Consultation Response - Media 12 - Cardiff University PDF 2 MB

study there were six news stories (we refer here to stories as opposed to
news items). This case study therefore examines the following six stories in
detail:
1) The visit of Hillary Clinton to Northern Ireland on Newsline.
2) A Welsh Audit Office report on flooding on Wales Today.
3) The launch of a swine flu vaccination programme on Reporting
Scotland.
4) Building nuclear power stations in England and Wales on Reporting
Scotland.
5) A UK Bill to devolve more powers to Scotland on Reporting Scotland.
6) A Scottish Government Bill on alcohol on Reporting Scotland.
Visit of Hillary Clinton to Northern Ireland
On 12 October 2009 Hillary Clinton’s visit to Northern Ireland was one of the
last items on the BBC News at Six. It ran a two minute 23 second item
featuring a reporter in Belfast summarising the events of the day. By contrast,
Newsline led with the story and dedicated the first ten minutes of the
programme to Clinton’s visit with a more detailed analysis of the possible
impact it will have on policing in Northern Ireland.
The introduction on BBC News at Six focused on Clinton encouraging the
political parties to resolve their differences with minimal interference from
America.
In Northern Ireland the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has urged political
leaders there to settle their differences on transferring policing and justice powers
from London to Belfast. Addressing the Assembly at Stormont, Mrs Clinton said it
wasn’t the job of the United States to meddle, but it was her hope they’d be able to
complete the process of devolution.
Newsline, by contrast, emphasised the wide range of business and political
leaders Clinton had met with throughout the day, suggesting a more
diplomatically successful trip to Northern Ireland than did BBC News at Six.
The US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, has spent the day in Belfast on her first
visit after she took up office under the Obama administration. She brought messages
of continued support for the political process and urged the devolution of policing and
justice, but told MLAs the timing was up to them. Mrs Clinton had talks at Stormont
with the First and Deputy First Ministers separately and together. She also met
business people at Queen’s University, and went on to renew acquaintance with the
City Hall. We have reports from all three venues, but we begin with the political
element of the visit.
In Newsline’s first item, a three-minute package with a reporter in Stormont,
a range of political contributors – Peter Robinson MLA (20 seconds), Martin
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