Seeing the Scenic City through the eyes of an Irish journalist
With St. Patrick’s Day just around the corner, we thought we’d get a real Irish view on Chattanooga. Who better than Irish native James Mahon, who spent almost three years as a general assignment reporter for Chattanooga’s CBS affiliate WDEF-TV News 12.
During his time in the Tennessee Valley, he blogged about his unique take on the South, which also ran as a monthly lifestyle television series Through Irish Eyes. Now he has compiled his experiences in a book of the same name and pays a return visit to the Tennessee Valley in April.
I caught up with Mahon over Facetime recently at his home in Glasgow, Scotland. He currently lectures about his broadcast adventures at the University of West Scotland. Mahon is trilingual and an accomplished linguist.
Mahon was born in Bucharest, Romania, then was quickly adopted and grew up in the west coast Irish town of Galway.
“You may have heard about Galway in one of Ed Sheeran’s song,” laughs Mahon. “It was a great place to grow up with culture, madness, fishing, music and film to influence an individualist Irish teen.”
He attended university in Galway focusing on Irish language and education, then pursued an undergraduate degree in English and classics. He then moved to Sheffield, England to obtain a Master of Arts in Broadcast Journalism.
“I was able to work for the British Broadcasting Corporation in Leeds (England) shooting video with an iPhone 4 during my training,” says Mahon. “But once I tried to get a job, older candidates took preference among employers since they had experience. English culture values know-how versus America’s youth culture.”He soon realized his broadcast education would not be complete without working in the United States.
“I needed proper training,” says Mahon. “I wanted to study and know how to do it correctly.”
He fell in love with the U.S. after visiting Los Angeles and New York in 2011 but he wasn’t able to get a visa until the fall of 2012. He began shooting video for WKOP, the PBS station in Knoxville, while spending time as a DJ and job hunting.
“I sent out hundreds of resumes and dozens of demo reels but kept running into roadblocks,” explains Mahon. “All of these American television stations wanted an American hook. Some said ‘You don’t look or sound American; you’re too young or too old, you need to fake an American accent.”
It wasn’t until he sent his reel to News 12 did things start to happen for him.“The news director, Dutch Terry, asked me if I had a driver’s license,” says Mahon. “Of course we drive on the opposite side of the street in Ireland and United Kingdom, so I just told him to teach me how to drive in America.”
They spent some time driving on back roads until Mahon was up to speed, so to speak.“I also told him I had experience shooting on the iPhone, which he said was the future,” says Mahon. “Really it was a match made in heaven.”
Mahon was accepted immediately by area residences who viewed him as kind of a curiosity. He notes that he experienced more discrimination in England and New York than he ever did in the South.
“Somebody once told me to go back to Pakistan,” laughs Mahon.
“I feel like people I interview can talk to me as an outsider,” says Mahon. “From the prostitute, to the transgendered to the cowboy, I really was starting to build up a brand and gain the trust of those I interviewed.”
Looking at Mahon’s demo reel, it does provide a glimpse into the Irishman’s journey through southern and American culture.
“I’m not sure what’s going on here, but they do seem to be having a good time,” documents one clip as he reports from a local pro wrestling match.
From sex trafficking to the national discussion surrounding marijuana legalization, Mahon sharpened his journalism skills in what must have seemed like another planet.“I’ve seen indigent people waiting in line at a soup kitchen,” he remembers. “I’ve seen a community come together and mobilize to help tornado victims. (They don’t have tornadoes in Ireland) I’ve seen dead bodies and bullets and meth busts. In the end, people define your experience, no matter where you go.”
But when I ask him the major difference between the U.S. and Europe, he doesn’t hesitate to respond.
“People don’t get mass murdered by guns almost every day in Europe like they do in America,” laments Mahon. “One politician told me if gun reform didn’t happen after Sandy Hook, with all those rich white kids, it would never happen.”
He also noticed certain divisive, polarizing aspects of American society like immigration, gangs, and religion.
“It’s not good for any society or culture,” he says. “We don’t have all this suffering in Europe.”
He goes on to mention free education and healthcare those across the pond are guaranteed.
“It’s sad and fascinating at the same time that America has phenomenal universities and great community values but college students have to work two jobs and get in debt going to school,” says Mahon. “Our quality of life is higher and it hurts me to see many American not getting the opportunities I’ve had. I do hope things change.”
Through Irish Eyes ran for three seasons on WDEF-TV but things soon changed for Mahon when his visa expired. He tried to get a green card but U.S. immigration lost his paperwork.
“I had a life here. I had a girlfriend who I had to break up with,” remembers Mahon. “I had to move back to Ireland only to find out immigration lost my paperwork again. For the past two years, I’ve been trying to get it straight and have spent over $7,000 in the process.”
Luckily, Mahon had lectured here at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Chattanooga State and Dalton State. He soon got a job in Scotland lecturing on broadcast. “I’m very familiar with what students need.”
It wasn’t until he returned to Ireland that he was approached to turn his Through Irish Eyes television series into a book.
“I told the publisher it was all up on YouTube but they insisted I compile all my adventures into a book,” says Mahon.
He continued to contribute to WDEF-TV as a special correspondent reporting from Iraq, Mosel and following the threat of ISIS in those regions during the spring of 2017.
Our conversation returns to gun reform in the U.S., where Mahon seems to relish stepping outside his journalistic skin and his mission of entertaining, educating and informing to develop some opinions he shares in the book.
“Tragedy is going to happen,” says Mahon. “Regimes need to stop criticizing and be constructive and ask, ‘Why are these shooters doing this?”
He goes on to talk about the power of the internet to bring us together and divide us at the same time.
“The basis of all religions is to think of others,” says Mahon. “Be empathic. Give everyone the best of you. Be compassionate and respectful. Learn, grow and develop.”
Mahon doesn’t seem bitter but thankful for his time in America, showing exceptional gratitude to those who gave him a chance at News 12.
“I’m happy here,” says Mahon talking to me from Scotland. He seems to be biding his time until he returns to the U.S. and Chattanooga in April. “I’m going to spend a week at News 12. It’s going to be surreal.”
There are things that Mahon is hungry for and especially misses about America, and the South in general.
“My mouth still waters over the lack of proper steak dinners,” he remembers. “And real fried chicken.”
“Another thing I really miss is the community spirit and pride of Americans,” he says. “And the dizzying array of television sport channels. I also miss Jack Daniels Fire!”
He recently started his Doctorate in mobile journalism and wants to cover five television stations in five countries around the world, WDEF-TV News 12 being one of them.
I mention he probably gets a lot of interview requests around this time of the year, it being St. Paddy’s Day and all. As an Irishman, he takes the opportunity to clear a few things up.
“Corned beef and cabbage is not an Irish thing,” says Mahon. “I had never heard about pinching someone if they’re not wearing green on St. Patrick’s Day until I came to the states. But the ‘Kiss Me, I’m Irish’ thing I love,” he exclaims.
He also gives a shout out to his fellow country woman, Saoirse (like inertia) Ronan, who was nominated in the Best Actress category for Lady Bird at this year’s 90th annual Academy Awards.
“She’s incredibly talented,” says Mahon. “Irish male actors have dominated Hollywood for so long. She’s a breath of fresh air.”
So what’s his advice on how to celebrate the Irish holiday?
“Get a couple of pints of Guinness on tap, not in a bottle or can,” he explains. “All walks of life need to come together, no matter race, creed, and gender and celebrate what we have in common, not what divides us.”