The
Village, now in its eighth edition, is blazing
a trail as a vigorous new addition to the world
of current affairs reporting. Despite the refreshing
absence of a glossy cover it has a striking quality
to it, aiming to catch the mind rather then the
eye. Described by a rival as 'solemn' - a way
of putting negative spin on serious - the magazine
comes at a time when vacuity characterises the
language of the political establishment. Something
so well caught by Mark Brennock in the Irish Times
when he said of Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, ‘at
the end of a very reasonable discourse on a complex
subject you realise he has expressed no view at
all. It is a style that has worked well for a
decade.' Launched at the start of October the
Village is still holding up well in terms
of sales. So far it seems not to have been squeezed
by a factor plaguing other magazines heavily reliant
on political columnists - all the daily newspapers
now feature a daily opinion column. A strong consumer
sentiment appears to be ‘why fork out an
extra few quid or Euro on a magazine when for
not much extra cash you can have a week’s
supply of papers and a column ever day?’
A
couple of decades ago Fortnight and Magill
offered the best of political commentary but the
competition is so great in today’s world
that Fortnight, although under solid editorial
guidance, fights to keep pace. Magill has
come and gone as many times as Gary Glitter. Its
latest comeback under the editorship of Eamon
Delaney holds out the prospect of a right of centre
package that will ease up on the buttock clenching
control freak style of some periodicals. Defending
the centre right, placing the magazine in the
bosom of the establishment, is hardly going to
break much delft. It might break the bank of its
financial backers. Magill saw its star
soar as a result of its 'robust anti-establishment
campaigning in the 1980s.' Recasting itself in
defence of the status quo might not create enough
bang to bring in the bucks. For the writer at
any rate the status quo is a fast track to staleness.
Look at how some republican writers once regaled
us with vigour and incisive critique only now
to end up sounding like the monotonous dullards
of the SDLP. ‘Politics must be made to work’
- yeah, right; and whatever.
In
its very first issue the Village took the
Progressive Democrats to task on the party's policy
towards the health service. Elsewhere it has detailed
how the Catholic Church blocked the implementation
of plans aimed at the protection of children.
In a country long used to 'brother buggers boy'
stories, this may seem old hat. But editor Vincent
Browne is to be lauded for ensuring malpractice
and cover up involving our self-styled moral guardians
should remain under the public spotlight.
Browne
seems set on reproducing the fire in the belly
spirit that so animated Magill under his
editorship. His stated goal of bringing Village
weekly sales to a level of 20,000 is a tough challenge
if not just a touch ambitious. His confidence
thus far could be boosted further, however, with
a few minor adjustments. Given that the Northern
six counties holds roughly one third of the island's
population, and all other things being equal,
it would be expected that around 7000 magazines
would be sold here. We are continuously told after
all about the high level of political interest
that supposedly exists here; a ready made market
just waiting to be prised open by a new magazine
with a potential to sweep away conformity spawned
cobwebs. But marketing strategy seems to be poor.
The magazine hardly features on the racks in many
shops. In some of those that do stock it - the
main distributors of news and current affairs
material - the Village is buried under
dross. To make matters worse the absence of any
effective promotion campaign in the North to coincide
with the October launch of the Village
meant it was hobbled from birth.
This
is all the more disappointing given that one of
the consistently best feature pieces is that penned
by the Magazine's Northern anchor woman, the award
winning journalist Suzanne Breen. In an age when
writing on Northern Ireland is akin to covering
paint dry Breen has managed to breathe life into
reporting when so many others have succumbed and
allowed their writing to become as bland and tedious
as that which it purports to comment on.
The
Sinn Fein boss Gerry Adams has appeared frequently
in the column pages. No other political leader
has been given as much space. Yet Adams' column
is as lifeless as his Irish Voice one.
Only this week he went to some length in his piece
to meticulously avoid explaining the fundamentally
dangerous outcome of the recent US Presidential
election. His anodyne characterisation of George
Bush lacked even a speck of radical verve. If
Adams were a player of any consequence on the
international stage, Bush, if he has learned to
read, would regard him as a trusty ally.
Furthermore,
does Vincent Browne enjoy poking his audience
in the eye? Or can he genuinely not spot the irony
in the Village carrying a feature piece
on the disappeared entitled 'Northern Ireland’s
missing' yet at the same time running a number
of articles penned by the person long alluded
to, rightly or wrongly, as knowing more about
the fate of the disappeared than any other individual
living or dead? If El Salvador's equivalent of
the Village were to run a feature demanding
knowledge about the country's death squads while
at the same time allowing Roberto d'Aubisson (now
deceased) to frequently wax nonsensical about
mundane matters, it would only be a matter of
time before it was pulling in awards for surrealism.
As
the Village gears up to move into its third
month, it will have its work cut out maintaining
its present rate of productivity. Being a weekly
news dispenser it must always steal the edge over
its daily competitors. No easy task. More space
would need to be given to unionists to address
the southern readership. New columnists reflecting
a wide range of issues should be introduced. Web
writing has thrown up a host of talent formerly
marginalised by the monied power behind the only
other outlets. Bloggers abound, many of whom possess
a writing dexterity cut from a quality of cloth
not found among the usual hacks. Browne could
do worse than scout there for fresh and younger
talent. Let them bare their fangs in the Village
before biting the world. More voices that are
not in tune with the metanarrative should find
space within the pages of the Village.
Thorny issues relating to prison policy, the internal
state of our jails, garda corruption, and politicians'
direct links to criminality should be grasped
and investigated.
Selling
for £1.95 in the North, the Village
is a great buy. Approximately 80 pages of commentary,
analysis, news, reviews guides and critique, it
has the potential to rupture the language of sameness
so criticised by Professor Kathleen Lynch a number
of years ago. It is time for something else, time
for the pages of the Village to replace
the spin of the City as a welcome alternative
font of information.
