Whats the First Big news story you can remember watching ?

mikedublin

Just wondering what were peoples first "big news" memories ? The first really big news events they saw on TV or heard on radio or followed in the papers ?

Mine was Richard Nixon resigning - I remember being with my cousins in a holiday home and we all sitting around the TV watching it, and I must have been only 6 or so, and I think I remember it more because it was really unusual to be watching TV in the daytime.

lord lucan

mikedublin wrote: »

Mine was Richard Nixon resigning - I remember being with my cousins in a holiday home and we all sitting around the TV watching it, and I must have been only 6 or so, and I think I remember it more because it was really unusual to be watching TV in the daytime.

I was born the next day,the day he left office!:)

First major news story i remember was the Siege on the Iranian Embassy in London in 1980. Can still picture being glued to the tv as the SAS burst in through the windows with explosives. I would have been 5 & 3/4's!!

WindSock

The first news story that I remember, or paid attention to was when there were 3 whales trapped in a pool surrounded by ice for a few days, around 1988. They eventually got some ice breaker thing to get them out.

oh, just found this googling:

Freeing The Whales
- How the Media Created the World's Greatest Non-Event

http://www.highnorth.no/Library/MediaWatch/fr-th-wh.htm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UAGC7ULZDA

thejuggler

The Pope's (John Paull !!) visit to Ireland in October 1979 is one that sticks out in my mind as a national tv event that was significant. Also the hunger strikes and the deaths in the maze prison. That was more early 80's though I think

GavRedKing

Italia 90, Ireland v Romania. I remember everyone making a bif fuss about it at the time but didnt understand it, until later in life.

I was 4 at the time, without thinking, this is my earliest memory.

cml387

Churchill's funeral (I was in UK at the time ).

Tabnabs

The first one I can remember actually watching is the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster in 1986. I was watching tv and it went to a news flash and that really impressed me initially (very 80s!) and then obviously the iconic images of the disaster.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_10T4UYpzV8

pearliefan

The one that sticks out right now is 9/11. Though I was ten by then so there are earlier ones...

Oh! Princess Diana's death.. I remember that on the news.

branie

for me, it was the Enniskillen Bombing in 1987

Bob the Seducer

Three big events came to mind for me, I had to check wikipedia to see which order they happened in though!
The fall of the Berlin Wall, Nelson Mandela's release and the first Gulf War.

Edit: Obviously you can stick Italia 90 in there too!

bullets

As a Kid I HATED the news. I'd be just finished my homework and allowed to watch telly only to have the Mother switch it over from whatever I had started
looking at to the news.

My earlies memory of having news I was interested in were any time
Nasa Launched a space mission, and remember the challenger disaster.

I also loved the SAS Iranian Embassy story but I saw that when I was much older as a teenager on documentaries.

The one more clear in my mind growing up was Dessert Storm.
I remember my father actually waking me out of bed to tell me the war had
started. It was the first time on Live TV that I saw actual war, Footage from
Missile/Laser Guided Bombs, Soldiers in Dessert Coloured uniforms,
I had not got a clue at the time why the Americans were there other than Oil kept on being mentioned on the telly.

At one stage in Ireland and the UK they actually released a Sticker Album
aimed at kids (and I had it) specifically called Dessert Storm. I still have
the vision of one of the stickers where they showed a member of the French Foreign legion with Huge Pads strapped to his feet for walking across mine-fields. I found it very odd they would try and glorify war
and try and make kids interested in it by buying, collecting, swapping stickers with your friends.

~B

stovelid

I always seem to remember IRA stuff - dirty/blanket protests, bombings when I lived in England as a child. Can't really even remember the telly, just images of the general time as my family were republican-minded.

Also a plane crash in the Canaries. Must have been 1979 or 1980. I remember my parents saying that our neighbors had died in it.

lord lucan

stovelid wrote: »

Also a plane crash in the Canaries. Must have been 1979 or 1980. I remember my parents saying that our neighbors had died in it.

Sounds like the crash in 1977 on Tenerife were a KLM & PAN-AM flight collided on the runway.

Dudess

Cool thread OP.

For me it was definitely the BBC report on the Ethiopia famine in late 1984 - I was six and haunted by the images.

Extremely famous footage but if anyone reading this hasn't seen it, just to advise, it's very, very upsetting.

---

First radio report - around the same time actually: the Kerry babies scandal. Didn't understand what it was about, but it seemed to be on the news constantly for ages...

Lando Griffin

It was either Bobby Sands dying or the Popes visit. Cant remember which came first then there was Shergar.

stovelid

lord lucan wrote: »

Sounds like the crash in 1977 on Tenerife were a KLM & PAN-AM flight collided on the runway.

I think it was this, mate:

http://project-tenerife.com/engels/05041980.htm

I vaguely remember being told it was a mountain or hill. Plus we were living in Manchester.

