The Irish Times‘ ‘Irish Roots’ column, which I’ve written since February 2009, is coming to an end in ten days or so, with the last one due on February 8th. The decision wasn’t mine. Like all newspapers, the Times is struggling to stay solvent as it goes digital, and just can’t afford to do everything it used to. Ah well.
I think it’s a mistake – but I would, wouldn’t I?
Yes, it’s very important for a newspaper to have a digital-first approach. But the paper ‘paper won’t die. It might shrink to a fraction – 20%? 30%? – of glory-days circulation, but a kernel of true believers will remain. Look at what’s happening with CDs and book-shops, which should be long dead if the digital visionaries had been right. Instead, you have to fight through the crowds to get into the last big book-shop in Dublin, Hodges Figgis.
That kernel of true believers will be the basis of the Times‘ survival, I think. Unless they drive them away by shrinking the physical newspaper too much.
Enough venting. I’ll continue to write about Irish heritage and genealogy in this blog, if only because it’s too late to stop now.
Wo-hoo.
Please keep writing, John! Apart altogether from your invaluable guidance through the obstacle-course that genealogical research can be, I would miss the clarity and efficacy of your writing. To use a horribly modern phrase, you ‘nail it’ every time!
Mary