Irish News drop in standards

[Tony Baloney]

Don't mind Kenny Archer's stuff. Brendan Crossan's is average at best and can't stand a lot of his cheerleading of the McGourty's. Like Heaney's stuff but never, ever read Eamonn 'why use one word when ten will do' O'Hara's stuff.

[ck]

I buy the Irish news for GAA coverage and always buy another paper for quality news and insight.
Bottom line.. The Irish News is excellent for Sport and mainly GAA. They have sharp angles are usually on the money as things happen and have some quality respected journos.
As for the rest of the paper.. God help us. As has been mentioned above, it is just filler. As for Meabh Connolly, I flick past at speed in case I catch sight of yet another cringe worthy headline. A full page of soap info? Jesus, Irish News, wise up!

[under the bar]

Agree ... it's like reading the ramblings of an 8-year-old girl who likes to dress up in her mother's clothes and shoes, a total embarrassment.  She's supposed to be the paper's West Belfast correspondent, an area I live in, but you never see any news stories in the paper from her ... she doesn't even have the wit to lift stuff from the Andytown News ... why worry about doing your job when you can get away with picking up a pay cheque by writing about Sex and the City and eye blusher every Friday ... rant over

Is that your woman Grainne?  My wife said her article on Beauty Sleep in yesterdays paper has appeared in several other cheap rags and was lifted verbatim off on Yahoo a week or two ago.  The missues is easily pleased as regards journalism and skims through all those throwaway glossys to unwind so when she criticises a so called 'columnist' there must be something in it.  I d/k what these dolls are paid but a school-kid on work experience could cut and paste from a website.

[Massey-135]

Brendan Crossan is well above average. I think he's a first class writer and has a good grasp of different sports. That column he did a month or so ago on his da's friend who had just died was a brilliant piece. Kenny Archer is very bad as a columnist, no doubt about it, but I'm sure he has plenty of other values as a journalist - i think he's deputy sports ed now? Eamonn O'Hara is just ok at the feature writing, seems that boxing is his area of expertise rather than GAA, but I don't follow boxing so I wouldn't read that stuff.

The news is to a high standard and better than the Tele or Newsletter anyway, especially now that David Gordon is leaving the Tele. Brian Feeney is a great commentator, Newtown Emerson is good, Roy Garland is excellent too come to think of it. So for political insight they're pretty well covered.

Those columns by Meabh Connolly and Marie-Louise McCrory are completely shite but sure we obviously aren't the target audience of them so just flick on? The paper is a business at the end of the day and they're obviously trying to attract female readers. Though I think they're insulting women's intelligence by targeting them with that shite.

Barry McCaffrey and Alison Morris in particular are top drawer reporters as well, they obviously have good sources in and around Belfast and their news reporting is excellent. There just isn't as much news around Northern Ireland these days with the political institutions relatively stable, so I would say that would explain why it's a bit threadbare at times. Overall i think it's still a very very good paper and I never miss a copy. I don't know what sort of standards yous boys have, yous just like giving out

[Lecale2]

I don't know what sort of standards yous boys have, yous just like giving out

Read the headline again. Standards have slipped. Do you think it's as good as it was a while ago, or even better?

[5 Sams]

2 pages on Irish News journalism and no-one has mentioned Benny Tierney yet....shame on yiz all

[Minder]

2 pages on Irish News journalism and no-one has mentioned Benny Tierney yet....shame on yiz all

Ok, I will. He isn't funny. Never has been, and never will be.

[red hander]

'Though I think they're insulting women's intelligence by targeting them with that shite.'

Nail on head

[ONeill]

A lot of you seem to read the women's section. Women.

[The Worker]

Safer off reading nuts/zoo.

[Pat Mustard]

The Irish Star has as good as if not better GAA coverage than the Irish News, especially the Tuesday GAA supplement.  Not sure if the version we get up here is the same as what is issued down South though.

I'm continually surprised by the amount of Tyrone people who buy the Irish Star after there gutter press actions with the late Cormac McAnellan's fiance.

What's that all about?

[T O Hare]

I read the paper every day but these past few months I have felt the standards have dropped big time!!!

[ONeill]

Archer's standard has plummeted since his latest venture took off:

[Minder]

Archer's standard has plummeted since his latest venture took off:

Bow Street Mall, Lisburn?

[ONeill]

Spot on. Tried to go in to that shop today but the children kept pulling me back. For some reason they were afraid of it.