The amount of material published in Irish newspapers has fallen by 34% as a result of the Covid-19 crisis, compared with a year earlier.

The large decline in the number of articles and stories was recorded by media analyst Truehawk Media and covers all items published in domestic newspapers including national, daily, Sunday, and regional or local publications.

National dailies and Sundays recorded an approximate 25% decline in content published, while regional press published 47% less content in the week of May 18 to 24 than a year earlier.

The media monitoring and analysis company tracks all articles printed in newspaper titles. Truehawk also monitors news and current affairs on radio, TV, online news, blogs, forums, social media platforms, and other print media such as magazines and journals.

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Chief executive Derek Finnegan commented: “The cancellation of so many sports and cultural events has had an obvious impact across all publications. We have also seen a number of local regional titles pause, consolidate or cease production, which has led to a 7% drop in the number of publications printed in that category.”

Sales and marketing director Shannon Rushe added: “While we have seen online news media and digital versions of Irish print titles increase their output this year, our analysis reveals the obvious challenge that lies ahead for press media. Less pages indicates less advertising copy overall, and we are concerned that the variety and independence of our newspaper industry may be threatened if sufficient funding models are not revived or created.”

Apart from the reference to sports and cultural events being cancelled, the company did not say what other categories of news reporting were most affected, and whether opinion pieces and ‘lifestyle’ content was as affected.