The Irish media landscape fits well with the Liberal Model of the North Atlantic countries, which includes, in addition to Ireland, Britain, the United States and Canada, as stated by Hallin & Mancini (2004). The overwhelming market mechanics shape this model, in addition to the pervasiveness of commercial media. Accordingly, the Irish media are perceived first and foremost as corporations that are integrated into “a capitalist economic system” (Mercille, 2017, p. 2). Noteworthy, the media ownership in Ireland is concentrated in a few hands, Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ), a public-owned broadcasting, and Mediahuis Ireland, formerly Independent News and Media (Wikipedia, 2023, 2025), which is the “dominant news conglomerate” in Ireland and owns Irish Independent and Sunday Independent (Hallin & Mancini, 2004; Mercille, 2017, p. 4).
The last century saw significant milestones marked by the launch of influential newspapers such as The Irish Independent and The Irish Times. In 1905, The Irish Independent redefined the journalism landscape by incorporating elements of new journalism, successfully balancing commercial interests with the influence of the Roman Catholic Church on all spheres of Irish society (O’Brien & Rafter, 2015). The Irish Times, on the other hand, was founded much earlier, in 1859, primarily to cater to the Protestant readership in Irish society. Later, it evolved into the progressive and independent voice of the Irish public, shifting from a unionist press to a centrist perspective (Horgan, 2012), covering several significant political, economic, and cultural milestones of the nation, all while upholding its motto of “Truth and Reason”.
Accordingly, the two newspapers are considered the top ones in terms of media history, dominance, and distribution (Marron, 2019). Therefore, the Irish Independent (high parallelism) is ranked first in the Irish newspaper landscape, followed by The Irish Times (low parallelism) (Berggren, 2022; Cihan Koca-Helvaci, 2016; McGovern & Thorne, 2021). Both newspapers have a strong reputation in Irish society. The Irish Times is “regarded as Ireland’s ‘newspaper of record, which indicates its power and influence in reporting social, political and economic issues (Marron, 2016, p. 7). Correspondingly, The Irish Times “is Ireland’s flagship daily newspaper” (Marron, 2019, p. 284). However, with different ideological positions, The Irish Times is considered “a liberal broadsheet”, and the Irish Independent is deemed “a centre-right compact newspaper” (Cihan Koca-Helvaci, 2016, p. 43). Although the Irish Independent is quality journalism, it is printed in a tabloid format.
Being ideologically distinct, each newspaper presents a unique representation of specific issues. For example, research highlighted that while The Irish Times represented the Irish Travellers[1] positively, “as an indispensable component of Irish society with their distinct culture”, on the contrary, the Irish Independent represented them negatively, associating them with crimes and indecency (Cihan Koca-Helvaci, 2016, p. 52). Furthermore, the two newspapers shared almost all the same stance when they “portrayed public sector workers during Ireland’s economic crisis”; both newspapers were found ‘imbalanced’ in their coverage, with a favour to the government solution of “austerity cutbacks” (Marron, 2019, p. 282). This highlights a slight fluctuation in the two newspapers’ coverage of specific issues. Although they remain ideologically separate, they sometimes share support for governmental policies, as highlighted earlier.
References
Berggren, S. (2022). MIXED METHODS ANALYSIS ON THE COVERAGE OF PHYSICAL ACTIVITY IN THE IRISH INDEPENDENT AND IRISH TIMES BEFORE AND DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC. University of Jyväskylä.
Cihan Koca-Helvaci, Z. (2016). Social Misfits or Victims of Exclusion? Contradictory Representations of Irish Travellers in the Irish Press. Irish Journal of Applied Social Studies, 16(1), 36–55. https://doi.org/10.21427/D7P13W
Hallin, D. C., & Mancini, P. (2004). Comparing media systems: Three models of media and politics. Cambridge University Press.
Horgan, J. (2012). Irish Media: a critical history since 1922. Routledge.
Marron, A. (2016). Print Media Framings of the Public Sector in The Irish Times and the Irish Independent during the Irish Financial Crisis: An Analysis of Discursive and Organisational Practices [PhD, University of Limerick]. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/321427376
Marron, A. (2019). ‘Overpaid’ and ‘inefficient’: print media framings of the public sector in The Irish Times and The Irish Independent during the financial crisis. Critical Discourse Studies, 16(3), 282–297. https://doi.org/10.1080/17405904.2019.1570288
McGovern, R., & Thorne, P. (2021). Citizens assemble: a study on the impact of climate reporting in the Irish media ‘before’, ‘during’ and ‘after’ the Citizens’ Assembly on ‘how the state can make Ireland a leader in tackling climate change.’ Irish Political Studies, 36(2), 214–234. https://doi.org/10.1080/07907184.2020.1811970
Mercille, J. (2017). Media coverage of alcohol issues: a critical political economy framework—a case study from Ireland. International journal of environmental research and public health, 14(6), 650.
O’Brien, M., & Rafter, K. (2015). Commerce and the Church: The factors that shaped New Journalism in the Irish Independent. Media History, 21(3), 252–264. https://doi.org/10.1080/13688804.2015.1045467
Wikipedia. (2023, December 22). RTÉ. Wikipedia; Wikimedia Foundation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RT%C3%89 Accessed 26/4/2025
Wikipedia. (2025, April 2). Mediahuis Ireland. Wikipedia; Wikimedia Foundation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mediahuis_Ireland#cite_note-11 Accessed 26/4/2025
[1] An indigenous-ethnic minority in Ireland, that speaks English, however, also speaks Shelta, a mixed language of English and Irish.