Johnston Publishing (NI) is a large newspaper group in Northern Ireland consisting of Mortons Newspapers and the
News Letter
The ''News Letter'' is one of Northern Ireland's main daily newspapers, published from Monday to Saturday. It is the world's oldest English-language general daily newspaper still in publication, having first been printed in 1737.
The newspape ...
, and is a holding company of
JPIMedia
National World is a British multimedia company. The company was founded as JPIMedia Publishing Ltd in November 2018 following the acquisition of Johnston Press assets by its creditors. JPIMedia was purchased by National World PLC for £10.2 mill ...
. The company was formed following
Johnston Press
Johnston Press plc was a multimedia company founded in Falkirk, Scotland, in 1767. Its flagship titles included UK-national newspaper the '' i'', ''The Scotsman'', the ''Yorkshire Post'', the ''Falkirk Herald'', and Belfast's ''The News Letter'' ...
's purchase of Century Newspapers (publishers of the daily newspaper, the ''
News Letter
The ''News Letter'' is one of Northern Ireland's main daily newspapers, published from Monday to Saturday. It is the world's oldest English-language general daily newspaper still in publication, having first been printed in 1737.
The newspape ...
'') from
Trinity Mirror, and
Scottish Radio Holdings
Scottish Radio Holdings (SRH) was a Scottish media company which owned 22 radio stations, and around 30 local newspapers in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
History
SRH had its origins in the 1970s when Glasgow was awarded the third licence for ...
' 45 weekly newspapers (Score Press) following their take over by
EMAP
Ascential plc, formerly EMAP, is a British business-to-business media business specialising in exhibitions & festivals and information services. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.
History
Ric ...
.
The company is one of the two main holding companies for
JPIMedia
National World is a British multimedia company. The company was founded as JPIMedia Publishing Ltd in November 2018 following the acquisition of Johnston Press assets by its creditors. JPIMedia was purchased by National World PLC for £10.2 mill ...
on the island of Ireland, the other one being
Derry Journal Newspapers
Derry Journal Newspapers (formerly Local Press Ltd) is owned by JPIMedia. Derry Journal Newspapers owns 4 local newspapers in Northern Ireland. The 4 titles are the ''Derry Journal'', the '' Sunday Journal'', ''City News'' (free title) and ''Foy ...
in the northwest. Johnston Publishing (NI) has its headquarters in
Portadown
Portadown () is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The town sits on the River Bann in the north of the county, about southwest of Belfast. It is in the Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council area and had a population of a ...
,
County Armagh
County Armagh (, named after its county town, Armagh) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the southern shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and ha ...
.
Morton Newspapers/Score Press
Morton Newspapers was set up by John Morton in 1936, when he purchased the ''
Lurgan Mail
The ''Lurgan Mail'' was founded in 1889 by Lewis Robert Richardson. The ''Lurgan Mail'' is a tabloid weekly newspaper based in Lurgan, County Armagh in Northern Ireland. It is published on Wednesday evenings, though each edition always bears the ...
'' title. It slowly expanded over the next eight decades purchasing the ''
Portadown Times
The ''Portadown Times'' is a newspaper based in Portadown, County Armagh, Northern Ireland, UK. It is published by Johnston Publishing (NI), part of Johnston Press who own thirty-seven papers across Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ul ...
'' in 1949, the ''
Londonderry Sentinel
The ''Londonderry Sentinel'' is a newspaper based in Derry, Northern Ireland. It is published by Johnston Publishing (NI), a holding company of Johnston Press and Peter Hutcheon is the current editor. The ''Roe Valley Sentinel'' is an edition of t ...
'' in 1953 and the ''Ballymena Times'' in 1986 amongst others. It also launched several newspapers including the ''
Ulster Star
The ''Ulster Star'' is a newspaper based in Lisburn, County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is published by a holding company titled Johnston Publishing (NI)
Johnston Publishing (NI) is a large newspaper group in Northern Ireland consisting of M ...
'' in 1957 and ''FarmWeek'' in 1959.
In December 1995, the sale of the company by the Morton family to Scottish Radio Holding's was completed for £11.2m, and became part of Score Press.
Ten years later in 2005, Scottish Radio Holding's 45 titles (sixteen in
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
, twenty-four in Northern Ireland and five in the Republic of Ireland), including Morton Newspapers, were bought by Johnston Press for £155m and became known as Johnston Publishing (NI). Mortons Newspapers is now a subsidiary of Johnston Publishing (NI), and is used to differentiate between the local newspapers (Mortons) and the daily title, the ''News Letter''. The Republic of Ireland titles were sold to
Iconic Newspapers
Iconic Newspapers is an Irish newspaper company that publishes over 20 regional newspapers. Iconic Newspapers are owned by Mediaforce who are majority owned by Malcolm Denmark. Iconic Newspapers hold their newspaper assets in a subsidiary called F ...
.
The Craigavon Echo has been pulled, as it stopped printing from the first week of June 2010.
