Iris and the F Word
It's taken a bit of time for the transcripts of some of the Stormont committee sessions to appear on the Assembly website but in the case of the Health Committee's trip to Magee College at the end of June it's been worth the wait.
MLAs were cross questioning Health Department officials on their draft Sexual Violence strategy when the chair, Iris Robinson, espoused some forthright views on the need for the media to "curtail material that feeds minds that may commit sexual or copycat crimes".
The Strangford MP went on to accuse TV bosses of broadcasting "the most violent filth that you could ever wish to see before the watershed...With the greatest respect to anybody who is a fan, programmes such as βEmmerdale, β Coronation Streetβ, and βEastEndersβ try to outdo one another in graphic storylines. They portray bed-hopping and sexual promiscuity to which children are exposed because they are broadcast before the watershed. Such programmes are good at highlighting certain themes and illnesses such as AIDS, but they do not deal with the main issue; they are saying, βSuch behaviour is normalβ. We do not hear about prevention or about having a lifelong love partner."
Without naming Gordon Ramsay, she went on to lambast "a chef whose every other word is the F word". She finished by declaring "I do not care if I am called a βMary Whitehouseβ; indeed, I wish there were more such people, and it is sad that she passed away."
I think someone should tell mediawatch, the successor body to the National Viewers and Listeners Association, that six years after the passing of their founder, Mrs Whitehouse, a new scourge of the media has rallied to her cause.
I'm 
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It occurs to me that politicians are the same everywhere. I live in Ontario, Canada, and politicians here also take aim at the "state of the media" whenever they have nothing much else to say! It is so facile to "blame someone else" for society's failings, rather than take responsibility and promote positive changes.
Mark
OOOH ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ, TITTER YE NOT!
ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ bosses should start praying if Iris (aka Cruella de Ville) decides to tackle the issue of filth on television. They found Mary Whitehouse a doughty opponent but they wonβt know what has hit them when Iris takes up the cudgels on behalf of the moral majority. The Iris Robinson Experience will scar them for life.
Frank
Carryduff
The argument is mostly around if ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ reflects the real world or do they influence peoples thinking. I think they do both and although I am not a fan of Iris Robinson I think she is right about ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ pumping out a challenge to traditional sexual morality (roots in christian-judaeo teaching) and allow insensitive social language that can be described as basically crude market place that parents would not take their children and young people to specially hear. Media dons must realise the priviledge they have to take their programmes right into the privacy of peoples homes. In that respect they must ensure that people pay to turn their sets on and not off. ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ take the line that they cannot be seen converting people through a climax of conscience decision based on moral reflections similar to evangelical preachers but they are feeding peoples minds through the most powerful form of media available. They cannot deny their influence and reject it at the same time when it suits.