Blurred Keys

Are roadside newspaper sellers a hazard?

Whether it’s Evening Herald on-the-road newspaper seller (as pictured above) or distributors of freesheets Herald AM, and Metro, newspaper distributors are a common sight on Dublin roads, on traffic islands, or between cars, trucks, and buses.

Apparently the Evening Herald yesterday featured alarming news that people on roads and moving even between stopped traffic could be a hazard. The story focused on people selling the service of windscreen washing, but don’t newspaper sellers and distributors cause at least similar hazards?

Independent: O’Reilly's cash cow

Independent News & Media is apparently Sir Tony O’Reilly's cash cow…

O’Reilly alone took €110m in payments from Independent Newspapers since 2000, while jobs are being cut and outsourced to make way for even more largesse - Village.ie

Indo outsourcing to RE&D update

An over due update to our post in early February - Independent News & Media are now trying to outsource Dublin sub-editing and layout jobs to RE&D.

Sub-editing staff at IN&M are apparently reluctance to move to the new company, according to the Sunday Business Post who quotes a source saying the people who move will be paid ‘‘above-market rates’’ (but less then IN&M pays them now).

The same newspaper says that RE&D was set up by two former IN&M employees and is based at Hanover Quay in the south Dublin Docklands.

NUJ members "expressed serious concern", and the Irish Times also quoted (paid sub reqd) NUJ Irish secretary "Séamus Mr Dooley" saying "We are looking for more specific information about what is on offer and we will be looking for agreement in principle for NUJ recognition in any new operation".

Meanwhile, Roy Greenslade is reporting how IN&M are pushing the same outsourcing at their New Zealand arm APN News & Media. And, with help from Adam Maguire, Greenslade is also talking about the Irish story.

UPDATE: Read more on this at pressgazette.co.uk

Random photos of media in Dublin

Our digital camera has been filling up with images in the last few months, many of them sights relating to the media in Dublin - so why not share them…

We didn’t go out intending to compile the images into a post, so the reason there’s not a TV3 crew but there is a picture of an RTE News presenter and camera man is because the random opportunity of snapping the latter just happened.

Of course there’s obvious shots we don’t have like the many newspaper sellers on O’Connell Street, sellers of the Evening Herald at on busy roads, fresh stacks of freesheets just thrown on the luggage holders of double-deckers, the Today FM offices Blurred Keys has past countless time and so on. Maybe next time?...

Please post comments, suggestions, abuse, and even complements below (you don’t even have to enter a name or email address)…

The former offices of Independent News & Media on Abbey St.

Photo post: Herald AM & Metro

Above is the common sight of the ‘distributors’ standing side by side handing out Dublin’s two morning freesheets at Heuston Station in Dublin.

The person in the red is distributing Herald AM (Independent News & Media), while the person in blue handing out Metro (Metro International, Associated Newspapers Limited, and the Irish Times).