Sky News is cutting its Irish operations to the bone, from a total of 25 staff in Belfast and Dublin, to โ er โ five. The two Sky News Ireland bulletins, which were getting pretty dismal ratings, will cease at the end of November. Speaking as a Belfast native myself, I suppose this is the flipside of the โpeace dividendโ. A stable Northern Ireland just isnโt news any more.
Oh โ and I note that the New Statesman is also reversing its digital ambitions. Not only is it dropping the paid-for subscription model from 17 November, but itโs introducing additional free web-only content.