Hard News

Dubliners have a large array of newspapers to choose from on a daily basis as well as on Sundays. Not only do newsagents supply the Irish titles but there are also many UK based papers sold here too. To add to that the main newspapers from central Europe (BERLIN ZEITUNG, LE MONDE etc) as well as the NEW YORK TIMES and THE WALL STREET JOURNAL are available to purchase. They give the impression of a shrinkage in the size of the world.

I was never terribly cool or hip as a teenager. A child prodigy? NO! But from the age of 13, or so, newspapers (particularly the British ones) fascinated me. Whilst my contemporaries were getting intoxicated on non-permissible substances, I was returning from the shops with the likes of the DAILY TELEGRAPH or the FINANCIAL TIMES under my shoulder. Indeed there was a time when each week I would explore the news stands for papers I hadn't bought before: TODAY (Eddy Shah's ultimately unsuccessful coloured tabloid), THE TIMES, the GUARDIAN, even (horror of horrors) the DAILY MIRROR. Travelling through the English countryside on election day 1987 I can remember reading the INDEPENDENT and enjoyed reading MILES KINGTON (RIP).

I bought the MAIL ON SUNDAY for a time in the 1980's as well fairly regularly. But as soon as they signalled their support for the CONSERVATIVES in the forthcoming election (1987) I knew I had to look elsewhere for my print fix.

Tabloids are usually short on detail and context preferring to publish celebrity gossip rather than hard news. They are usually fuelled by half truths, straying into people's personal, private lives. Anything to increase circulation.

The people of LIVERPOOL , en masse, have stopped buying the SUN as a result of printing untrue allegations concerning the city's football supporters. Following the HILLSBOROUGH football disaster (1989), in which some supporters lost their lives, the SUN claimed that LIVERPOOL fans had urinated on some of the bodies of the deceased - a sick slur for which the tabloid has since apologised, but has had little effect as most Liverpudlians refuse, even to this day, to buy the red top.

British politics, for me, is a very exciting scene to explore however, the UK's press, unfortunately, is biased. Open any British newspaper and you Will find that,far from being impartial, they support either LABOUR or CONSERVATIVE. In time of an election the press will, collectively, turn up the heat and add to the various debates being held. Furthermore most newspapers (tabloids as well as broadsheets) for most of the 1980's and 1990's were opposed to the LABOUR Party. This lead to the decline of SOCIALISM as an effective force in British politics and paved the way for 'NEW LABOUR' under TONY BLAIR. During this time the party's policies moved decisively to the right of the political spectrum.

One of the most galling facts about the SUN is that, as the largest selling paper in the UK, it has a huge influence on which party gains power at WESTMINSTER. RUPERT MURDOCH (the paper's Proprietor) isn't a British citizen yet he wields a great deal of authority over which party leader gets to step into 10 DOWNING STREET , as PRIME MINISTER, following POLLING DAY.

In IRELAND our newspapers are, I think it's true to say, more reserved in tone than those in the UK. No title would link themselves to any particular political creed: the reader is allowed to make up her/his mind on the basis of factual information distilled by the many fine journalists that this country is blessed with. It is hard to imagine THE IRISH TIMES resorting to sensationalist headlines, on the contrary it keeps everything it reports in full context and provides excellent analysis. It has a reputation as a newspaper of record - however dull it may be.

THE IRISH INDEPENDENT is slightly more colourful in comparison, but it still reflects public opinion in a concise manner. Former IRISH TIMES writer, KEVIN MYERS now writes for THE IRISH INDEPENDENT and he can be controversial from time to time. Lately he has caused anger in the AFRICAN community here by saying, in one of his articles for the paper, that the only thing that AFRICANS contribute to the world is AIDS. I think, whatever your view, it is good that such comments, in a free country, can be made. The right of reply is, also, just as valid. Readers have a right to reply and to add their points of view.

There was a time, years ago, when all the content of an IRISH newspaper was strictly news. Not anymore. On any given day, now, the papers have plenty of print devoted to SPORTS, FINANCE and ENTERTAINMENT as well as HEALTH/SOCIAL matters and, of course, a subject close to the hearts of many IRISH people: PROPERTY!

With the reduction in circulation, these days, most newspapers now have websites set up so that people can view their favourite writers and access vital information even when they are abroad and not able to get a physical copy of their newspaper of choice. This allows readers to scroll down pages rapidly online and it is becoming more and more popular. However there will always be a demand for HARD COPY. From swatting flies to mopping up spilled drinks, the physical use of a newspaper shouldn't be underestimated.