It was a week with so many emotional and intellectual highs and lows. Among the highs was Pope Leo’s visit to France, which garnered quite a bit of attention, especially on Friday of last week, when the visit began. RTÉ gave it prominence, fair enough, but they chose to tack on, from the start, a…
We have seen it so many times – a law gets liberalised to the extent that parliamentarians or the public will accept, and then, despite assurances, safeguards gradually get chipped away. The ongoing effort to remove the three-day wait to access abortion ‘services’ attracted a little attention last week, but not enough, considering the life…
In last week’s edition I had a special article about the media and the 9/11 attacks. Films are still being made about the tragedy. Colm Flynn’s excellent new programme Hope after 9/11 – Stories of Faith and Courage (EWTN, Saturday), explored the role played by religious faith, mainly through inspiring personal stories. The story of…
September often sees the return of old shows. Sunday Morning Live (BBC One) returned recently for a new season, and among the issues discussed on last Sunday’s show was the thorny one of accountability for crimes committed by soldiers. This has a particular relevance for legacy issues in Northern Ireland. As is often the case,…
I’ve been watching a recent drama series on BBC Four, called Kabul – about the chaotic evacuation of that city when the Taliban resumed power in Afghanistan. In the opening sequence there’s a clip of a plane crashing into the Twin Towers in New York, 2001. After 25 years it hasn’t lost its impact. I’d…
Last week I wrote about Fr Michael Baggott, a professor lecturing AI and ethics in the Vatican, on foot of a BBC appearance. I wasn’t expecting to come across him again so soon. He gave a very comprehensive interview on The Claire Byrne Show (Newstalk, Tuesday). As before he was articulate, personable and reasonable –…
I’m a fan of practical AI tools, but conscious of the broader dangers involved. ‘The Vatican’s AI Battle’ was the rather alarmist subtitle of Heart and Soul (BBC World Service, Friday). The issue raised was “What a God-like Artificial Intelligence might mean for humanity”. American priest in the Vatican, Fr Michael Baggot, who lectured in…
With Heritage Week running currently, it was good to see aspects of our spiritual heritage getting attention in the media. On Morning Ireland (RTÉ Radio 1, Friday) reporter Joe Caulfield spoke to some of the pilgrims on St Patrick’s Purgatory, Lough Derg, described as one of the oldest Christian pilgrimages, attracting pilgrims for over 1500…
There has been so much in the media over the last few months about the bad effects, on children in particular, of mobile phones and social media. Some would decry it as the latest moral panic, but I think there’s a lot to be concerned about. One of the best items on the problems was…
People often complain these days about a coarsening of public debate, but it’s not just happening on social media. I’ve noticed a tendency for bad language to become more common in mainstream media, both from interviewees and even worse from presenters. The practice has long been common in film and TV drama and if you…