The ''Impartial Reporter'' is a newspaper based in
Enniskillen
Enniskillen ( , from ga, Inis Ceithleann , ' Ceithlenn's island') is the largest town in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is in the middle of the county, between the Upper and Lower sections of Lough Erne. It had a population of 13,823 a ...
,
County Fermanagh
County Fermanagh ( ; ) is one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the six counties of Northern Ireland.
The county covers an area of 1,691 km2 (653 sq mi) and has a population of 61,805 ...
,
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is #Descriptions, variously described as ...
which is circulated in Fermanagh, South
Tyrone and the
border counties of the
Republic of Ireland
Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. ...
. It is the 3rd-oldest newspaper in Ireland, and is Fermanagh's oldest surviving weekly newspaper.
19th century
Founding
The ''Impartial Reporter'' was founded in 1825 by William Trimble. Trimble took over from the original owner, printer John Gregsten. William Trimble was called the "Father of the Irish Press". During its early decades, coverage of the
Great Famine was one of the top stories. The newspaper emerged the survivor of intense competition by rival newspapers in its early years.
The Land War
The ''Impartial Reporter'' began to take notice of the plight of
tenant farmer
A tenant farmer is a person (farmer or farmworker) who resides on land owned by a landlord. Tenant farming is an agricultural production system in which landowners contribute their land and often a measure of operating capital and management, ...
s. It became an early and outspoken champion of poor farmers during the 19th century's
Land War
The Land War ( ga, Cogadh na Talún) was a period of agrarian agitation in rural Ireland (then wholly part of the United Kingdom) that began in 1879. It may refer specifically to the first and most intense period of agitation between 1879 and 18 ...
. With the passage of the
Land Law (Ireland) Act 1881
The Land Law (Ireland) Act 1881 (44 & 45 Vict. c. 49) was the second Irish land act passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom in 1881.
Background
The Liberal government of William Ewart Gladstone had previously passed the Landlord and Ten ...
, real reform began to take hold. Still, the newspaper continued to advocate for those who were still being "victimised" by unreasonable rents, the practice of using land courts (which were tilted towards landlords) to intimidate tenants, and other disadvantages. In August 1881, it rejected
Parnell's more radical
Land League
The Irish National Land League ( Irish: ''Conradh na Talún'') was an Irish political organisation of the late 19th century which sought to help poor tenant farmers. Its primary aim was to abolish landlordism in Ireland and enable tenant farme ...
proposals as a threat to social and political order.
The newspaper's campaign on behalf of farmers did not go unanswered. The ''Fermanagh Times'' was established in 1880 as a mouthpiece in opposition to the ''Impartial Reporter'' and other reformers. It was patronized by land-owning conservatives, and was run by William Ritchie.
[Murphy, Eileen M.; William J. Roulston; eds. (2004). ''Fermanagh History and Society: Interdisciplinary essays on the history of an Irish County''. Dublin, Ireland: Geography Publications, pp. 309-310. ]
Unionism
In 1885, the editorial position was that the conflict between landlords and tenant farmers was a far more serious issue than the political arguments between
Green
Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a combin ...
and
Orange factions. The
Orange Order
The Loyal Orange Institution, commonly known as the Orange Order, is an international Protestant fraternal order based in Northern Ireland and primarily associated with Ulster Protestants, particularly those of Ulster Scots people, Ulster Sco ...
was seen as being dominated by landed interests, and was generally opposed. The ''Impartial Reporter'' long reserved its opinion on the
Home Rule
Home rule is government of a colony, dependent country, or region by its own citizens. It is thus the power of a part (administrative division) of a state or an external dependent country to exercise such of the state's powers of governance wi ...
question—backing
Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British statesman and Liberal politician. In a career lasting over 60 years, he served for 12 years as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, spread over four non-cons ...
's position.
While the ''Impartial Reporter'' remained sceptical of
Unionism
Unionism may refer to:
Trades
*Community unionism, the ways trade unions work with community organizations
*Craft unionism, a model of trade unionism in which workers are organised based on a particular craft or trade
*Dual unionism, the developm ...
, the rival ''Fermanagh Times'', reflecting its supporters' views, took an early Unionist stance.
The ''Impartial Reporter'' eventually converted to supporting Unionist views during the
second Home Rule debate in the early 1890s. It gradually became the most vocal advocate for Unionism in the county, eclipsing even the ''Fermanagh Times''.
Recent history
The ''Impartial Reporter'' was owned and published by the Trimble family until 2006, one of the last owners being the pianist and composer
Joan Trimble
Joan Trimble (18 June 1915 – 6 August 2000) was an Irish composer and pianist.
Education and career
Trimble was born in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, Ireland. She studied piano with Annie Lord at the Royal Irish Academy of Music, Dublin, ...
(1915–2000). It was then was sold to Ulster News Group (a subsidiary of
Dunfermline Press
The ''Dunfermline Press and West of Fife Advertiser'' (commonly known as the Dunfermline Press in Scotland and simply The Press in the Dunfermline area) is a weekly Scottish tabloid newspaper, based in Dunfermline, Fife. It has an average circula ...
, Ltd.). It holds the world's record for being the newspaper to have its ownership longest in the hands of a single family. The Trimble family continued to exercise a managing role in the newspaper.
In 2008, the ''Impartial Reporter'' was named as "Newspaper of the Year" in the inaugural
Slugger O'Toole
Slugger O'Toole is a weblog started in June 2002 by political analyst Mick Fealty. It began life as Letter to Slugger O'Toole, focused primarily on news and comment about Northern Ireland. From the beginning it has drawn its readership from a ...
political awards.
Dumfermline Press went into receivership after the death of owner Deirdre Romanes and were acquired by management and
Lloyds Bank
Lloyds Bank plc is a British retail and commercial bank with branches across England and Wales. It has traditionally been considered one of the " Big Four" clearing banks. Lloyds Bank is the largest retail bank in Britain, and has an exte ...
under the name Romanes Media in 2012.
Newsquest
Newsquest Media Group Ltd. is the second largest publisher of regional and local newspapers in the United Kingdom. It is owned by the American mass media holding company Gannett. It has 205 brands across the UK, publishing online and in print ...
acquired Romanes Media in 2015.
In 2019, Sarah Saunderson, the editor, quit her job. She said her decision followed a "perfect storm" in which the recession and emerging online competition struck an often devastating blow to local newspapers across the UK.
Notes
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Impartial Reporter
Newspapers published in Northern Ireland
Mass media in County Fermanagh
Enniskillen