Discussing the impact of the satirical and current affairs magazine 'Private Eye' 21 years after it was first published.
When it was Founded in 1961 'Private Eye' was a magazine edited by a group of irreverent graduates and not expected to last. Now, the fortnightly publication has a circulation of almost two hundred thousand.
It's twenty one years since the magazine Private Eye first appeared in London.
'The Private Eye Story' by Patrick Marnham has been published to mark the magazine's coming-of-age and provides a history of the magazine. John Mulcahy former owner and editor of 'Hibernia magazine and Colm Tóibín features editor of 'In Dublin' discuss the book and 'Private Eye'.
It's a detailed account, well-illustrated, of the policies and personalities involved in the magazine, of the rows, the libels, the cartoons, the general raffishness and cheekiness of a publication that combines solid information and journalistic coverage with outrageous humour and sometimes inspired mickey-taking.
Colm Tóibín describes the book as "terribly enjoyable" but it does not cover how funny some of the magazine's stories are. It is more concerned with the investigative journalism side of the publication.
John Mulcahy says Private Eye is "essential reading" with a mixture of "farce and fact". He commends Private Eye for unearthing some of the most important financial scandal stories in England over the past twenty years. While many newspapers avoid publishing certain stories for libel reasons, Private Eye has been willing to take the risk and now has a libel budget of £100,000 a year.
John Mulcahy attributes the success of the magazine to its editor Richard Ingrams and its many contributors who publish stories that are not available elsewhere.
Colm Tóibín puts the large circulation down to the fun aspect of the publication and would welcome an Irish version of Private Eye. He says that if he were a millionaire, he would start a magazine that would abuse and write vicious articles about public people.
This episode of 'Folio - The World of Books' was broadcast on 17 November 1982. The presenter is Patrick Gallagher.
'Folio' was initially a general arts programme, first broadcast on 20 September 1977 with a performance of 'La Ventana' by the Irish Ballet Company. The first series was subtitled 'The Arts in Ireland' and 'The World of Books' on alternate weeks, with Ciarán MacGonigal presenting the arts editions while Tom McGurk and Patrick Gallagher presented the literary ones. From the second series on, it became a books programme, though still taking an occasional look at theatre and other arts. It ran until 1985.
