Speculation that The Irish Catholic is going down the tubes

Another blog once asked if the Irish Catholic newspaper is not just going down the tubes editorially but financially as well.
The print run for the paper when it was last printed by The Limerick Leader had fallen to 17,000. It has a large number of journalists and plethora of say-nothing columists - all of whom need big pay packets. Having a flick through it one can notice it has next to no large ads. This week it had one half page ad - about a meeting organised by the paper itself. It is not getting ad income. It has now been forced to put up its cover price for second time in a few months.

This fall in readership no doubt was because it has turned not just liberal in matters theological, but become a campaign sheet for Lisbon Yes campaign. No wonder as Irish Catholic deputy editor Michael Kelly is an activist in Fianna Fail who canvassed for Seam Ardagh TD for Dublin South Central during the last election, and the paper is governed by a board made up in part of IFA leaders. How could one expect to be independent and objective in this matters?

It is a great pity to watch it go down hill so steadily - it could have been a force for good and building up the faith and reporting on the Church in Ireland. Many friends of mine, who would have been keen readers before, now no longer buy it. With readership, prestige, advertising revenue going down as costs go up - is it only a matter of time before this privately owned company hits the wall. This year might tell us.