Magill is the only current affairs magazine in Ireland. Up until recently it was owned by Vincent Browne, a crusading and free-thinking journalist. Since its recent return to the shelves after many years' absence, Magill has broken a range of high-profile exposes about politics and business. Last October, Magill was sold to businessman Mike Hogan. It is now the 38th magazine owned by Hogan, who also owns the likes of In Dublin, GAA Monthly and the official Boyzone magazine. Hogan has been good friends with Ciaran Haughey, son of former Taoiseach Charles Haughey, for many years - though Hogan says he is "not that politicised". Might his friendships and commercial aspirations affect Magill in future? At the moment Magill sells about 30,000 a month, which Hogan has said he is happy with. What sort of readers would you think Magill might have? Would these readers be happy if the magazine lost its edge? Hogan says not to worry, and the appointment of veteran political journalist Emily O'Reilly as the magazine's new editor is good news for its future.
Hot Press is essentially owned by its editor, Niall Stokes, and his wife Maureen Sheehy. Although it is a music paper, Hot Press has always had substantial political content through its columnists and, at times, extraordinarily revealing interviews with politicians and other leading figures. Where other publications balked, Hot Press came straight out with it - often in a flurry of expletives!
Like other publications, however, out there, it is a commercial venture and it has to make money. Again, advertisers are key. Suppose a particular promoter bringing over a particular band took out a full page colour ad to promote the gig at a cost of £2,373: how would the band feel if Hot Press gave the band's latest album a really crap review?
This doesn't exactly impinge on democratic rights, but it is an indication of just how difficult it is to be genuinely independent in a commercial world.
Suppose you wanted to set up a publication which was to be a commercial success and expose all manner of corruption among everyone from leading politicians to the smallest businesses. Who would be happy to take ads in your publication? You'd need quite a bit of money to look slick enough for people to take you seriously in today's world. You'd obviously want to pay your staff well. To keep costs down, you'd be devoting every minute of the day to your venture, so you'd have to make a living out of it yourself. ail - that's a lot of your potential readers.) You'd have to sell the publication for a price everyone could afford. Could you exist on sales alone?
