Mr. Tadhg Carey:

As editor of Westmeath Independentand Offaly Independent, I work with 12 colleagues in publishing Westmeath Independenteach Wednesday morning and the free newspaper Offaly Independenteach Friday morning. I can honestly state I never thought our small local newspapers would ever be the focus of leader articles in Sunday newspapers, receive so much coverage on the airwaves or the subject of Oireachtas debates such as this. I am here as an editor and a journalist working in Athlone with a newspaper that was founded in 1846 in the midst of the Famine. It is a newspaper which has a long, proud and distinguished record of reporting for over 170 years in its community.

While in Ireland there is a unique commitment to provide local news and many of the 76 regional newspaper titles in the Republic are older than the State, the harsh reality is that the traditional newspaper model is no longer commercially sustainable. While I respect the expertise and knowledge of the three previous delegates and found their contributions very interesting from an overall perspective, I was a little surprised that there was no reference to the difficulties in the sector. As Mr. Frank Mulrennan referenced, I have seen newspapers in the midlands close, including Roscommon Champion, Longford News, Athlone Voiceand Offaly Express, with two of which I previously spent time working. I have seen significant job losses in this industry in the past 16 years. The average regional newspaper now employs 50% of its 2000 staffing level. In my company journalists have taken pay reductions and embraced the changes in how we report news items across a number of platforms. They have been flexible and adaptable, but we are effectively swimming against the growing tide of digital dominance.

It is vital that the joint committee understand competition does not just come from other newspapers, it also comes from social media, including Google and Facebook, which are swallowing up ever-increasing slices of Irish marketing budgets. Despite this, we, in Celtic Media, have worked very hard to build our digital presence. We are proud of having more than 500,000 monthly visitors to our websites and more than 150,000 social media followers of our titles, while continuing to produce quality weekly newspapers. The reality is, however, that we are not at the races in achieving a decent digital commercial return, certainly anything that will compensate for the decline in advertising and circulation revenues, about which the committee has heard previously. Only through being part of a larger group that can facilitate a much larger investment in a digital presence can small newspapers such as ours hope to survive in the future.

As I said, I am here as a working journalist and an editor. I am privileged and honoured to be in the position of editor of two fine regional newspapers. It is a special role. I agree fully with Dr. Foley when he says newspapers are not solely a commercial product. Regional newspapers have a real value and a special place in the rural communities that they serve. Long-standing newspapers such as my own, Westmeath Independent and Offaly Independent, are embedded in community life. They are part and parcel of the community. Each week, with each addition, we hold up a mirror for the community in which to see itself. For me, if media plurality is to mean anything, it must mean the continuation of local newspapers such as my own, Westmeath Independentand Offaly Independent,in whatever form and securing the jobs these titles bring. That is my sole driving motivation in being before the committee.

As an editor, it is very much welcome that INM has stated in its written submission to the Minister, Deputy Denis Naugten, that our newspapers will continue as independent publications with editors who will have full and effective independence and that they will continue with dedicated staff on the ground whose function it will be to produce the content needed to serve local areas. It is also stated in the submission that there is no intention on the part of INM to make material changes to the operating policies of the newspapers following the transaction. This includes the policies on staff pay, the frequency and size of the publications and the information gathering practices used by staff reporters. It is these commitments and the imperative for future investment to secure the newspapers that have led me and my fellow editors across the group to support the decision to sell the company to one with the necessary resources.