Century Press/Belfast News Letter
Century Press and Publishing's main title was the ''
News Letter
The ''News Letter'' is one of Northern Ireland's main daily newspapers, published from Monday to Saturday. It is the world's oldest English-language general daily newspaper still in publication, having first been printed in 1737.
The newspape ...
'' a leading daily in Northern Ireland. In 1996, what became
Trinity Mirror bought a 90% stake in the company for £15m and in 2004 it sold the company along with the Derry Journal Group to the
3i holding company
Local Press Ltd
Derry Journal Newspapers (formerly Local Press Ltd) is owned by JPIMedia. Derry Journal Newspapers owns 4 local newspapers in Northern Ireland. The 4 titles are the ''Derry Journal'', the ''Sunday Journal'', ''City News'' (free title) and ''Foyl ...
for £46.3m.
Local Press was then purchased by Johnston Press a year later in November 2005 for a reported £65m.
Newspaper Society Database of Mergers
After the purchase of Local Press Ltd, the Century was reorganised with the ''News Letter'' becoming part of Johnston Publishing (NI) and the rest held by a holding company called Derry Journal Newspapers
Derry Journal Newspapers (formerly Local Press Ltd) is owned by JPIMedia. Derry Journal Newspapers owns 4 local newspapers in Northern Ireland. The 4 titles are the ''Derry Journal'', the '' Sunday Journal'', ''City News'' (free title) and ''Foy ...
.
Current Titles
Daily
* ''News Letter
The ''News Letter'' is one of Northern Ireland's main daily newspapers, published from Monday to Saturday. It is the world's oldest English-language general daily newspaper still in publication, having first been printed in 1737.
The newspape ...
''
Local
* '' Ballymena Times''
* '' Antrim Times''
* ''Ballymoney and Moyle Times
The ''Ballymoney and Moyle Times'' is a regional newspaper covering the north-east area of Northern Ireland. The paper is owned by the holding company Johnston Publishing (NI)
Johnston Publishing (NI) is a large newspaper group in Northern Irelan ...
''
* ''Coleraine Times
The ''Coleraine Times'' is a newspaper based in Coleraine, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. The paper was taken over by Johnston Press in 2005 and is now part of Johnston Publishing (NI)
Johnston Publishing (NI) is a large newspaper gro ...
''
* ''Dromore Leader
Dromore may refer to:
Places
* Dromore, Ontario, Canada
* Dromore (crater), a crater in the Lunae Palus quadrangle of Mars
Northern Ireland
* Dromore, County Down
* Dromore, County Tyrone
Republic of Ireland
* Dromore, County Clare, townl ...
''
* ''Larne Times
The ''Larne Times'' is a weekly newspaper based in Larne, County Antrim, Northern Ireland. The paper was taken over by Johnston Press in 2005 from Scottish Radio Holdings and is now operated by the holding company, Johnston Publishing (NI).
In ...
''
* ''Londonderry Sentinel
The ''Londonderry Sentinel'' is a newspaper based in Derry, Northern Ireland. It is published by Johnston Publishing (NI), a holding company of Johnston Press and Peter Hutcheon is the current editor. The ''Roe Valley Sentinel'' is an edition of t ...
''
* ''Lurgan Mail
The ''Lurgan Mail'' was founded in 1889 by Lewis Robert Richardson. The ''Lurgan Mail'' is a tabloid weekly newspaper based in Lurgan, County Armagh in Northern Ireland. It is published on Wednesday evenings, though each edition always bears the ...
''
* ''Mid Ulster Mail
The ''Mid-Ulster Mail'' is a newspaper based in Cookstown, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. As well as serving Tyrone, it also covers Magherafelt, County Londonderry. It is published by Johnston Publishing (NI), part of Johnston Press
Joh ...
''
* ''Portadown Times
The ''Portadown Times'' is a newspaper based in Portadown, County Armagh, Northern Ireland, UK. It is published by Johnston Publishing (NI), part of Johnston Press who own thirty-seven papers across Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ul ...
''
* ''Tyrone Times
The ''Tyrone Times'', more correctly known as the ''Tyrone Times and Dungannon Gazette'', is a newspaper based in Dungannon, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It was published by Johnston Publishing (NI), which was part of Johnston Press and w ...
''
* ''Ulster Star
The ''Ulster Star'' is a newspaper based in Lisburn, County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is published by a holding company titled Johnston Publishing (NI)
Johnston Publishing (NI) is a large newspaper group in Northern Ireland consisting of M ...
''
Free Titles
* ''Banbridge & District Weekender''
* ''Belfast News
The ''Belfast News'' is a weekly free-sheet spin-off from the Belfast ''News Letter''. It is published by Johnston Publishing (NI), a holding company for Johnston Press who owns thirty-seven titles across Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ...
''
* ''Craigavon Echo''
* ''East Antrim Advertiser''
* ''Lisburn Echo''
* ''Mid Ulster Echo''
* ''North West Echo''
References
External links
Johnston Press
{{Northern Ireland newspapers
Mass media in Belfast
Newspapers published in Northern Ireland
Mass media companies of Northern Ireland
Johnston Press