LOCAL, NATIONAL OR GLOBAL? THE BORDERS OF THE PRESS IN NORTHERN IRELAND Jean Noël Fernand Mercereau

1. THE MARKET OF THE PRESS IN NORTHERN IRELAND: GENERAL INDICATORS 216 1,093,044 3 (943,000/86%) 2 (150,044) 5,057,500 SCOTLAND 183 307,649 2 (134,699/44%) 3 (172,950) 1,685,000 NORTHERN IRELAND 194 Newspapers sold for 1,000 inhabitants 761,741 Combined sales of all “national” dailies 2 (193,860/25%) Number of British titles with local editions (combined sales/share of “national” market) 6 (567,881) Number of “national” daily titles (total sales) 3,917,200 Population REPUBLIC OF IRELAND

CIRCULATION OF THE FIVE “NATIONAL” DAILIES OF NORTHERN IRELAND

2. THE LOCAL BORDER Fitzpatrick Family (NI) Nationalist 50,000 (186,000) 1855 The Irish News Andersonstown News Group (NI) Nationalist - (Objective 2005: 20,000) 2005 Daily Ireland Independent News and Media ( R.of I.) Unionist 94,500 (295,000) 1870 The Belfast Telegraph 3i (UK) Owner Unionist Politics 28,400 (76,000) Circulation 2004 (Readership ) 1737 Foundation The Newsletter

CIRCULATION OF THE THREE DAILIES OF NORTHERN IRELAND 1970-2004

3. THE NATIONAL BORDER A single market for the whole island of Ireland? The Government of Ireland Act (1920) and partition; Cross-border readership? The dilemma of nationalist newspapers; The paradox of British newspapers.

A single market for the whole island of Ireland?

The Government of Ireland Act (1920) and partition;

Cross-border readership?

The dilemma of nationalist newspapers;

The paradox of British newspapers.

NEWSPAPERS WITH SIGNIFICANT CIRCULATION BOTH IN THE REPUBLIC AND IN NORTHERN IRELAND 268,000 205,000 63,000 Sunday World 247,500 160,500 87,000 News of the World 73,000 47,00 26,000 The People 86,500 48,500 38,000 The Sunday Mirror 192,000 115,000 77,000 The Sun 137,000 79,000 58,000 The Mirror Total Irish circulation Circulation Republic of Ireland Circulation Northern Ireland Title

4. GLOBAL BORDERS Growing “foreign”/transnational ownership; The (bad?) example of the Republic; A natural extension of the domestic market; The risk of “tabloidization”.

Growing “foreign”/transnational ownership;

The (bad?) example of the Republic;

A natural extension of the domestic market;

The risk of “tabloidization”.

LOCAL EDITIONS OF LONDON NEWSPAPERS IN NORTHERN IRELAND 87,000 News International Popular/Sunday News of the World 26,000 Trinity Mirror Popular/Sunday The People 38,000 Trinity Mirror Popular/Sunday The Sunday Mirror 58,000 Trinity Mirror Popular/Daily The Mirror 77,000 News International Popular/Daily The Sun Sales (July-Dec. 2004) Owner Type Title

CONCLUSION Local newspapers: division not over standards (quality/popular) but over communities; no “integrated” newspaper; Growing importance of London tabloid papers; neutral ground of sensationalism; No all-Ireland newspaper; only cross-border print journalism through “tabloidization”; Crossroads: between perennial divisions and foreign models.

Local newspapers: division not over standards (quality/popular) but over communities; no “integrated” newspaper;

Growing importance of London tabloid papers; neutral ground of sensationalism;

No all-Ireland newspaper; only cross-border print journalism through “tabloidization”;

Crossroads: between perennial divisions and foreign models.