55°00′44″N7°19′06″W / 55.01212°N 7.3183°W /55.01212; -7.3183Derry Journal Newspapers (formerlyLocal Press Ltd) is owned by National World. Derry Journal Newspapers owns 4 local newspapers inNorthern Ireland. The 4 titles are theDerry Journal, theSunday Journal,City News (free title) andFoyle News (free title). The company is based on the corner of Pennyburn Pass and Duncreggan Road,Derry.
In 1772,Derry Journal was launched and remained the sole title until the 1990s.
In the 1990s, theDerry Journal began to expand its stable of papers with the launch of the freesheetJournal Extra in 1992 (City News from February 2001) and in 1995 acquired theDonegal People’s Press and theDonegal Democrat, the biggest paper in neighbouring County Donegal.
In 1998, the group was purchased by Mirror Group Newspapers (which becameTrinity Mirror a year later) from the McCarroll family who had owned the paper since 1925, for £18.25 million.[1]
In October 2000, a second freesheet was launched inLetterkenny, County Donegal called theLetterkenny Listener (renamedLetterkenny People in September 2005) and a third was launched in May 2001 calledFoyle News. In 2004, several new papers were launched, with theSunday Journal incorporatingDonegal on Sunday and as well as Monday edition of theJournal calledDerry on Monday. The papers has different levels of success, the Sunday publication was and continues to be the only local paper published on a Sunday; howeverDerry on Monday was axed just two years later due to poor circulation figures and was replaced by an expandedCity News.
In January 2004, Local Press Ltd, a holding company of investment firm3i purchased the Derry Journal Group as well as theNews Letter, a leading Northern Irish daily, fromTrinity Mirror.
In November 2005, Local Press was then purchased byJohston Press for a reported £65m.[2]
In 2014, Johnson Press's Republic of Ireland titles were sold toIconic Newspapers.[3]
In November 2018,Johnston Press went into administration.[4]JPIMedia purchased the group.
In addition to Derry Journal Newspapers,JPIMedia own several other local titles across Northern Ireland through the holding companyJohnston Publishing (NI).
| Name | Launched | Type |
|---|---|---|
| Derry Journal (Tuesday) | 1772 (Tuesday edition restarted in 1958) | Tabloid |
| Derry Journal (Friday) | 1772 | Tabloid |
| Sunday Journal | 2004 | Tabloid |
| Foyle News | 2001 (previously a freesheet) | Tabloid |
| City News (Thursday) | 2001 (previously Journal Extra, launched in 1992) | Freesheet |
The titles are no longer audited by the ABC for circulation.[5]