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There has been a slow but significant change of emphasis
in the way the Press cover the 'Twelfth' demonstrations nowadays,
compared to even a few decades ago, writes Observer.
A friend was kind enough to send me copies of weekly newspapers
throughout Northern Ireland of the various Orange processions
on the 12th July this year, and a number of copies of papers
who report the Royal Black Institution demonstration in Scarva
the following day.
An increasing number of weekly newspapers now tend to limit
their coverage to photographs of the Orangemen and bands on
parade, and of spectators lining the route and in the Field.
These papers often carry interviews with people watching the
parade, but the reader will search in vain in trying to find
reports of the platform speeches in support of the various
resolutions submitted to the brethren at the Field.
Indeed, many papers do not even carry the resolutions - an
oversight which would certainly not have happened in the 1950s
and 1960s. In those days editors of all weekly papers insisted
on their reporters taking copious notes of what the speakers
had to say and it would have been unthinkable for the speeches
to have been reported in great depth at meetings.
I can still recall as a junior reporter, the feeling of satisfaction
at being able to deciper notes taken of speeches at the Field
in the early 1950s - notes often blurred by the rain which
tended to fall just as the speeches were about to begin.
And also the sheer delight when some of the more approachable
speakers were prepared to hand over copies of their speeches
which meant that you did not have to rely on shorthand notes
to ensure a good report.
These days readers will often search in vain through the
issue of the paper covering the Twelfth and find that they
cannot find any report of the proceedings in the Field.
Far be it for me to criticise newspaper editors who know
what best serves the needs of their paper and its readers.
But somehow I feel that by not reporting the proceedings on
the platform, some papers are depriving not only today's readers,
but those of future generations of the opportunity to guage
what are the feelings of the Orange Order or at least its
local county officers on what they feel about matters concerning
the Order and indeed the Protestant churches.
Historians often scour the columns of past newspapers to
ascertain what the feelings of the Order were on matters of
importance. In compilling some recent articles for the Standard
I researched the files of the Portadown and Lurgan papers
for the year 1903 when Brownlow House in Lurgan became an
Orange Hall - the largest in the world it is often claimed.
Speakers on that platform stressed opposition to Home Rule,
and they paid tribute to the courage of Irish soldiers, many
of them Orangemen, who had fought in the recent Boer War.
Likewise, perusing the files of the Belfast papers and some
provincial papers for the 1920-22 period, I found it fascinating
to read the speeches of Orangemen in the various Fields. Those
from the North welcomed the new State of Northern Ireland,
seeing in it the guarantee of the continuation of the liberties
enjoyed by British subjects.
On the other hand, several Southern Orangemen underlined
the plight of the Southern Unionists and Protestants who had
been "thrown to the wolves" by the British Government,
and left to the tender mercies of the new Irish Free State.
In more recent times, it is interesting to note that the
Portadown News in July 1963 reported speakers in the Field
as lauding the principles and objectives of the British Commonwealth,
and urging that Britain should prefer Canada, Australia and
New Zealand to the former enemies on the European Continent.
The speeches made at Twelfth platforms are not just predictably
about the need to protect the Protestant religion, but they
also reflect the social issues and feelings of the period
in which they were delivered.
By not reporting the speeches, those newspapers who prefer
to cover the Twelfth with pages of photographs are doing a
dis-service to those who study the attitudes of Orangemen
and their supporters at a particular period in history.
I can understand the feelings of some Orangemen who are critical
of the link between the Orange Order and the Ulster Unionist
Party, and indeed those Orangemen who feel that platform proceedings
should be confined to a religious service.
But it has been a long tradition for the Press to report
Orange speeches, and those papers now confining their coverage
to 'smart' stories and photographs are missing out on a vital
aspect of the Order and its business.
In fairness, there are quite a few Ulster weekly papers still
reporting the speeches and carrying the resolutions, and the
editors of those publications obviously feel there is still
a great interest in these.
It is not the Order's business to tell the Press how to go
about its business. All we ask for is fair coverage of our
demonstrations and events, and in fairness, the coverage this
year in the Belfast and provincial press was excellent.
Full marks to both local television stations for their coverage
of parades throughout the country. The BBC's decision a few
years ago to restore the 'live' hour long programme of the
Belfast parade has been vindicated once again. This year the
pictures were terrific, and the expert analysis of banners
by Orange historian Clifford Smyth was spot on.
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