End of an era!

[Owen Brannigan]

The Observer Newspapers group has announced that it is to cease publication of:

Armagh Observer
Armagh Down Observer
Ballymena Chronicle
Democrat
Dundalk Advertiser
Dungannon Observer
Fermanagh News
Lurgan and Portadown Examiner
Mid-Ulster Observer
Newry Advertiser
Ulster Farmer

These publications had retained the large newsprint format and were characterised by their abundance of photographs of locals and reporting of GAA sports, local events and all sorts of personal events from funerals to birthdays.  Always carrying plenty of adverts.

Thursdays won't be the same again!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-39576420?ns_mchannel=social&ns_campaign=bbc_news_ni&ns_source=twitter&ns_linkname=northern_ireland

[bennydorano]

Read about that yesterday and was surprised, maybe there'd been talk of it and I've missed it but it appeared to come out of the blue (while realising that print media is fucked longterm).

The Armagh Observer (& Ulster Gazette) were weekly staples in our house growing up, great for local GAA - and the only real source for underage GAA, they should've knew they were bucked when my Ma stopped buying it a few years ago.

[seafoid]

That is a big loss. We need better solutions for local media.

[T Fearon]

Never much in these papers apart from GAA notes,photos of dinner dances and ads for country music and dances

[AZOffaly]

I find local papers great. The Nenagh Guardian is a brilliant resource for local GAA and events. It'll be a sad day when the local papers go extinct.

[Eamonnca1]

Used to be a big deal if you went to Scor and got your photo taken in the audience. You knew you'd be in the paper on Thursday! The young ones would get excited when they saw your man Isodore (sp?) coming in with the camera.

[delgany]

£1.30 a go ..maybe something to do with there fall in circulation

[ONeill]

Is the Tyrone Democrat still on the go?

[square_ball]

Is the Tyrone Democrat still on the go?

On the list there for the chop ONeill. Loved the democrat and its football coverage. Used to the same 3 players to watch for a club team for the past 20 years. Sad day for the local press.

[ONeill]

Cut my teeth for them, reporting on Dungannon Swifts. Even bought a dictaphone in the 'Island.

[Owen Brannigan]

Cut my teeth for them, reporting on Dungannon Swifts. Even bought a dictaphone in the 'Island.

That was on the very cutting edge of technology back then, surprised they had reached so far into East Tyrone.

[ONeill]

When I told the shopkeeper that I had to use my dictaphone he asked why I didn't use my fingers like everyone else.

[screenexile]

Mid Ulster Observer was extremely out dated and it sports coverage is blown out of the water by the Derry Post.

They had to move with the times and they didn't. The Newspaper had the same layout since I was a teenager and as far as I could see no web or Social Media presence I don't know how they expected to make money without keeping up with the times!

[Owen Brannigan]

Mid Ulster Observer was extremely out dated and it sports coverage is blown out of the water by the Derry Post.

They had to move with the times and they didn't. The Newspaper had the same layout since I was a teenager and as far as I could see no web or Social Media presence I don't know how they expected to make money without keeping up with the times!

That was the problem, the business model was built on providing a photographic edition to attract the buyers wanting to see themselves or others they knew and then adding on the advertising on the basis of the sales.  With social media the photographic record of events even more mundane than those found in the Observer was made available to everyone and everyone could add to it.  No more need for the Observer, sales fall, advertising has to become cheaper and the end arrives.

There must be an unbelievable archive of photographic material dating back for over 70 years recording the social history of provincial towns in the Observer Newspaper group.  It would be shame if it was to be lost as the company closes down.  Surely it should be a target for the museum in Armagh to ensure it is archived properly.

[Eamonnca1]

Mid Ulster Observer was extremely out dated and it sports coverage is blown out of the water by the Derry Post.

They had to move with the times and they didn't. The Newspaper had the same layout since I was a teenager and as far as I could see no web or Social Media presence I don't know how they expected to make money without keeping up with the times!

That was the problem, the business model was built on providing a photographic edition to attract the buyers wanting to see themselves or others they knew and then adding on the advertising on the basis of the sales.  With social media the photographic record of events even more mundane than those found in the Observer was made available to everyone and everyone could add to it.  No more need for the Observer, sales fall, advertising has to become cheaper and the end arrives.

There must be an unbelievable archive of photographic material dating back for over 70 years recording the social history of provincial towns in the Observer Newspaper group.  It would be shame if it was to be lost as the company closes down.  Surely it should be a target for the museum in Armagh to ensure it is archived properly.

You know where to go? Central Library in Royal Avenue, Belfast. They have a great newspaper archive, I used to use it when I was a student at Lurgan Tech. They have all the London, Belfast and Dublin papers going back over a century, and they have a lot of the regional papers too. I know they definitely have the old Morton Newspapers (Lurgan Mail, Portadown Times, Derry Sentinel etc..) so there's a good chance they have the Examiner/Observer too. You should take a day at it, there's some great stuff you can browse through.