Newspaper Deluge

There are now 5 weekly newspaers circulating in Co Cavan, as I write, the date being October 8th 2007. Up until about 9 months ago it was the age old Anglo Celt that provided us the people of this noble county with our diet of weekly local news. The good old Celt has been around for longer than I care to remember. It was established some time towards the latter half of the 18th centuary. So at this satge it would be fair to say that it has gained a fair foothold on the local media scene.
Many would day that there isn't an awful lot in it. Take away the local news, court case reports, GAA and the adds and what would remain. Not a lot. It's abit like the Monthy Python, Life of Brian, scenario, of what did the Romans ever do for us?
Stiil you feel that if you didn't get the Celt one might miss something. The Celt in my yonger days came out on Fridays. That then changed to Thursdays,.In more recent times it came to hit the shelves by Wednesday evenings.
Then late last year the Cavan Echo appeared. This was a free paper and and a new competitor to the established Celt.To combat this the Celt issued a a similar free paper, The Cavan Life. So almost overnight we had 3 weekleys to choose from.
The Echo was ok. Has a couple of decent features, like a history page. They run a weekly latest story, take the camera out to local pubs and venues and publish out and about photos. The Celt also followed suit and began to do something similar. The Echo must be feeling very flattered.

Then in September of this year The Cavan Post hit the streets. Its part of a national media chain which has publications in most counties, including our nextdoor neighbours, Monaghan.
The Post Looks impressive, bulky, with many different features, locals news, court cases, out and about photos, fashion and as far as I can see it, like to publish photos of crashed cars.
The Post keeps it's articles short and to the point. It seems to be aimed at those to dont like wordy or detailed articles. You'll find the same court cases and local news as in the Celt, and indeed most of the other news as in the Celt. The Post comes out on a Tuesday, so they have some stories before the Celt and vica versa.
The Post does have a couples of good journalist, with flair, wit, oodles of satire and an obvious love of the English language. Something which I like in a writer and in a newspaper. I'm more into reading a well written piece over and above what it's about.
Paul O Dowd is the sports editior. Being a former goalkeeper for the Cavan County GAA team, he's gone from standing between the post to writing for the Post.GAA and sport is where he excels, but he could ,given the scope and space ,write about any subject under the sun and make it interesting. Perhaps he's using the Post as a springboard to something bigger on the national scene.
So there we were in September with 4 papers to choose from. Just when I felt it was safe to walk into a newsagents again and not be confronted with another new title, lo and behold there's another new one begging for my attention. Two weeks after the Post launched, The Cavan Voice popped its head above the parrapet. More photos from out and about, local news, courtcases, crashed cars. A more wordy paper then the Post, it seems to be aiming more at the serious reader, what ever type of beast he or she may be I'm not too sure. It's also giving away a free CD for the 1st 10 weeks. Irish Voices. Daniel O Donell was the first one inflicted on the reader.
I put it on one Sunday at lunchtime and my wife curtly ordered me to stop it as she didn't want to her eating experience spoiled and ruined. I complied with her request and put on Ry Cooder's Chavez Ravine album instead. I must say it sounds superior to DoD.
Dodgy CDs' aside, I like the Voice. It could be a good competitior to the Anglo Celt, but that will remain to be seen.
It's shame in a way that all these new titles have come all at once. The competition to the Anglo Celt could illiminate itself. It will be interesting from a readers viewpoint to see how long they last or which ones will prosper.
I remarked to someone that we won't need firelighters from now on during the winter when lighting the solid fuel stove, or indeed one will never be stranded in the house with no toliet paper.
So as it stands we have 5 weekly newspapers in County Cavan. People in far flung corners of the globe are slaving away felling swathes of precious rain forests, destabilising already fragile eco systems to provide the raw material to print these papers. The people of Co Cavan have never been as well informed about the goings on in our noble county. But at what cost to the global environment. Only time will tell the tale.
Now where did I leave my Irelands Own