With a circulation decline from 100,000 to 9,000, Independent News & Media are to stop publishing the Belfast sports paper Ireland's Saturday Night.
MORE: Belfast's sports paper axed
MORE: DEATH OF THE "IRELAND'S SATURDAY NIGHT"
A jury verdict that a restaurant review in the Irish News was libellous has been overturned by Judges at the Belfast Court of Appeal.
Ciaran Convery, owner of the ‘Goodfellas’ restaurant, had said the review was a "hatchet job," he was quoted by the Guardian as saying yesterday: "In my eyes it makes a farce of the judicial system when a jury is overturned... It's not over yet. It was never about the damages anyway."
The appeals court left the option of a retrial open, but it is up to Convery to pursue one, and the Irish News has said they will defend any further action.
MORE: At the Guardian (free) or at the Irish Times (subs reqd)
The Court of Appeal in Northern Ireland will hear the case of restaurant review which was said to be defamatory by a jury last year.
The review of the ‘Goodfellas’ Italian restaurant in west Belfast was published in the Irish News newspaper in 2000.
Last February, £25,000 in damages was awarded against the newspaper to restaurant owner Ciaran Convery, who said the review was a "hatchet job".
Meanwhile, the reviewer, Caroline Workman, said it was "completely honest", the Irish News said the case "raises profound questions involving the freedom of the press", while the NUJ called the result “disturbing”. The appeal is due to be heard on Wednesday. (Via Greenslade)
Northern Ireland blog, threethousandversts.blogspot.com, asks if, with problems such as community divides, could Northern Ireland sustain a quality newspaper.
The Unionist blogger also appears to have strong views on the IN&M-owned Belfast Telegraph...
Could NI sustain a quality newspaper? I don't know but I hate the fecking Belfast Telegraph!
The standard of local newspapers in Northern Ireland is deplorably bad. I refer not to the frequently hilarious “man urinates in main street” 'local-local' newspapers from the various regions of the province, but rather what passes for our “national” journalism.
UTV recived a package last week containing bullets along with the personal details of a Belfast newspaper editor.
Death threats were also aimed at the press officer of Gerry Adams and several members of Sinn Fein.
Independent News & Media relaunched the Belfast-based Community Telegraph on May 31, but it looks like no outsourcing is needed here.
Roy Greenslade has details of how four diffrent geographical editions of the Telegraph have just one journalist; they do it all from reporting, taking photographs, sub pages, and publish the paper online too.
"The benefit of this is that we have huge 'ownership' of the paper, flexibility and no breakdown in communication with subs, photographers, etc. On the downside, we have constraints on the time spent writing stories, because of all the other responsibilities" said a reported who emailed Greenslade.
"From a purely financial point of view, it must be an immensely lucrative option to management, as we are paid the same wage as a regular reporter, yet do the jobs of four people in a traditional newspaper".
The Guardian’s parent company is set to make around £675m from the sale of a minority share of Trader Media Group.
The firm publish Auto Trader, which is the largest selling motoring magazine and the second largest selling weekly magazine in Ireland.
The Guardian Media Group are currently sole owners of ATM and have agreed to sell a 49.9% stake to private equity investment group Apax Partners. Media Guardian is reporting the deal values the company at £1.35bn.
The Irish political party Sinn Féin has blacklisted at least two newspapers in Ireland, according to claims made in the Sunday Tribune and the Irish edition of the Sunday Times yesterday.
Both newspapers say Sinn Féin are denying them access to candidates in the upcoming Northern Ireland Assembly elections, and referred to each other. The action
is understood to be due to the two paper’s unfavourable reporting and comment
of the party.
The blacklisting news appeared as a note in the Sunday Tribune alongside an article on the Assembly elections by the paper’s Northern Editor, Suzanne Breen. While in the Sunday Times (Irish edition) the pseudonym column ‘Sue Denham’ complained about the party’s move.
The Tribune notes, “Sinn Féin's viewpoint is absent from this article because it was the only party which refused access to the Sunday Tribune. It said it would not make candidates in any constituency available for interview and it would not cooperate with the newspaper during the entire election campaign. It's an ironic position for a party which, for decades, complained of media bans and censorship. Sinn Féin is also refusing to cooperate with the Sunday Times”.
A more up-to-date list is now here.
Since the original post was published the number of links we have to Irish journalists’ blogs has massively expanded – mostly thanks to reader’s comments on the last post.
Again, this is by no means a complete list. You can post additions, corrections, comments, and, as always, abuse below. (You can comment here without entering an email address, or name).
Adam Maguire, freelancer
Adrian Weckler, tech journalist / editor, S. Business Post
Dave Forsythe, Deputy Editor, Cork Independent
Declan Cashin, subeditor the Star; col. Irish Independent
Fergus Cassidy, freelancer
Gavin Sheridan, freelance sub-editor, Irish Examiner
Harry McGee, political editor, Irish Examiner
Haydn Shaughnessy tech journalist, the Irish Times
John Maguire, film critic, Irish Independent
John Reynolds, freelancer
John Naughton, (UK-based) columnist, the Observer
John Collins, tech journalist, the Irish Times
Karlin Lillington, tech journalist, the Irish Times
Kevin Rafter, assistant editor/political editor, Sunday Tribune
Kathy Foley freelancer, & columnist, the Sunday Times
Máirtín Ó Muilleoir, Andersonstown News Group
Ronan Fitzgerald, freelance journalist (the Guardian, Pitchfork)
Ruairi Roddy, technology officer, Thomas Crosbie Holdings
Ronan Price, Editor, Herald AM; tech col., Evening Herald
Richard Delevan, business editor and col., Sunday Tribune
Sinead Gleeson, arts journalist, the Irish Times
Sarah Carey columnist the Sunday Times
Tom Griffin, (UK-based)
Una Mullally, journalist, Sunday Tribune
A review of an Italian restaurant published in the Irish News newspaper has been found defamatory by a Belfast jury.
The newspaper, which was landed with a bill of £25,000 in damages, is to appeal the judgment.
Owner of the west Belfast ‘Goodfellas’ restaurant, Ciaran Convery, said the review was a "hatchet job". While the reviewer Caroline Workman said it was "completely honest".
A spokesman for the newspaper said "The outcome of this case raises profound questions involving the freedom of the press". Referring to a possible precedent, the National Union of Journalists called the result “disturbing”.
More at guardian.co.uk and at irishexaminer.com.
Blurred Keys is an Irish blog about print, broadcast, and online media, in ‘the State’ and afar, it’s edited by Cian Ginty
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