The North Belfast news is a local papper which runs weekly and has a fairly big circulation around…read moreNorth Belfast. It offers a birthday wishes and remembrance section so that people can publish a small message about a birthday or a condolence message about a death in the community. Both these services come at a bit of a price, around 80p per word as well as additional money if you wish to publish a photo. The resultant print out in the paper is always tasteful and clear. There are also the option of having the photo published in colour but this again will incur an additional price. It's a very good service used to inform the local community of both good and bad news.

There isn't much fluff in the North Belfast News. It's packed with solid local news reports…read morereflecting an area that has its fair share of problems and bad news stories. The paper also has solid features on people and cultural matters and the staff evidently work hard to put it all together every week. Aside from the weighty matters there's a regular restaurant column which I like. These reviews are also duplicated in the other local Belfast media group papers to which the North Belfast news belongs. They're informatve and accurate. It's worth getting hold of this paper once in a while just for that if you ask me; they're also on the website, because you can't have too much need up to date information on where to eat in Belfast

Cinematically the vision of this newspaper would be a wide shot over-looking the grounds of Queen's…read morewhere everybody has stopped in their tracks to read some breaking news which changes the face of Queen's and Belfast forever. Sadly The Gown probably isn't going to be the first publication to break some earth-shattering exclusives, leaving it acting more as reading material over lunchtime if you don't have any reading left to do before class. It is a good publication but I did lose a bit of respect when it published a picture of a swearword spray painted with graffiti on a road. They already have a potential audience of however many thousands and I don't think they needed to do this. Though with respect to them, they publish any letters of complaint that they get and they did publish one about this which for me showed that their heads are in the right place. I do pick up the Gown whenever I see it about because it does have some very good reviews of films/music as well as listing the gigs coming up in the Student's Union. This is certainly the start of something great for the Gown. A newspaper should be inventive, and should have great journalism. If the Gown can take the next step up from a student newspaper, it could make people stop in their tracks because it really does deserve it.

For a university publication, its as good as it gets. With twenty five years of publishing on…read moreQueen's campus it certainly has covered most student issues, union debates and topical residential kerfuffles over its time. Now coming out every fortnight it manages to talk straight to student and give them what their looking for in terms of features, political reviews and basic hard news. The one thing I do miss about this year's Gown, which has only published issue so far is the absence of The Hood. This was a section at the back of the paper which was anonymous and could simply slag student union reps, authority figures and keep the whole thing on good Belfast banter terms. It is sadly missed for a good laugh and to print what everyone else is thinking!

I had the pleasure of doing an internship at The Irish Times Belfast office earlier this year…read more Fanum house, even with it's gray industrial exterior, broken lifts and air conditioning, still holds a certain charm for me. It was here I had the pleasure of working with Gerry Moriarty, Northern Editor and Dan Keenan, Northern News Editor, in the events running up to the devolution of policing and justice powers back in February 2010. The Irish Times northern correspondents have been based there since the seventies. Generally, the northern office contributes about seven stories or commentary pieces to the paper each day. The Irish Times, which is based in Dublin was established in 1859 and focuses on Irish news and politics, as well as international news, sports, arts and culture. The northern office mainly focuses on political issues in the province. The paper is published 6 days a week, Monday to Saturday. It is regarded as the most reputable newspaper in Ireland. The office is run by a super lady named Faye. If you ring with any queries, Faye will sort you out. Like most newspaper offices, the Irish Times Northern HQ (referred to the editor as 'The Rat Pit') has it's quirks. Most notably- an office which is painted completely green, yes even the radiators, the exuberant and charming cleaning lady from the Falls road and an old Jewish businessman who calls in every week with a pair of scissors to cut out sections of the previous days paper.

With the usual amount of tabloid rubbish taking up way too many pages, at least we can always rely…read moreon a newspaper ending in "times" to provide something of a journalistic approach to their job. When it comes to news papers, if it ends in "times" or "telegraph" 9 times out of 10 it probably has something to do with current affairs on their front page, and not something to do with Ashley Cole taking photographs of his bits and pieces to send to prostitutes. The Irish Times, though not my first choice in newspapers, certainly has me interested whenever I see it lying about. The journalism is focused on "important" events, usually politics but unlike a lot of the English press, the Irish Times relies heavily on local events, and local news stories. If it is a solid newspaper with it's head in the right place that you are after, then this is certainly worth a read. However if you want to find out about some X Factor winner going on a date with someone who once played football for Bristol City, then you probably will not find it in this paper. And rightly so.