Jenroche

1977 - Death of Elvis Presley, Tenerife Plane Crash
1979 - Pope's visit to Ireland
1981 - Stardust Fire Disaster and Hunger Strikes.
1986 - Tianeman Square massacre and Chalenger disaster.
1989 - Berlin Wall comes down.

Kalimah

1970-Dana winning the Eurovision.
1972-Nixon
1972-Apollo 13
I hope I have all those years right! I have no memory of Bloody Sunday at all though.

Bearhunter

First news story I really remember was DeValera dying in 1975. The TV played mournful music and showed pictures of him rather than showing actual programmes.

gingerGiant

Dudess wrote: »

Cool thread OP.

For me it was definitely the BBC report on the Ethiopia famine in late 1984 - I was six and haunted by the images.

Extremely famous footage but if anyone reading this hasn't seen it, just to advise, it's very, very upsetting.

My first tv memory also, I was 4 didn't understand what all the fuss was about.

minister poxbottle

The dublin monaghan bombings it was a friday afternoon i'l never forget it :mad:

Vim Fuego

Gulf War 1990.

Bizarrely, someone phoned the house to tell my Dad it was kicking off. He then shot up out of bed to watch the news coverage downstairs.

I have absolutely no idea why (a) someone would call to tell him or (b) he was so interested/worried about it.

Aglomerado

Chernobyl, 1986. Especially as the news was tracking the fallout cloud across Europe and there was a danger some of it might end up in Ireland! I remember people being advised if they got caught in heavy rain to have a shower the minute they got home!

Also the Ethiopian Famine, especially the closeups of emaciated kids with flies on their faces.

darkdubh

The shooting of Pope John Paul,the death of Bobby Sands these would be probably the first 2 major news stories i remember.

TaraLo

Mine is princess Di's funeral.. didn't really pay attention to anything after that until 9/11.

Dudess

Aglomerado wrote: »

Chernobyl, 1986. Especially as the news was tracking the fallout cloud across Europe and there was a danger some of it might end up in Ireland! I remember people being advised if they got caught in heavy rain to have a shower the minute they got home!

I remember the aftermath all right, but the actual disaster itself I have absolutely no recollection of. I know I was very young (eight) yet still remember the Anglo-Irish Agreement the previous year...

mikemac

Dublin millenium 1988, was big news

I still have lots of 50p coins, might be worth something some day, unlikely though

Einhard

The Kitty O' Shea affair. Shure I remember it as twas yesterday so I do. Was a terrible thing to happen so it was...


I think the draw with England in the 1990 world cup is probably my first big media memory. Not sure if it's a news story stricly speaking. For that, it would have to tbe the first Gulf War. It really is as if it were yesterday! It's amazing how, up to a certain point, everything is hazy, and difficult to remember, and then one particular event can so almost pin sharp and detailed. I even had a poster on my wall detailing all the tanks and weapons used in the war. The weird thing is, I think I got it from a newspaper at the time!

r3nu4l

For me it was the visit by Pope John Paul II, my Mam even took us all to the Phoenix Park to see him and I remember it well. The next big stories I remember were the Iranian embassy siege and subsequent siege-bust by the SAS and then the hunger strikes.

I remember seeing all the black flags in Clondalkin and Lucan flying from every lamp-post in the area and asking my Mam, 'Are they for the hunger strikers that died?'. Up until that point my Mam never realised I paid much attention to the news. I was 5/6 at the time

chakotha

A few things in 1979 too

The Whiddy Island oil tanker disaster
Pope's visit

Sam Kade

mikedublin wrote: »

Just wondering what were peoples first "big news" memories ? The first really big news events they saw on TV or heard on radio or followed in the papers ?

Mine was Richard Nixon resigning - I remember being with my cousins in a holiday home and we all sitting around the TV watching it, and I must have been only 6 or so, and I think I remember it more because it was really unusual to be watching TV in the daytime.

Great thread for figuring out posters ages. You must be around 42.

PeteEd

The first news story i have really vivid memories of was the IRA Bombing of the Enniskillen Cenotaph, Remembrance Day 1987.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdhDp5r5B4Q

gipi

At the risk of sounding like "an aul' wan" ....my earliest memory of the news was the moon landing (look it up, kids, it was 1969!).

Miss Lockhart

Lockerbie - 21 December 1988. I was 5.

KrazeeEyezKilla

The first things I can clearly remember would be the crisis in Somalia and the Clinton-Bush US Election from late 1992. I used to watch bits of Today Tonight at the time.

Thomas828

lord lucan wrote: »

First major news story i remember was the Siege on the Iranian Embassy in London in 1980. Can still picture being glued to the tv as the SAS burst in through the windows with explosives. I would have been 5 & 3/4's!!

That is also my earliest major news memory. Me and my granny were watching it on her new colour
TV.

Agricola

IRA ceasefire, 1994

In fact my childhood memories of the RTE news revolve mostly around problems in the North

baldbear

The Berlin Wall. I was in my kitchen playing with my little toy cars and my auntie was visiting from South Africa. She shouts at me, hey are you watching this, its history happening and will never be forgotton. I remember been very confused thinking why is there a big stupid wall there seperating people. I was 6.

jos28

gipi wrote: »

At the risk of sounding like "an aul' wan" ....my earliest memory of the news was the moon landing (look it up, kids, it was 1969!).

