Newspapers retain their quality mark

MANY papers were founded by politicians. The Irish Examiner is no exception.

On August 30, 1841, John Francis Maguire founded The Cork Examiner to communicate with the electorate. Quickly becoming a true newspaper, it became the main source of news and opinion for Cork and Munster. You can imagine how important it was for families during the 1914-1918 war, reading the descriptions of battles in which sons were fighting — and dying, as recorded in the lists of names of those killed or missing in action...

Some families learned of their financial ruin in the Great Depression through this newspaper.

In the last century, the sources of information multiplied. When radio became a mass media it was said that this was the end of the newspapers, but both flourished.

Then TV came and it was said that both newspaper and radio would be no more. However, all of these media flourished.

Then came the internet. A very different kind of threat, handled badly by international newspapers in the 1990s. They uploaded news gathered at enormous cost for no charge in the hope of growing audience and building advertising. It didn’t happen. People got used to getting news for free.

Then came social media where people could put forward their own points of view to large audiences: no need to write to the editor and hope that he/she published your letter or your article.

Now we have mass news for a mass audience generated by masses of people at will. As seen in the Arab Spring, such generation of news and opinion can motivate people to do what we hope will be good. But the opportunity is also there to motivate large numbers of people to do damage as never before. Look at the London riots.

The great advantage of getting your information from a newspaper (whether you buy it in a shop or on screen) is that you know where it’s coming from and even if you disagree with what’s being said, you still know who’s saying it. It’s like a quality mark or a trust mark for news and opinion. That’s why the recent News International scandal is so damaging, because we all get tarred with the same brush.

There are thousands of newspapers throughout the world, like the Irish Examiner, which abide by the highest standards of journalism and take pride in their contribution to the community. Of course, we make mistakes, but they are mistakes that can be — and are — rectified. But, 99.9% of the time our information is accurate.

Some 80% of stories are still generated by newspapers and picked up by TV, radio and the internet.

We see our role as a watchdog on the Establishment; Government, Judiciary, Church and Big Business.

One of the intriguing oddities about public discourse is that those who criticise media tend to do so on the very media about which they’re critical. People go on RTÉ and are anti-RTÉ. People write in the Irish Examiner because they are furious about an editorial or column. But they’re putting across their opinion on the very media they are criticising. This is as it should be.

Good media brings balance. A good newspaper, for example, presents all points of view to you, helping you make up your own mind on an issue based on a variety of information and opinions, whereas on the internet, people readily — perhaps too readily — find a point of view they agree with and don’t seek out alternative points of view.

TV is great, radio is a joy. The internet is fantastic. I use them all. But my love affair is with newspapers and with this newspaper in particular. A 170th birthday is impressive. For all our sakes, let’s hope we celebrate many more.

*Alan Crosbie is the chairman of Thomas Crosbie Holdings.