The Irish News is the paper which apparently represents the nationalist community in NI. Personally…read moreI think this paper is quite fair and offers honest articles which cover a large portion of both communities. My old history lecturer Brian Feeney has a column in this paper and it really is a very witty one. This papers fairness I think does tend to make it a little on the dull side. It's hard to be entertaining when your not pointing an accusing finger or 'exposing' someone as the Sunday World loves to do every week. The sports section is probably the most bias part of the paper. There is way to much coverage of GAA. I don't have a problem with this on any political grounds. I have a problem with this because I find GAA to be the most boring sport on the planet.

I don't put a lot of stock in newspapers these days. I think it's just to hard for them to keep up…read morewith news, since online and broadcast news can react so much faster, but the Irish News is one paper I do have faith in. Yes, it's a nationalist paper (really, there's very little in Northern Ireland that isn't split along nationalist/unionist lines, but hopefully that's changing), but it provides quality news reporting, that is influenced by nationalist ideas, but not blinded by them. It's a tabloid by definition, but doesn't share any characteristics with the British red tops. You won't find any up-skirt pap shots of Lindsey Lohan here! Rather, you'll get interesting commentary from writers like Newton Emerson. It is mildly annoying that the website is subscription only, but given that that seems to be the way newspaper companies are headed, it might be something we have to get used to...

I rather enjoy reading the Community Telegraph - it's free (yippee!), informative and locally…read morebased, with plenty of information about your particular area, a sports section, a job section, classifieds, photographs and helpful adverts. Sounds like a dream come true in the world of newspapers, eh? Mmmm, despite all this wonderfulness (yes, that just officially became a word), I still have three minor quandaries... 1) About a year or so ago, they decided to give the newspaper a bit of a makeover. Which was fair enough, and happens to the best of us, but they took away what I considered the fairly good aspects of the paper. The middle section contained makeup information and lifestyle guidance, but it has disappeared. There used to be a restaurant review on the page after, but it's gone too. There was also a focus on a particular school each week, and it's vanished. Now, don't get me wrong, the rest of the Community Telegraph is perfectly fine. I just would love to see these particular aspects back in. Pleeeease. 2) Now, this is probably just me picking holes, and isn't really a huge issue, but the fact that the paper is only produced every week means that it's way behind on the news and focuses on events which happened a week ago. But yes, it's a weekly paper, and that's got to be the case I suppose. I'd just far rather read a story the day it happened, or the day after. Otherwise it's old news. Literally. 3) This is more of an annoyance with those who deliver the paper, rather than the Community Telegraph itself. We used to get it every single Thursday / Friday without fail or a good long while, but then for a few months, there was absolutely no sign of any paper whatsoever. Within the past few weeks, the paper has been more regular in its coming, thankfully. However, this week it wasn't delivered until Saturday, and it was badly crumpled and torn. Grrr... Three stars will have to suffice I'm afraid.

The Community Telegraph arrives on my door mat every week and provides a bit of local news with a…read morelot of adverts for local services. Recently it has included more features, comment pieces and events section to include material that seems to originate from its big sister, the Belfast Telegraph. Compared to other local Belfast papers the Community Telegraph seems somewhat light in content though a recent issue indicated plans to expand the sports section. There aren't any memorials or anniversary notices which other such papers have. Still, the East Belfast version of the Community Telegraph, which I'm familiar with, saw off the challenge from the East Belfast Herald which attempted a launch a year or two ago but was never much in evidence though the office was there for over a year.

Like its sister newspaper North Belfast News, the Andersonstown News is of better quality than you…read moremight expect for a local paper. (And, like the North Belfast News, I used to work for these guys so am hereby declaring both an interest and a soft spot.) The paper comes out twice weekly, on a Monday and a Thursday, and has plenty of news, features, letters, texts, photos, notices, ads, classifieds and sports to keep you well occupied for the less than a quid it costs. I'm not particularly fussed on the editor's Squinter columns, which are a bit long-winded and go on about his dislike of smokers more than anything else. (As a letter to the paper once said, Squinter, know your audience. No, it wasn't from me.) There was also a bit of a furore last year when a blistering editorial taking local politicians to task for always focusing on Troubles-based issues rather than social ones such as the deprivation apparent in much of west Belfast was swiftly criticised by the local Shinners and just as quickly retracted and apologised for. This was a real pity I thought, as the original editorial had made some very salient points that yes, West Belfast MLAs should have to answer. Sadly, as this incident shows, the paper and Sinn Fein go hand in hand, and I for one would like to see local journalism branching out into something a bit less predictable. That said, I can and do recommend the Andytown News as it's fondly called - if you're looking for local news in west Belfast you'll find most of what you need here.

