Over to you

Transition Year students can win a week's work placement in The Irish Times. Send us your thoughts (200 words maximum) on a media-related topic - if your submission is published, the placement is yours.

Conor Lavelle, St Patrick's Classical School, Navan, Co Meath

When Chris Barry left Dublin's FM104 earlier in the year to join rivals 98FM, its management hoped that his loyal fans would follow him. However, FM104 managed to keep Barry's listeners long enough to convince them that his understudy, Adrian Kennedy, had what it takes to broadcast shock radio at its very best.

Never again was the name Chris Barry mentioned on the station, except by some confused callers who quickly found their chances of being cut off mid-sentence increased 10-fold.

Now, as life returns to normal for the late-night tabloidesque talk shows, it's a choice between the straight-talking Kennedy and his massive listenership or the showmanship of Barry - which provided FM104 with the listeners in the first place. No punches will be pulled in the fight for the top spot and there will never be a dull moment this season, which will only benefit the listeners.

Ruadhan Mac Cormaic, Colaiste Eoin, Stillorgan, Dublin

The appalling atrocity visited upon the people of Omagh will hopefully prove to have been a political watershed in the history of the Northern troubles

As I write one week on, The outlook appears positive. With six of the seven proscribed paramilitary groupings having declared ceasefires (however indefinite) and the seventh (Continuity IRA) declared by security sources to be `defunct', the paltry irony is that some small good may have emanated from Omagh.

The Omagh bombing has highlighted many issues, political and social, that deserve our examination. From a media point of view, the outrage has underlined the vast gulf in news reporting between the different television stations which covered it.

Undoubtedly, Sky News thrives on events of this scale. The coverage it gave the Omagh bombing was immense - but, sadly, the quality did not match the quantity. The speed with which it relayed developments from Omagh was admirable, but at times the newsreaders' lack of understanding of the Northern situation was almost embarrassing, while their tabloid style never appeared more inappropriate.

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media scope is a weekly media studies page for use in schools. Group rates and a special worksheet service are available: FREEPHONE 1-800-798884 (8 a.m. to 5 p.m.). media scope is edited by Harry Browne.