Nostalgic journalism

Editors love anniversaries. The OJ Simpson trial, 9/11, and the kidnap of Dutchman Tiede Herrema by republicans 30 years ago have all received extensive coverage recently. But they shouldn't become a subsitute for real news, says Conor Brady

Programme-makers and editors adore anniversaries. Readers, viewers and listeners love them too. There is nostalgia and the great fun of looking at how things were back then. Didn't everyone dress so oddly? Weren't the cars hilarious? There is the warming glow of knowing that one has survived beyond an event that was dramatic – and perhaps traumatic – at the time.

It came as a shock, notwithstanding, watching RTÉ1's Scannal! last week to realise that fully 30 years have passed since the kidnapping of Dutch industrialist Tiede Herrema and the subsequent siege at 1410 St Evin's Park, Monasterevin.

But there was the proof on screen before me. I saw myself, a svelte, 25 year old reporter with my RTÉ microphone thrust up under the nose of the Garda Press Officer. I think I looked quite dashing, even if I say so myself.

Irish people were outraged that a visitor whose aim in Ireland was to bring employment should be threatened with death by individuals who themselves had been marginalised by the IRA. When the Garda tracked down the kidnappers and their victim to St Evin's Park, all the elements of a real-life action drama were present. A siege developed and lasted two weeks. It became a major media event with international TV crews drawn up in ranks alongside army and garda personnel across the muddied green of St Evin's Park.

The Herrema family won public hearts and minds by their dignity and strength. But the star of the initial media show was the Garda Press Officer, Superintendent Tom Kelly. He spoke at much length in Irish and English to the international media but succeeded in giving away absolutely nothing of any informational value throughout the fortnight. This, of course, was precisely what was expected of him by the powers-that-were. But he did it with some style, good humour and with his tongue firmly planted in cheek. Among the more memorable exchanges between press officer and reporters was the following:

Reporter: "Superintendent, the kidnappers and Dr Herrema seem to have no access to the toilet in the house. Can you confirm that?"

Press Officer: "I'm sorry. I'm not privy to these arrangements."

And on another day:

Reporter: "Is it true Superintendent that the kidnappers asked for sandwiches and that the Garda arranged for these to be sent in?"

Press Officer: "It would be correct to say that certain digestible items, normally placed between slices of bread, were requested and provided."

With little else happening over the long fortnight, the morning jousts at the daily briefing between Tom Kelly and the British television presenters, in particular, became a great spectator sport.

The legendary Gerald Seymour of ITV's News At Ten had arrived with a full crew of up to a dozen people. After a week kicking his heels and getting little footage around Monasterevin, the great man decided to tackle Kelly head-on.

Superintendent Kelly delivered the by-now predictable flannel for a few minutes and reached for his hat to go. Seymour jumped to his feet.

"Gerald Seymour, News at Ten. Superintendent, I don't know if you realise that we've got a very costly operation here. You're telling us absolutely nothing and I'm finding it increasingly difficult to justify our presence to my bosses in London. Now, can you please tell us what's going on in that house?"

Tom Kelly cleared his throat.

"Ah, the situation at No 1410 St Evin's Park this morning is precisely the same as it was yesterday morning, Mr Seymour."

Seymour wasn't having any of it.

"Well now Superintendent, that's not good enough. What was the situation yesterday morning?"

Kelly levelled his eyes at the man from ITV.

"I'd say Mr Seymour that you're well enough able and long enough on the road to remember what was going on here yesterday morning."

There is nonetheless, a more serious side to editorial treatment of anniversaries.

Editors and programme makers like anniversaries because they can be planned for. However well or badly the original event may have been covered, the anniversary offers the opportunity to put it in perspective, to evaluate it and to draw all the strands together. But they can be a soft substitute for real news.

The Guardian last week devoted a complete section to the ten year anniversary of the OJ Simpson case. Yes, it was a significant event in US criminal justice and it exposed many racial and class prejudices in the United States. But is it of sufficient relevance that its tenth anniversary requires to be marked on this side of the Atlantic? And will the 15th and 20th anniversaries be similarly marked?

Last month a number of American newspapers found themselves in trouble with their readers for their alleged failure to mark sufficiently the fourth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. The Hartford Courant, one of New England's most respected titles found itself taking heavy criticism. The newspaper's ombudsman, Karen Hunter, observed as follows:

"The news staff is not one to dwell on anniversaries of long-past events. I'm reminded of that, year after year when disappointed veterans call to point out that the Courant has failed to pay homage to D-Day, Pearl Harbor Day or some other juncture in World War II. But I never expected I would field complaints so soon about the newspaper's subdued coverage of the anniversary of 9/11."

Hunter's adjudication was interesting. She felt that while the Courant did advert to the 9/11 anniversary, it fell short of what was required. "The events of Sept 11th 2001 are as relevant today as they were four years ago," she wrote. "The scattering of the Courant's 9/11 coverage failed to acknowledge that."

I'm trying to avoid thinking about the nightmare ahead for Irish editors and programme makers, 11 years ahead when we have the centenary the 1916 Rising.

Conor Brady is Editor Emeritus of The Irish Times. He is a senior teaching fellow at the UCD Graduate Business School where he lectures in modern media