The ''Irish Examiner'', formerly ''The Cork Examiner'' and then ''The Examiner'', is an Irish national daily

newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...

which primarily circulates in the

Munster Munster ( or ) is the largest of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the south west of the island. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" (). Following the Nor ...

region surrounding its base in

Cork "Cork" or "CORK" may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Stopper (plug), or "cork", a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container *** Wine cork an item to seal or reseal wine Places Ireland * ...

, though it is available throughout the country.

History

19th and early 20th centuries

The paper was founded by John Francis Maguire under the title ''The Cork Examiner'' in 1841 in support of the Catholic Emancipation and tenant rights work of

Daniel O'Connell Daniel(I) O’Connell (; 6 August 1775 – 15 May 1847), hailed in his time as The Liberator, was the acknowledged political leader of Ireland's Roman Catholic majority in the first half of the 19th century. His mobilisation of Catholic Irelan ...

. Historical copies of ''The Cork Examiner'', dating back to 1841, are available to search and view in digitised form at the

Irish Newspaper Archives The Irish Newspaper Archives is a commercial online database of digitised Irish newspapers, and claims to be the world's oldest and largest archive of Irish newspapers. Subscription-free access to the archive is available to users in Irish publi ...

website and

British Newspaper Archive The British Newspaper Archive website provides access to searchable digitized archives of British and Irish newspapers. It was launched in November 2011. History The British Library's Newspapers section was based in Colindale in north London ...

. During the

Irish War of Independence The Irish War of Independence (), also known as the Anglo-Irish War, was a guerrilla war fought in Ireland from 1919 to 1921 between the Irish Republican Army (1919–1922), Irish Republican Army (IRA, the army of the Irish Republic) and Unite ...

and

Irish Civil War The Irish Civil War (; 28 June 1922 – 24 May 1923) was a conflict that followed the Irish War of Independence and accompanied the establishment of the Irish Free State, an entity independent from the United Kingdom but within the British Emp ...

, the ''Cork Examiner'' (along with other nationalist newspapers) was subject to censorship and suppression. At the time of the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

, the ''Cork Examiner'' reportedly took a strongly pro- Franco tone in its coverage of the conflict. As of the early to mid-20th century, the newspaper reportedly catered to a "socially-conservative reader base" and reflected a "conservative nationalist agenda".

Renaming and ownership

Published as ''The Cork Examiner'' from 1841 until 1996, the newspaper was renamed ''The Examiner'' in 1996. Since 2000 it has been published as ''The Irish Examiner'', to appeal to a wider national readership. The newspaper, along with 'sister paper' the ''

Evening Echo ''The Echo'', formerly known as the ''Evening Echo'', is an Irish morning newspaper based in Cork. It is distributed throughout the province of Munster, although it is primarily read in its base city of Cork. The newspaper was founded as a bro ...

'', was part of the

Thomas Crosbie Holdings Thomas Crosbie Holdings (TCH) was a family-owned media and publishing group based in Cork, Ireland. Its largest publication was once the ''Irish Examiner'', the third largest daily broadsheet newspaper in the Republic of Ireland. History and rec ...

group. Thomas Crosbie Holdings went into receivership in March 2013. The newspaper was acquired by

Landmark Media Investments Landmark Media Investments was a media holding company owned by Tom Crosbie and his father Ted Crosbie with Irish newspaper, radio and digital investments. Their ownership was via Rinvery Ltd. Landmark Media Investments was established in Februa ...

, its chief executive was Thomas J. Murphy, and its editor was Tim Vaughan. Vaughan left the group in August 2016. The newspaper was based at Academy Street, Cork for over a century, before moving to new offices at Lapp's Quay, Cork in early November 2006, and subsequently to editorial offices at Blackpool, Cork, with a sales office in Oliver Plunkett Street.

Sale to ''The Irish Times''

In February 2017, it was reported that Landmark Media Investments had appointed KPMG to advise on a range of options, including an Independent News and Media link with the ''Irish Examiner''. In March 2017, it was reported that ''

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It was launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is Ireland's leading n ...

'' might bid for the ''Irish Examiner'', and by April 2017 both ''The Irish Times'' and INM had entered a sales process and signed non-disclosure agreements. In May 2017, it was reported that

Sunrise Media Sunrise Media Limited was created in 2016 to act as a holding company for ''The Sunday Business Post'' and the Cork publisher Webprint Concepts. The major shareholder in Sunrise Media Limited is Key Capital. Key Capital's shareholders include Con ...

and ''The Irish Times'' were exploring an acquisition, and a sale was agreed to ''The Irish Times'' in December 2017, pending regulatory approval. The sale to ''The Irish Times'' was completed in July 2018. As of 2021, its editorial policy has been described as

centrist Centrism is the range of political ideologies that exist between left-wing politics and right-wing politics on the left–right political spectrum. It is associated with moderate politics, including people who strongly support moderate policie ...

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

; the

Eurotopics Eurotopics, self-styled euro, topics, is a European news aggregator published by the German federal government agency Federal Agency for Civic Education, Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung. The online platform's self-described aim is to reflec ...

website described the political orientation of the ''Irish Examiner'' as liberal.

Circulation

Average

print circulation Print circulation is the average number of copies of a publication. The number of copies of a non-periodical publication (such as a book) are usually called print run. Circulation is not always the same as copies sold, often called paid circula ...

was approximately 57,000 copies per issue in 1990, had risen to 62,000 by 1999, had decreased to 50,000 by 2009, and was approximately 28,000 by 2017. Reflecting a changing trend in newspaper sales, the ''Examiner'' markets to advertisers on the basis of its print and online audience, stating in 2017 that "236,000 people read the Irish Examiner in print or online every day". The Irish Examiner exited ABC circulation audits in 2020.

References

External links

* {{Ireland newspapers 1841 establishments in Ireland

Examiner Examiner or The Examiner may refer to: Occupations * Bank examiner, a kind of auditor * Examiner (Roman Catholicism), a type of office in the Roman Catholic Church * Examinership, a concept in Irish law * Medical examiner * Patent examiner * ...

Mass media in County Cork Newspapers established in 1841 Newspapers published in the Republic of Ireland Organisations based in Cork (city) The Irish Times Thomas Crosbie Holdings Podcasting companies