You beat me to it, I was just about to post the same story. And I thought I was the only oldie on boards

Dudess

I remember when the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior was in the news - hadn't a clue what it was about but I always took notice as I think I just liked that name for a boat.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinking_of_the_Rainbow_Warrior

Freaky... just Wiki'd it and today's the 25th anniversary! :eek:

Roro4Brit

I must have never watched the news growing up - the earliest thing I can remember is Princess Diana's death.

Latchy

My earliest and surprising memory of hearing a big news story break ( I was only 7 years old at the time ) was when home from school for lunch one afternoon in 1968 when it came over the radio that Robert Kennedy had being assassinated . I remember walking back to school and talking about it to my mate Tom . I was only a nipper yet It was one of those ' were were you when you heard times ' which in my case then was Chapelizod .

Other big news story which stand out for me were

Men landing on the moon 1969 ( was on family holiday down in kilmuckridge co Wexford )

Elvis death in 1977 ( was down in the glen of immal )

John lennons death 1980 ( was over in Amsterdam )

Bloody Sunday massacre ( Dublin )

Chernobyl 1986 ( Dublin)

And of course 9/11 ( was on a ferry that had just left Dublin port )

schween

I remember the North being on the news a lot.

Specifically, off the top of my head I remember the floods of around '95 I think and the Omagh bombing.

StormWarrior

The first news story I remember watching was the gulf war. I just remember my parents trying to interest me in what was going on.

L1011

My brain tells me I can remember Lockerbie. I was 22 months old at the time so I SERIOUSLY fecking doubt it and think it could be an implanted memory, but there's a good reason I would remember it - had relatives die on the ground there, their house was hit by an engine/fuel tank wing section.

kenon

The James Bulger murder was the first news story that jumped into my mind when I saw the title of this thread. It was 1993 so I was 8.

There were probably other news stories before that that I can vaguely remember (Italia '90 etc) but the Bulger thing is a lot more vivid.

Amy33

When the pope visited Ireland, I was three.

Dudess

Live Aid 25th anniversary today.

1987 was a year that really sticks out for me in terms of current events. I was only eight/nine but I remember it being such a year for tragedy and atrocity - it was the year of Enniskillen (the Senator Gordon Wilson speech about saying goodbye to his daughter - I remember the first time I heard that, it was on Morning Ireland and I was getting ready for school. Cried my eyes out... ), the Zeebrugge ferry disaster, the King's Cross fire and, the one I don't remember at the time, the Hungerford massacre in England. There was also a massive storm that year in England which caused a number of fatalities.

Documentary on Hungerford tonight - freakay...

Teddy_Picker

The first big Irish story I remember was USA '94. I was 4 and didn't know the World Cup from an eggcup, but was nonetheless kitted out by my Mum in a little green dungarees and t-shirt!

The first real major story I remember was Princess Diana's death. I can still see the news reports from London, with all the bouquets of flowers piled up in front of the palace gates. I had a very vague idea of who she was, but I remember getting really caught up in the story, and wondering how I could go to school the following day! Bless

rainbowtrout

Dudess wrote: »

Live Aid 25th anniversary today.

1987 was a year that really sticks out for me in terms of current events. I was only eight/nine but I remember it being such a year for tragedy and atrocity - it was the year of Enniskillen (the Senator Gordon Wilson speech about saying goodbye to his daughter - I remember the first time I heard that, it was on Morning Ireland and I was getting ready for school. Cried my eyes out... ), the Zeebrugge ferry disaster, the King's Cross fire and, the one I don't remember at the time, the Hungerford massacre in England. There was also a massive storm that year in England which caused a number of fatalities.

Documentary on Hungerford tonight - freakay...

I would have posted almost the same, I was 8 or 9 in 87 as well and remember all of those events. Live Aid/Ethiopian Famine was probably the only one I remember from before that.

I remember Fergie and Prince Andrew getting married (quick Google - 1986), there must have been huge coverage of it on BBC/ITV.

Enniskillen, Zeebrugge ferry disaster, Berlin Wall and collapse of communism in Eastern Europe, Tianamen Square Massacre, Lockerbie, Hillsborough Disaster, Guildord Four released.

Just had a gander at Wikipedia and most of those come from 1989.

My overwhelming memory of the news in the 80s was Northern Ireland, nothing in particular apart from Enniskillen, but just that there seemed to be a shooting or a bombing or an ambush of some sort on the news every night. In terms of world news it was the collapse of communism in November and Decemeber 89 and my atlas for geography in primary school became obsolete almost overnight. I remember the execution of the Ceausescus in Romania, it was Christmas Day 89 and thinking, 'it's an odd day for an execution'.

Magnum

Mine would have to be when Pope John-Paul came to Limerick, another one would be the Stardust Tragedy