Longford Leader
TypeWeekly newspaper
FormatBroadsheet
Owner(s)Iconic Newspapers
EditorAlan Walsh
Founded1897; 127 years ago (1897)
HeadquartersLeader House, Longford
Websitewww.longfordleader.ie

The Longford Leader is a weekly newspaper, which has published in Longford, Ireland since 1897.[1]

History

The Longford Leader was founded, as The Longford Leader and Roscommon, Leitrim and Westmeath News,[2] as a local newspaper with a Nationalist perspective, in 1897, by local activist and M.P., J. P. Farrell, and fellow M.P., Jasper Tully; it was one of a range of Nationalist projects on which they partnered. Farrell was the official proprietor and first editor.[3] It was published on Saturdays, and priced at one penny.[2]

As of 2002, the Leader was owned by four shareholders, local businessmen Eugene McGee (holding 47%) and Padraic Gearty, and Patricia Murray and Michael Dolan. In that year, it was fully acquired by Scottish Radio Holdings (SRH), for 9.1 million euro, after a competition between SRH and the parent company of the Cork Examiner; it made a profit of around 1 million euro for that year,[4] up over 50% from the previous year, with a staff of 20. SRH's policy was not to interfere in operations, and it left the editor and managing director, Eugene McGee, in place.[5]

Johnston Press acquired SRH's newspapers in 2005.[6] The paper is currently owned by the Iconic Newspapers group, controlled by Malcolm Denmark, which acquired Johnston Press's titles in the Republic of Ireland in 2014, for 8.5 million euro after they cost more than 115 million euro to acquire.[7] While data on individual newspapers' performance is not released, the holding company for the Irish regional titles remained profitable as of 2018.[8]

As of 2020, the editor is Alan Walsh.[9]

Publication

The Longford Leader is published weekly on a Wednesday from its offices on the Dublin Road in the town of Longford,[9] reporting on and circulated within County Longford and the surrounding counties. It has a news website, and Facebook and Twitter accounts.[10] The newspaper also has an electronic form (an "e-paper"), and its archives can be accessed on a paid basis from its own site back to 2010,[11] and further back via the Irish Newspaper Archives website.[3]

The paper had a circulation of around 13,000 in 2002, from a county population of around 30,000.[5] According to ABC, circulation declined to 7,167 for the period July 2012 to December 2012; this represented a fall of 7% year-on-year.[12]

References

  1. ^ Oram, Hugh (1983). The Newspaper Book: A History of Newspapers in Ireland, 1649-1983. MO Books. p. 91. ISBN 9780950918402.
  2. ^ a b "The Longford Leader, 5th edition," (PDF). Irish Newspaper Archives. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
  3. ^ a b "The Longford Leader". Irish Newspaper Archives. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
  4. ^ "It's the Leader of the pack". Irish Independent. 29 June 2003. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
  5. ^ a b "SRH beats off Examiner to snap up Longford Leader". Irish Times. 12 February 2002. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
  6. ^ "Johnston Press sells 14 regional titles". BreakingNews.ie. 1 April 2014. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
  7. ^ "Johnston Press sells its 14 titles in the Republic". The Irish Times. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
  8. ^ Hamilton, Peter (9 January 2018). "Local newspaper publisher sees profit fall in challenging industry". Irish Times. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
  9. ^ a b "Contact Us". Longford Leader. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
  10. ^ "About Us". Longford Leader. Archived from the original on 6 June 2017. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
  11. ^ "Archives". Longford Leader. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
  12. ^ "Regional Newspapers ABC Circulation July-Dec 2012". ilevel.ie. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
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