Our Man In Stockholm

On the road again so this week's pod covers some issues that have cropped up recently in the media sphere - how very few people now writing about Greta Thunberg have any idea what they are talking about, what it's like to spend hours in the cold for a 12-minute video of a world news event, and why journalists have a responsibility to people they put in the spotlight. 

During a two-day seminar at the Auschwitz Museum I spoke to journalists and museum staff about the challenges of  telling the story of the Holocaust, 75 years after the camp, where over a million died in an industrial murder operation that was the epicentre of the effort to exterminate the entire Jewish people, was liberated.  It is a desperate, awful bleak place at times, but a look aro...

On this day 18 years ago we watched in horror as the Twin Towers collapsed live on television - and with them went many of the checks and balances of objective journalism. That parking of journalistic principles has paved the way for the events we say happening today around the world. This podcast features reflections on that day and what has changed since, and what to be aware of when consuming m...

Gaute Boertad Sjaervoe was 16 years old when he saw two of his friends murdered by Anders Behring Breivik on July 22, 2011. Trapped on an island 40 kilometres outside of Oslo, he ran, but had several more brushes with the gunman who went on to kill 67 more people that day, the vast majority of them teenagers like Gaute.  He survived as Norway promised more love and more democracy as an antido...

Over the last 17 years I have gotten married, had a family and built a career in media for myself - all that time, Dawit Isak has been sitting in a cell in Eritrea in the most appalling conditions, imprisoned without trial for his journalism.  I spoke to journalist and author Martin Schibbye - who was himself shot, arrested and spent 438 days in the Kality prison in Ethiopia while trying to r...

Whether we like it or not, social media is now an inherent part of the wider media, and journalists, editors and consumers need to understand the role it plays in disseminating news and information.  But there is also a deeply personal element to how we interact online, so I spoke to academic Ciarán McMahon about his new book "The Psychology Of Social Media" to tease out some of the strands o...

As a child Zainab Boladale would pretend to read the news by grabbing a paper and making things up based on the pictures she saw, and ever since she has wanted to be a journalist.  She made her way from Co. Clare on Ireland's west coast through one of the country's best journalism programs and on into the hallowed halls of public service broadcaster RTE where she has been a huge success - but...

A new podcast series on the same feed, featuring interviews with some of the interesting people I meet on my travels.  First up is a recent conversation I had in Reyjavik with Gunnar Nelson - a fighter, a father and a man not to be trifled with at daycare... 

Hannes Halldorsson is not just a top-class international goalkeeper for Iceland - he's a scriptwriter, movie-maker and director back operating in a small national market where budgets are tight and dreams are big.  I spoke to him in Reykjavik about making ends meet in the movie business when he's not between the sticks. 

Together with Julian Assange and Wikileaks, activist and "poetician" Birgitta Jonsdottir turned the world on its head by releasing the "Collateral Murder" video, which featured the slaying of two Reuters journalists by American forces in Baghdad, Iraq.  Jonsdottir may have ended her association with Wikileaks but her commitment to art, activism and politics is still as strong as ever, and I m...

I have met almost every MMA journalist at one time or another, but not Karim Zidan - then I realised that the reason he doesn't attend events is that his writing about sport and politics, and in particular about MMA and some of the former Soviet republics - means that it's not safe for him to attend.  In a world powered by social media, blogs and fan-generated content, Karim's work in untangl...

When it comes to media, marketing and journalism, Media HQ CEO Jack Murray has done and seen it all.  A former political advisor and government spokesperson, he has been in the room as some of the biggest Irish political scandals of the last two decades have gone down. Many senior politicians have wisely acted on his advice, and many more have lived to regret not doing so.  His Media HQ...

Long before the glossy production and the fan zones, long before the slick social media presence and the souvenir stores in host cities, Ann Odong and her friends were covering women's soccer.  A lawyer and journalist, she essentially used her profession to fund her obsession, often allowing her heart to rule her head, and she has finally been reaping some reward as a digital content producer...

Summer is a time when sport takes over and who better to talk to than Irish-born, Brazilian-based sportswriter Ewan MacKenna? Often dismissed as a professional contrarian, Ewan's writing and workflow is both deep and complex, showing us things about our heroes and ourselves that sometimes we'd rather not see - so what's it like to be on the receiving end of such negative attention? What is his age...

With the sudden - and very welcome - interest form media outlets in the Women's World Cup, many reporters whose beat is normally men's soccer find themselves putting their shoulders to the wheel to cover it. Here's five pitfalls to avoid when writing about women in sports. 

The Index on Censorship are the watchdog that ensures that you and I can exercise our freedom of speech, and they kick up an almighty fuss about those places in the world that don't allows us to do that.  But the recent rise of far-right hate speech, boosted and amplified on social media, has proved a danger to our democracies and our most basic human rights - so in these battle for rights, w...

Why journalists should never be surprised by election outcomes, the end for private religious fundamentalist lobby groups in Ireland's public debate, and a perfect example of how no-platforming benefits democracy. 

As teenagers around the world skip school to protest the destruction of the planet and a  "Green Wave" sweeps through European politics, I spoke to veteran environmental correspondent Alister Doyle about how to report on the climate crisis. We talked about everything from landing on now-disappeared ice shelves in the Antarctic and dealing with Texan cranks to why climate science skeptics are...

Sports media is a beast that mus be constantly fed with news, views and comment, and nowhere is that more true in America, where seasons bleed into one another in a never-ending carousel of coverage.  The quality of the coverage (on both sides of the pond) is often dependent on access to the athletes themselves, and on them being willing to tell their stories. European sports are becoming mor...

Sarah Maria Griffin is a novellist and poet who effortlessly flits between the worlds of fiction and non-fiction, engaging in occasional (and often regular) acts of journalism. Her approach to writing and her thoughts around how we express ourselves are well worth a listen for any journalist or writer trying to find their own unique voice.  

The way we consume video has changed, but the old way is not dead yet - what do we need to consider when shooting for mobile devices and linear TV? Is there a difference in how stories are told and presented? What factors need to be taken into account when selecting our shots? 

I love radio. It's where I started, and if forced to choose, it's what I'd do full time.  And one of the most creative, knowledgeable and smartest people I've met in the field is Irish producer/presenter/all-rounder Pat O'Mahony. Amid an audio background of seagulls, leaf-blowers and passers-by, we sat down in Dublin for a coffee recently to discuss what makes it such a great medium to work i...

Journalist Lyra McKee was shot dead while covering disturbances in Derry last week, and today she will be buried after her funeral in Belfast.  What can journalists and in particular editors learn from her life and her untimely passing? How can we keep freelancers safer while still reporting from dangerous situations? 

Over the weekend a broadcaster in Ireland came under fire for apparently using audio belonging to a freelance journalist without her permission.  Though they have since agreed to pay her for her work, the case illustrates the laissez-faire many media houses have towards the copyright of freelancers.  This podcast is a brief rundown of what freelance work is, who owns it (spoiler - them,...

As Ireland's far-right desperately tries to get off the ground and the tech giants are once again in the firing line for giving them a platform to spread hatred, I spoke to journalist and academic Niamh Kirk about information networks, regulation, and what free speech actually means in the digital age.