Media

I would like to thank the Oscars for being on soon – that big Thank-in starring a bunch of Thankinsteins.

Hysteria surrounding the Northern Bank robbery and Brad and Jen's divorce.

It begins with the belief that those who are different are in some way lesser beings. It continues with the infringement of their liberties, restrictions on their freedom of movement, the denial or removal of their rights, forcibly removing them from their homes, their campsites, confining them to camps and ghettoes and increased efforts to erode their human-ness by inflicting any number of small indignities, leading to ever greater indignities. Until finally one day, unfettered and unchallenged, bigotry and hatred proceed to the next level – extermination.

The intemperate attack on Sinn Féin launched by the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern during the week may well signal the beginning of the end of the peace process - a result that has been desperately sought by opposition politicians, journalists and PD Government ministers for some considerable time now.

Most days, she sat at the entrance to the apartment building in Haifa and she smiled. It was practically a full-time occupation and she did it beautifully.

A new book charts the fascinating history of the struggle for control of RTÉ's current affairs output and the station's attempts to maintain independence from governments and the church. By Conor Brady

The Chinese are a superstitious people. Many of them consider the year they were born to be the key factor determining their fate, personality traits and prospects for a long, happy, prosperous life. In the Chinese calendar each year is named after one of 12 animals (rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog and pig) and some years are deemed luckier than others. If, for example, you're born in the year of the Dragon or the Horse, you're on the pig's back so to speak. But beware if you're born in the year of the Rooster or the Sheep.

While RTÉ has always strained to produce decent comedy, most of the howlers have been provided off-screen writes Damian Corless

Only 11 per cent of newspaper coverage of last year's elections dealt with the issues – the rest was about the candidates' personalities and their battles. The balance has become more uneven with every election – and it's bad for democracy, according to a new report. By Hilary Curley

Meejit takes a look at the media coverage on the Asian Tsunami.