by which symbolic representation of the world is articulated, and community media play a central role in defining the symbolic geography of the areas they serve.

These constructs relate to one another in a rich web of overlapping influences. For example, communities are defined by their boundaries, which may be geographic (a particular region or locality), or merely symbolic (customs, beliefs, or rules about what constitutes membership in the community). Sometimes an aspect of individual identity, such as ethnicity or religion, may define membership in a community (e.g., a worship community or, as will be seen, speakers of a particular language). But association with a location can affect identity, for example being a “New Yorker.” (Or, as will also be seen, being Irish.) And even “place” can be symbolically constructed, in the sense that symbolic representation helps to determine what living somewhere means to residents.

Examining these fundamental principles in relation to one another adds richness and context to each on its own and develops synergies that appear when they are considered together. Such an examination also creates a framework for adding two other important dimensions to the analysis: (a) that the meaning and application of these concepts evolve over time as underlying circumstances change; and (b) that all of them have a specifically Irish articulation relevant to the analysis presented here.

Fundamental Constructs

Identity

The concept of identity has to do with uniqueness, of a person or other entity, such as a locality or even a nation. Dictionary definitions of identity use terms such as “oneness,” “specificity,” and “individuality” to convey its sense and meaning. In a work about how identity is articulated, it offers a logical starting point for reviewing the constructs under consideration. Place, community, and symbolic construction all have important roles in how identity is formed.

Place as a Component of Individual Identity

Among the factors that influence how identity develops, place or location has particular relevance to the current analysis because “all aspects of identity will, to a greater or lesser extent, have place-related implications” (Twigger-Ross & Uzzell, 1996, p. 206). Murray similarly contends that “‘locality,’ as a social construction, remains a key determinant of identity” (2007, p. 117). Proshansky et al. (1983) combined these concepts into a notion of “place identity,” which Devine-Wright and Lyons described as “influenced by social meanings and beliefs yet individually constructed” (1997, p. 34). Place even can be seen as a social category because “people use place identifications in order to distinguish themselves from others” (Twigger-Ross & Uzzell, 1996, p. 207). Speller and Twigger-Ross (2009) say this is way that place affects identity. Socialization has a significant impact on formation of identity, and when place becomes a social category or socialization mechanism, it has a doubly significant impact on the identity process.

Twigger-Ross and Uzzell (1996) outlined a taxonomy of characteristics by which location or place influences identity as follows:

• distinctiveness, because place identification helps people to distinguish themselves from others;
• continuity, because living in one place for some time helps provides a sense of personal grounding or rootedness;
• self-esteem, which comes from people feeling proud of the place where they live; and
• self-efficacy, because familiarity with their surroundings helps people live their lives most effectively.

Gustafson similarly maintains that “meaningful places emerge in a social context and through social relations. They are geographically located and at the same time related to their social, economic, cultural, etc. surroundings” (2001, p. 6). Murray adds that “‘place’ provides both physical and geographical references for identity formation, as well as invoking a sense of shared history and culture” (2007, p. 125). While this research is directed at formation of individual identities, the principles apply to how identity forms at larger scales also.

Identity and Community

In discussing place as an aspect of cultural identity, Graham extends beyond the individual level to note that “the concept of socially constructed place is intrinsic to renditions of individual and group identity…. Representation of place is a key component in communal identity, whatever the scale” (1997, p. 6). “Symbolic geographies” and dimensions of personal and group identity provide criteria—that is to say, set boundaries—for inclusion and exclusion. As will be discussed shortly, a fundamental feature of community is the boundaries that define it.

In the same way that Irish identity is a complicated and difficult topic, so is cultural identity overall. Grossberg notes that identity politics is one of the most widely covered areas of cultural studies because for societies to exist they require a “common albeit constantly rearticulated and renegotiated culture” (2011, p. 88). Development of political and cultural identity is a key feature of modernization, and subject to evolution over time, two characteristics that also are emblematic of Ireland. In a modernist context, “identity is always constructed out of difference. The modern makes identities into social construction” (Grossberg, 2011, p. 93). Further, Grossberg maintains, “identity is always a temporary and unstable effect of relations which define identities by marking differences. The emphasis here is on the multiplicity of identities” (2011, p. 89).

Identity, then, is more than innate characteristics. For individuals and collective groups, it is subject to external influences. In terms of such collectives, the next concept to consider is community, which Cohen describes as “the arena in which people acquire their most fundamental and substantial experience of social life outside the home” (1985, p. 15).

Community

Friedland and McLeod say that “the concept of community lies at the core of the sociological tradition” (1999, p. 201). However, Cohen (1985) and others (e.g., Hillery, 1955) have noted that community is difficult to define precisely as a social science construct. McMillan and Chavis (1986) and Stamm (1985) both developed their working definitions by drawing on work from Hillery (1955). In that project, Hillery identified 94 distinct definitions of community, which he boiled down to 16 key components. Stamm (whose work on community and media is addressed in Chapter 5) noted that the component of “process”—social interaction—was especially important in understanding how community operated. Cohen’s approach likewise emphasizes social interactions, using a definition focused simultaneously on similarity and difference. Specifically, he defines community as “a group of people [that] (a) have something in common with each other that (b...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• 1 Community Media and Identity in Ireland
• 2 Construction and Evolution of Irish Identity
• 3 Irish Media and Irish Identity
• 4 Contemporary Irish Media
• 5 Community Media Theory and Project Methodology
• 6 Local Media Reflections of Identity
• 7 Irish-Language Media and Identity
• 8 Local Focus in a Global Society
• Appendices
• Index