Andersonstown News is a collection of newsagents located throughout Belfast. They specialise in…read moreselling sweets, crisps, cigarettes and newspapers (as you would expect with a typical run of the mill newsagents) so if your looking for something else you are best of avoiding this shop. I went in to get a newspaper out of one of these shops recently and was stunned by the thick broad Belfast accent compared to my wee culchie Fermangh accent which you are more likely to hear on a Hugo Duncan show than up in the mean streets of Belfast. People round me were in full blown conversations and I had no idea what they were saying, I felt like an outsider in my own country! However I persevered, bought my paper and got out as soon as possible. The shop is handy but unless your from here you can feel quite intimidated by the locals.

Located on Bangor's Main Street the Spectator Offices are sleek and sophisticated, unlike the rest…read moreof the buildings on main street the you do not have to fear perched pigeons overhead. I recently visited the offices to enquire about placing an advertisement and to be frank, I felt under dressed. The staff on the reception did not judge my scruffy appearance, they were helpful and informative. They advised that the best way to continue with my enquiry was to go online. Although this was far from a wasted journey. The offices were a hub of activity, the sense of excitement alone prompted me to buy the latest issue of the County Down Spectator, the peak of local investigative journalism. If you have a scoop for the reporters or just want to buy the latest issue of the paper then my advice is to visit the Spectator offices and see where the local news comes from.

Again, this is quite hard for me to review this place as I have worked here in the past as a…read morereporter and know most of the staff so I can't really be mean about any of them. Not that I could be mean about anyone here because they really are a lovely bunch of folks who made me feel very welcome when I first worked here. The journalistic side of things is professionally run by Paul the editor and they have a real tradition of excellent reporting as well as a welcoming and interested attitude when you ring up about a story. Us hacks are always looking for a scoop so there is no need to feel intimidated or feel that you couldn't ring up. I never worked in the advertising office but always found them helpful and incredibly well informed anytime I had to deal with them. This really is a well established and much loved wee local paper, you can't go bad with it.

In! is essentially a Northern Irish version of Ok! / Hello! magazines (what is with all these…read moreexclamation marks?!), specialising in reports on local social activities and gatherings, with plenty of photos to boot. Except, most of these people aren't even famous... In the July / August edition, the focus is on the Down Royal (stunning outfits galore), Miss Northern Ireland (I just looked in the mirror and cried...)., the opening of a new restaurant / bar / lounge in Belfast, the opening of a new salon (also in Belfast), etc etc. It's generally filled with pictures of beautiful girls who are very much 'In!' these social circles, or just so happen to be at a prestigious event and get their photo taken. There are also celeb interviews - Christine Bleakley and her sister Nicola are in the current edition - as well as lifestyle / beauty pages, plenty of plugs for the latest in where to eat, where to visit, where to get that hideous cellulite seen to...you get the picture. After reading, you may feel a slight inferiority complex. Don't worry, you will eventually overcome this problem, though it may take a few days. The overwhelming glamour is enough to make even the best looking person feel a bit paranoid. I assure you...

I'm a big fan of this magazine. Having worked in the media industry in Northern Ireland for a few…read moreyears, I actually think that IN! has taken an original concept for NI and made it a real success. The people who go to the events in Northern Ireland love getting their photograph taken, and hence will love to see it printed in a glossy magazine. I think its a really interesting read as well, and having a local focus is brilliant too - how many times to you see things in OK! Mag that you can't get in Northern Ireland?! At least you know that what you see in this magazine, you'll be able to get on your doorstep. Every interview may not feature a celebrity, but I don't think thats what the essence of this magazine is about - its more about celebrating talent and if they can be the first stepping board for some of these people to let NI know what they're doing, where they're going and why they want to be heard, then why not? I definitely look forward to the latest edition each month and I hope it continues for a long time - it can only get better!