{"id":257437,"date":"2025-12-30T05:08:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-30T05:08:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/257437\/"},"modified":"2025-12-30T05:08:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-30T05:08:09","slug":"weve-hit-a-milestone-our-journalism-is-fully-funded-by-subscribers-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/257437\/","title":{"rendered":"We\u2019ve hit a milestone \u2013 our journalism is fully funded by subscribers \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

If George Orwell was right and journalism is printing something that somebody doesn\u2019t want printed (\u201cEverything else is public relations\u201d), then journalism as an idea is facing very real threats. We work in an oppressive legal environment. Unaccountable tech firms seek to monopolise (and monetise) public discourse while bending it to their interests. Concentration spans are getting shorter. We see signs of a burgeoning literacy crisis<\/a>. Many news outlets are struggling to survive<\/a>; some have disappeared. Meanwhile, the forces of anti-journalism \u2013 disinformation, propaganda, the public relations industry, the darker corners of social media \u2013 are thriving. <\/p>\n

Against that background, our role in holding power to account feels more urgent than ever. It\u2019s why, when I look back on 2025, it\u2019s our public-interest work to scrutinise powerful institutions that gives me most satisfaction.<\/p>\n

I think of our investigation into the State\u2019s secretive (and ultimately abandoned) visa investor scheme<\/a> or Michael Lowry\u2019s influence<\/a> over Ireland\u2019s coalition Government, our stories on the practices of Irish estate agents<\/a> or boardroom ructions<\/a> at the airport operator DAA. I think of an expos\u00e9 of the Chinese state\u2019s system of transnational surveillance and repression<\/a>, in Ireland and elsewhere, and a revelatory piece on the links between named lawyers in Ireland and Pravfond<\/a>, the Kremlin\u2019s soft power agency. <\/p>\n

There was our report in August on how a private company with a contract to care for the most vulnerable children in the State supplied false Garda vetting clearances<\/a> for its staff and accommodated children in overcrowded, unsuitable conditions. We published detailed insider testimony<\/a> alleging unethical behaviour at the main public healthcare provider in Qatar and reported some of the stories behind 30,000 harrowing leaked photographs<\/a> of Syrians tortured by the Assad regime \u2013 one of several collaborations with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.<\/p>\n

In October we identified 11 doctors<\/a> who remained registered to practise in Ireland despite having been professionally sanctioned overseas, including for sexual harassment and patient harm.<\/p>\n

At The Irish Times, one of the few remaining Irish-owned news publishers, we\u2019re in the privileged position of having as our proprietor not a media baron or some global conglomerate but a Trust<\/a> whose sole objective is to secure our financial and editorial independence. Its charter commits us to principles that guide our daily work; broadly, those principles prescribe an approach that is rigorous, fair-minded, humane, open to divergent views and attentive to the needs of minorities. It\u2019s why, for example, you\u2019ll see a heavy emphasis on social inequality, on the victims of conflict or abuse, on those who feel their voice goes unheard.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s why we invest so heavily in areas we think are important to national life, from the arts<\/a> to the diaspora<\/a>. And it\u2019s why we\u2019re the only Irish media outlet with a network of correspondents<\/a> around the world, believing as we do in the value of an Irish perspective on world events.<\/p>\n

We have had reporters on the front lines in Ukraine<\/a> and the Middle East<\/a> this year, capturing the horror of war and the humanity that somehow endures. Thanks to our reporters in Washington<\/a>, Beijing<\/a> and across western Europe<\/a>, we have been able to help you \u2013 and ourselves \u2013 make sense of this age of upheaval.<\/p>\n

Inside The Irish Times, it has been a year of change. Almost 40 of our journalists have changed roles. A new Print Unit now oversees the production of our enhanced daily papers, including Sc\u00e9al, a weekly Irish-language supplement<\/a> we launched in April. A new Visual Media Department is responsible for our expanding video and photography service. You may have noticed new newsletters such as Classroom to College<\/a> or Global Briefing<\/a> by Denis Staunton.<\/p>\n

Our podcast<\/a> offering has expanded with the launch of Early Edition<\/a> (four stories in 10 minutes, at 6am each day), the personal finance show Better with Money<\/a> and more episodes of Ireland\u2019s leading politics podcast, Inside Politics<\/a>.<\/p>\n

While these are challenging times for publishers, we are gratified at The Irish Times to have the biggest paying audience in our history and to be the largest subscription news service in Ireland. We are doing this not by compromising on quality or diluting our values but by doubling down on both.<\/p>\n

Recently we passed an important milestone: revenue generated by subscribers for the first time fully funds our journalism. Some of those subscribers come to us only for our digital journalism; others have the paper delivered to their doorstep. Together, they have made a powerful affirmation of the value of good journalism.<\/p>\n

That support is enabling us to develop and expand what we do. This year, the ranks of our reporters, feature writers, copy-editors, visual journalists, podcasters and audience specialists have been strengthened by the arrival of talented journalists from elsewhere.<\/p>\n

We have placed an emphasis on original investigative work, and among the many new initiatives planned for the coming months is the creation of a dedicated investigations team. That team will strengthen our ability to hold power to account. I hope you\u2019ll enjoy what\u2019s coming.<\/p>\n

Thank you for putting your trust in us, and happy new year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If George Orwell was right and journalism is printing something that somebody doesn\u2019t want printed (\u201cEverything else is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":257438,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[9,10,13,14,6,27110,11,12,15,16,5,7,8,65,66,67],"class_list":{"0":"post-257437","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-breaking-news","9":"tag-breakingnews","10":"tag-featured-news","11":"tag-featurednews","12":"tag-headlines","13":"tag-it-sunday","14":"tag-latest-news","15":"tag-latestnews","16":"tag-main-news","17":"tag-mainnews","18":"tag-news","19":"tag-top-stories","20":"tag-topstories","21":"tag-world","22":"tag-world-news","23":"tag-worldnews"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115806791417249913","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257437","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=257437"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257437\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/257438"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=257437"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=257437"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=257437"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}