DE
Thinking about it now, was it really sensible to have NI news following directly on from children's programming? Given the chance of the lead story featuring some death or destruction, it feels like the kind of thing that Ofcom would frown upon these days under the 'protecting under-18s' part of the broadcasting code.
You have to remember that back then shootings, riots, bombs, fire bombs, punishment attacks, etc were part of daily life.
As a child of the 70s, 80s, 90s... you didn't have to watch it on the news... you and your Mum were frisked by security forces before being allowed into the main shopping area of the city centre.
You passed by buildings that had been destroyed by explosions. You were regularly stopped by army or police road blocks. Living 6 miles away from the city centre, you could still hear / feel a bomb exploding elsewhere in Belfast.
Even if you didn't see a riot, you certainly were used to passing burnt out vehicles and rubble across the roads. It's the way it was... the news just reflected what you already saw on the streets.
This was, of course, during the Troubles, so there was plenty of news in that patch.
Thinking about it now, was it really sensible to have NI news following directly on from children's programming? Given the chance of the lead story featuring some death or destruction, it feels like the kind of thing that Ofcom would frown upon these days under the 'protecting under-18s' part of the broadcasting code.
You have to remember that back then shootings, riots, bombs, fire bombs, punishment attacks, etc were part of daily life.
As a child of the 70s, 80s, 90s... you didn't have to watch it on the news... you and your Mum were frisked by security forces before being allowed into the main shopping area of the city centre.
You passed by buildings that had been destroyed by explosions. You were regularly stopped by army or police road blocks. Living 6 miles away from the city centre, you could still hear / feel a bomb exploding elsewhere in Belfast.
Even if you didn't see a riot, you certainly were used to passing burnt out vehicles and rubble across the roads. It's the way it was... the news just reflected what you already saw on the streets.