Meet the Media
Alex Kane
Alex Kane is a columnist for the News Letter and Irish News and a regular contributor to a number of other publications. He comments on politics for the BBC, UTV and RTÉ.
How did you get into journalism?
I don’t regard or describe myself as a journalist. I’m someone with opinions on an awful lot of things and I’m blessed with what I think is a fairly readable, relaxed writing and conversational style. From about the age of 17, when I was studying English, Politics and History for A Level, I knew that I wanted to write; but I also knew that I didn’t want to be a ‘proper’ journalist. I didn’t want to be confined to just covering a story and giving a factual account. I wanted the freedom to comment on a story and give my personal opinion on anything and everything. To be really honest, I never thought that I was good enough to be a real journalist.
My first regular work was with the Sunday News in the late 1970s when I wrote about films, from an historical perspective rather than as a critic of the latest releases. I had sent a few pieces to the editor and one week, without telling me, one of them was published. It was one of the happiest days of my life. I also did semi-regular political ‘think pieces’ for the News Letter (Mervyn Pauley, the paper’s political editor, opened a lot of doors for me), mostly to do with the challenges facing unionism. I continued to do lots of bits and bobs down the years, but it was only when I left full-time work with the UUP in 2010 and went freelance that I was able to add ‘writer and commentator’ to my job title. It took me 40 years to get there, but I’m happier than I’ve ever been.
Describe your typical working day?
I write and talk for a living, so my typical day will involve lots of that. It often starts with a text message or a call from a radio programme wanting me to provide commentary on a news story, or providing background to something that might be happening in the Assembly or Westminster later in the day. And I’ll usually be booked for another radio or television programme later in the day, so I need to make sure that I’m up to speed by the time the microphones and cameras are on.
I always have something which needs to be written. I’ve weekly columns in the News Letter and Irish News and often a platform piece in the Belfast Telegraph: and on top of that, other publications will usually want something done during the week.
I’ve kept a news/politics diary for almost three decades and I update it every day. It’s become a running commentary on Northern Ireland politics and I’ve covered everything since the early 1980s. Thirty years ago all my judgments and predictions were of the black or white kind, but as I’ve got older – and lived through so much – I’ve become more measured and nuanced. I’ve still retained my cynicism and pessimism, but I’m now rarely surprised by anything that happens.
If I’m not on commentary duty on Stormont Today or The View I’ll quite often be on a panel event somewhere, or guest speaker at a function. There’s more freedom away from the microphones and I love the buzz of a live audience, particularly when we get to the question and answer session!
And I read. Newspapers, magazines, online sites, books (often for review) etc. Anything and everything. I also listen. I get a lot of calls from politicians, mostly to do with what I’ve said or written, but quite often just to brief me or update me on something they’re involved with. I tend to have a very good relationship with most of them, although they know that I will have to be critical of them from time to time.
Who would you describe as your role models in the industry?
I think Matthew Parris is superb, even though I rarely agree with him. A good columnist/commentator – which is what I would like to think I am – explains how and why he has reached his conclusions. He’s neither blind nor deaf to opposing views and isn’t afraid to acknowledge and address them. He has to be willing to change his mind if the facts demand it. He doesn’t write or say something just to curry favour with a particular audience. He has to be prepared to go against the editorial line. He must never shy away from saying something which he knows will upset. He must never be afraid to take on taboo subjects or challenge his audience. Most important of all, he mustn’t be afraid to admit to getting something wrong.
I did my first ever radio interview with the late Barry Cowan about 1983. I was dreadful. But he gave me wonderful advice: “You were crap today, but you are good on paper. Learn to relax and have confidence in what you say. Be better prepared. Only the really good can wing it on live radio. People in this game only start to reach their peak from their late 40s onwards, because by then they have lived a life worth writing about and talking about.”
What is it about journalism that you enjoy?
My parents read the News Letter, Belfast Telegraph, Irish Times and Times, along with the Sunday Times and Observer. They preferred radio news to television coverage. So from a very early age I was aware of the power of words. I loved listening to my mum and dad discuss what they had read and heard – they came to most issues from a different perspective – and I particularly liked the conversations when they had friends over for dinner. I devoured news from about the age of 12 – and this was an era when newspapers were broadsheet and stuffed. I loved that feeling of being aware of what was happening in the world around me.
I still remember the first time I saw the News Letter and Belfast Telegraph newsrooms in the mid-1970s (I was at Queen’s at the time) and the sheer noise of the place: phones ringing, raised voices, bustle, the thump of typewriters and people everywhere. Watching a newspaper come to life was an exhilarating experience.
I worry, though, that today’s audience tends to scan rather than read news. It wants the headline rather than the substance. There are far more sources of news and information now than there were when I first read a newspaper about 50 years ago, but it seems to me that most people are actually less informed. Being spoiled for choice seems to make people less focused.
“I’ve kept a news/politics diary for almost three decades and I update it every day.”
What would you describe as your most notable story or project?
I’m still dealing with that. At some point – unless I pop my socks earlier than expected – I will finish a book I’ve been working on about Northern Ireland.
How is journalism embracing the digital revolution?
In much the same way that it embraced the telegraph, telephone, radio and television revolutions – by adapting. It also adapted fairly quickly to the technological advances in printing and the new speed advantages of computers and internet. But what it is struggling to deal with is the rise of something which is described as ‘citizen journalism’. Anyone with a smart phone, camera and social media account – who happens to find themselves close to an event of some sort – will often break a story before the mainstream media does. And another problem is the rise of the ‘we-don’t-like-your-news’ outlets across social media. Too many people want their news filtered to the extent that opposing views aren’t even included. But there will always be a demand for news and there will always be millions upon millions of people who will want broad based journalism rather than the sort of stuff that Donald Trump seems to prefer.
What advice would you give anyone starting out in the profession?
Political journalism is a combination of a number of elements: factual reporting, analysis and commentary being the primary three. If you don’t understand that, then don’t become a political journalist. Don’t get involved if you think that being recognised on the street or in a shop is ‘cool.’ And, best advice of all, don’t fall into the trap of thinking that writing or talking about politics (or anything, for that matter) in a newspaper, radio or television necessarily means that you’re a journalist.
What are your main interests outside of work?
The great passion of my life (apart from my family) is Sherlock Holmes. I discovered him when I was 11 and I’m still reading and collecting. I like what’s known as ‘cosy’ detection – although I hate all the modern graphic, forensic stuff. I also love films – I began what passes for my career as a film critic for the QUB student newspaper The Gown – and I have a particular fondness for 1940s/50s film noir and musicals. I unwind and de-clutter my head by ironing and washing dishes. I love Frasier, The Big Bang Theory, Gilmore Girls and Neighbours.
