'Community, the public good and the market: the crisis in Ireland’s local newspaper industry'

Cawley, Anthony (2023) 'Community, the public good and the market: the crisis in Ireland’s local newspaper industry'. In: Local Journalism: Critical Perspectives on the Provincial Newspaper. Routledge, London. ISBN 9781138366343

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Abstract

Ireland’s financial crisis in 2008 marks a dividing line in the recent history of the country’s local newspaper industry. In the Celtic Tiger boom years of the early- to mid-2000s, the industry reflected the wider Irish economy in generating unprecedented wealth. Circulations were steady but advertising revenues were buoyant, and local titles – which, often, had been independent and family-owned for generations – were sold to group publishers for premium prices. Since the crash, however, the industry has shown few signs of recovery, with trading conditions deteriorating further during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Group ownership of local titles has been recast as a commercial survival strategy. This was illustrated clearly in the late-2010s, when two of the country’s largest national publishers, The Irish Times DAC and Independent News and Media (now Mediahuis Ireland), sought regulatory approval for mergers with small local publishers.
In both cases, the regulatory process prioritised local news as a for-profit informational commodity, despite evidence of entrenched market failures in the sector.
The chapter argues that, as the market for local publishing continues to weaken, current regulatory approaches to mergers are no longer appropriate, and need to be refocused on protecting the public good significance and sustainability of local journalism.

Item Type:	Book Section
Keywords:	Ireland local newspaper industry crisis
Faculty / Department:	Faculty of Creative Arts & Humanities > School of Humanities
Depositing User:	Anthony Cawley
Date Deposited:	14 Nov 2022 14:52
Last Modified:	05 Dec 2024 16:33
URI:	https://hira.hope.ac.uk/id/eprint/3680

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