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Newry once a powerhouse for local newspapers will be reduced to just one publication following last weeks announcement that the long established Newry Reporter is to close before the end of the month. There will only be two more editions of the newspaper published. Just 6 years ago the city had four prominent newspapers covering the area, the Armagh Down Observer, Newry Democrat, Newry Reporter and The Examiner. The 'Observer closed in April 2017 and The Examiner followed in July 2020 both citing readership and advertising difficulties. Now just the Newry Democrat remains. On a national scale the recent loss of the Mediahaus operation from Carnbane, where national publications were printed endorses the difficulties faced by print media at present.
Speaking after the announcement Newry and Armagh MP Mickey Brady said the closure is a 'true loss for the whole community'. The Newry & Armagh MP said “The Newry Reporter has been an institution that has served Newry and the surrounding community for 155 years. Families and local businesses alike would have looked forward to the release of the paper every week. The paper had a strong ethos of holding local officials to account and to giving a platform to our community and sports groups. We will sorely miss the paper and we wish the whole team there all the best for the future.”
The Newry Reporter edited by Paul Welsh is well known for its investigative journalism and its desire to hold our local authority to account. In recent years the paper exposed the 'Big Screen' story beside Newry Cathedral, has questioned proceedures around the proposed Newry Council Offices/ Civic Centre and highlighted disabled access issues around the Tennis Bubble behind Our Lady's Grammar School.
The paper was established in 1867. One of the last newspapers to remain in family ownership the 'Reporter has been owned by the Hodgett family since 1927. Until last year they also owned the Banbridge Chronicle.
In a social Media post last Wednesday the paper announced that the last edition will be published on 25 January and expressed their immense gratitude to their wonderful staff, present and past, readers, advertisers, contributors and suppliers.
The news comes at a time when newspaper sales tend to be restricted to 'people of a certain age' while the younger population generally get their information and news online. Coupled with this, newspaper advertising revenue, long the main income for publications has been increasingly hard to source.
Ironically a Public Interest News Foundation Local News Plan event was held in Newry back in November discussing the very issues being encountered by local media at present. The prospect of a news 'desert' where established and trusted news providers are no longer available, leaving those in power unmonitored, while giving other unscrupulous organisations or individuals the opportunity to fill that vaccum is frightening.
