We will keep shining a light into dark places

Ted Crosbie, the dominant force for more than four decades in the company which became Landmark Media, was in many ways the ideal proprietor.

Ted Crosbie, the dominant force for more than four decades in the company which became Landmark Media, was in many ways the ideal proprietor.

Committed to editorial excellence without interfering in the work of journalists; visionary in his understanding of the role that new technologies played in modern communications; and tough on costs.

“Money doesn’t grow on trees” he would remind staff. And late on Tuesday night, when a deal was struck for the Irish Times to acquire the media and publishing assets of what was once known as Thomas Crosbie Holdings, the eternal truth of that maxim was driven home once again.

Since the high tide of its fortunes some dozen years ago — 18 titles, some of them acquired at the height of the market and a turnover around €100m bolstered by once-off property and land disposals — the Examiner and the sister publications and platforms have been buffeted and ravaged by the same forces which have afflicted traditional publishers throughout the world resulting in lost circulation, haemorrhaging revenues, and unsustainable fixed costs. 

These factors have been itemised many times and today is not the moment to reprise those arguments or to blame the advent of fresh forms of competition. Every commercial enterprise must adapt to the challenges of new trading environments or take their place in the elephants’ graveyard.

The positive aspect of this week’s news is the Irish Examiner, founded in 1841, and the Evening Echo, first published in 1892, remain part of the fabric of life and a friend and companion to hundreds of thousands of people, a relationship now magnified through ever increasing numbers who receive their news and opinion digitally.

Its importance for Ireland is manifest. The nation needs, for balance and perspective, a daily publishing centre and wielder of influence beyond the confines of Dublin, a capital where the Irish Examiner did not maintain an office until after the creation of the Irish Free State. In this role the Examiner has broken many stories of national importance and resonance and will continue to do so.

In an emotional address on the newsroom floor yesterday Tom Crosbie, principal shareholder, and the fifth generation of his family to hold significant office in a publishing dynasty, spoke of the cold wind blowing through the ranks of long-established media and of his pride.

Pride in the staff, pride in what had been achieved in taxing circumstances which might have broken some other organisations, and pride in the content of the newspaper.

“Our papers give great service every day in shining lights into places which some people would prefer kept in darkness.”

That is worth keeping. And it is something worth buying.

Allan Prosser - Acting Editor, Irish Examiner