Today, June 5th, our Peace Communication class had the privilege of being guided by two knowledgeable people who have different connections to the conflict: Lee Lavis, a former British soldier, and Declan Murphy, councilor of the Camlough Community Association. We started the day off by driving to an unassuming, walled off part of Camlough, which we learned was where some British military and the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) were stationed with helicopters and watch points. We continued our travels, making stops at a monument for the Irish who died in 1916, a cemetery, and the Garden of Remembrance, a dedication to volunteers of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and the people of South Armagh who were a part of the struggle for a united and independent Ireland.

As Declan spoke in front of the wall, his telling of the past made it clear that propaganda was a huge driving force in the conflict and the British forces’ ability to have leverage over their objectors– particularly by controlling the narrative through popular media sources such as the BBC and The Sun. Declan remarked that the BBC was a major driving force in spreading propaganda about the actions of the British and that they often directly took the statements of the RUC in the aftermath of violent incidents and put their narrative forward as the truth. The actions by the BBC, especially when it came to portraying the British military and government in relation to the North of Ireland, connect to Cultivation Theory– that media, particularly television, largely shapes our perceptions of reality. In application, the BBC’s presenting of the RUC’s statements as fact, even though statements released by paramilitaries defied their narratives or showed concrete proof of falsities, directly influenced the way that viewers of the BBC came to understand The Troubles.

On a similar note, Lee added that the language that each side chose to use was intentional and that through the years, he had made a mindful decision to exclude words like “terrorist” from his vocabulary. He said, “Terrorism is a way of naming something to stop questions.” When listening to members of the RUC on Day 3, they often utilized “terrorist” to describe resistance forces and did not do further investigation of who the supposed terrorists were. The difference in language and conscious choice in labeling leans into Message Framing Theory– that even slight changes to the presentation of information can create different perceptions. The RUC’s blanket labeling of IRA volunteers as terrorists can lead to an uncritical condemnation of them on the basis of an adjective being applied. When considering the Republicans’ description of their own actions as “freedom-fighting”, there is much more of a positive connotation applied, even if it does not address their actions. The terms that each side chooses to apply to themselves and others shapes the way that their audiences receive their actions, especially if they are only hearing the message framing from one side.

Ultimately, there is a lot to be reflected on when considering propaganda and the role it played, and continues to play in the perception of The Troubles. Without recognizing these important communication theories, audiences who trust media like the BBC can be swayed without receiving the full breadth of the truth. This complicates the idea that people, especially young people, should look beyond online media and rely largely on news networks, seeing that they can have an agenda in the defense of governments and institutions, instead of providing unfiltered narratives.