ABSTRACT
What this study indicates is that at particular historical moments the role of news reporting can change in relation to political circumstances. It demonstrates this point by highlighting how television news reports of Northern Ireland underwent a paradigmatic shift with the emergence of the peace process, where coverage moved from playing a supportive role in connection to dominant political positions, to playing a more obstructive role towards those positions. This transition merits a need for breaking with past explanations about news coverage of Northern Ireland concerned with conflict and requires reassessing the role of coverage in relation to the new political climate of peace. The primary concern of this study has been to question the role of news as part of this changing climate and to analyse the impact of news on the politics of peace.
