Meet the media: Gail McGreevy
Friday, September 2nd, 2011This month, agendaNi asks a press officer about their work and interests. Gail McGreevy is Head of Communications for the Probation Board and previously worked for the PSNI, SDLP and Fianna Fáil. Outline your career path to date. I always had an interest in journalism and politics but thought lawyers made the big bucks. So I graduated with a law and politics degree from Queen’s University, hoping to ‘keep my options open’. After graduating, I went to Dublin and worked for the Insurance Ombudsman of Ireland which was a terrific first job to land as a graduate. The Ombudsman was...[full story]
Business: Jim Fitzpatrick
Monday, June 6th, 2011Jim Fitzpatrick reflects on covering local politics as he moves to being BBC Northern Ireland’s new Business and Economics Editor. If you’ve ever been to Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris, you will doubtless remember the weird and wonderful walkways and escalators that transport travellers around this futuristic space. You don’t get much time to decide which walkway to choose, and once you’re onboard there’s nothing you can do to alter the general direction of travel until you can jump over to another. Pressing the emergency stop is an option, but rarely a good choice. Since...[full story]
Meet the media: Jim Fitzpatrick
Friday, April 15th, 2011How did you get started in journalism? It was a last minute change of mind which took me towards journalism. I’d always enjoyed writing and was very interested in current affairs but was initially planning to study law. Once I realised that I didn’t want to be a lawyer, the only thing I could think of was journalism. I managed to get a place on the old NCTJ pre-entry course at the old College of Business Studies and went straight into this practical training course after school. My first full-time job in journalism was as the news editor of the first community radio station outside...[full story]
People: A Modern Ireland
Thursday, March 10th, 2011Famous works, depicting Ireland’s cultural and artistic heritage are currently on display at the Irish Museum of Modern Art. Photographs taken by Sir Roger Casement, John Millington Synge and George Bernard Shaw are just some of the features of an exhibition at the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA). ‘The Moderns: The Arts in Ireland from the 1900s to the 1970s’ aims to explore the development of modernity in Ireland and contains 250 works by more than 180 artists, writers, film-makers, architects, designers and composers. Focussing in the innovative and the experimental, the exhibition...[full story]
Meet the media: Kathy Clugston
Thursday, March 10th, 2011Kathy Clugston’s voice is well-known to radio listeners: she presents the news on BBC Radio 4 and the BBC World Service, provides voices for The Folks on the Hill on Radio Ulster and is the PR4L (Posh Radio 4 Lady) on The Scott Mills Show on Radio 1. Born in Belfast, Kathy studied French and Russian at Queen’s University and the University of Bath. Her first book, A Brief History of Tim, was published by Virgin Books last October. How did you get started in journalism? A mixture of luck and cheek. My friend spotted an ad in the paper for a TV continuity announcer at BBC Northern...[full story]
ICT: Stormont’s social media
Friday, January 28th, 2011Peter Cheney reviews Stormont’s social media sites and assesses how well it communicates online. Press officers have embraced social media in a revamp of the Executive’s public relations. Facebook, flickr and twitter accounts have been opened, alongside a blog and a series of RSS feeds. As expected, the Executive Information Service focuses on the good news and common ground between the parties. That said, differences are inevitable as the 12 press offices put forward their own minister’s views. Each site has a modest following perhaps due to its formal tone e.g. press releases...[full story]
