Mann: British Military Launch Media Offensive

This news published by the Celtic League:

Mann: British Military Launch Media Offensive

NEWS FROM THE CELTIC LEAGUE

New role for Manx reporters as military correspondents? Robert Capa ‘eat your heart out’!

The launch of the so-called ‘Military Reserve’ Force on the Isle of Man got underway today with a media ‘offensive’.

The first ‘broadside’ was a media report on early morning current affairs programme Manx Radio Mandate. Manx Radio (MR) seemed to be pleased to ‘reprise’ their military ‘background’ (the station is sited in the building that was used by the RN in WW2 to train radar operatives).

However, in the interests of ‘balance’ MR also broadcast an interview with Mec Vannin Chairman Mark Kermode.

(You can access this on the listen again feature on the Manx Radio website – Mandate Friday 15th May – remember its only there for seven days.)

Earlier this week Mec Vannin adopted a resolution critical of the move at its Annual General Meeting.

Manx Radio’s commitment to ‘balance’ was not shared by all the media and a Mec Vannin member observing the event asked a TV crew reporting matters if they had balanced their coverage – the response was total disinterest.

Later in the morning copies of the Isle of Man Courier started to drop through Island letter boxes complete with large adverts featuring determined looking ‘grunts’ in full battledress. Presumably they are having ‘fun’: something the Army spokesman getting interviewed earlier by Manx Radio News Editor, Marian Kenny, referred to several times in his piece.

Celtic League are working on an advert of our own, however, we doubt if it will be accepted by the sensitive souls at IOM Newspapers for publication as it shows a British Royal Marine in Malaya (circa 1952) having ‘fun’ holding aloft the severed heads of to Chinese Malay civilians.

Now before any outraged ‘Colonel Blimps’ reading this start shrieking about it being a long time ago and ‘balance’, we should point out that an English newspaper cited a case in 2010 of an Afghan civilian (alleged to be a Taliban leader) having his head severed and brought back by British troops to their base. The paper even helpfully cited the Malaya precedent from 60 years earlier.

“Join the Army; travel to exotic, distant lands; meet exciting, unusual people and kill them!”

Obviously not much changes over the years in terms of ‘fun’ in the British Army.

The new military reserve obviously opens up all sorts of possibilities for the Manx media and in no time at all we could have ‘military correspondents’ (after all, they do get to do the Island Games).

Eat your heart out Robert Capa!

J B Moffatt (Mr)
Director of Information
Celtic League

15/05/15

(Please note that replies to correspondence received by the League and posted on CL News are usually scanned hard copies. Obviously every effort is made to ensure the scanning process is accurate but sometimes errors do occur.)

ISSUED BY THE CELTIC LEAGUE INFORMATION SERVICE.

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