Submissions are invited for a new edited publication that will provide a historical perspective on the relationship between Independent Newspapers and Irish society over the last one hundred years.

The book is intended as a forum for scholarly work of both breadth and depth and will fill a significant gap in the history of the Irish media while providing an insight into the world of journalism at the most controversial – and successful – media organisation in Ireland.

Proposals are welcomed for chapters in areas not exclusively confined to the following areas: the providence of the Independent titles from the Irish Parliamentary Party in the late nineteenth century; the life and career of William Martin Murphy; Independent Newspapers and the birth of the Irish State; the Emergency and Censorship; Independent Newspapers and aspects of Irish society in post-World War II period; the life and newspaper career of Tony O’Reilly; the Sweepstakes controversy; Reportage of Northern Ireland; Independent Newspapers and aspects of Irish society in the 1970s and 1980s; the role of Tony O’Reilly as businessman and newspaper proprietor; the business of newspapers: the dominant role of Independent Newspapers in the Irish market and its impact on the Irish Press Group and the stake in the Sunday Tribune; Independent Newspapers as a global media organisation; the evolution and influence of the Sunday Independent; the emergence of Denis O’Brien as a significant stakeholder at a time of structural change in the newspaper industry.

Suggestions and topics outside the above list are welcomed. Accepted chapters will be peer-reviewed and will be subjected to a submission date of the end May 2011.

The book will be edited by Mark O’Brien and Kevin Rafter from the School of Communications at Dublin City University. The editors are currently in discussions with an academic publisher with an expected publication date of early 2012.

Proposals for chapters – to include an abstract of approximately 250 words – should be sent by email.