The term "silly season" was coined for summertime, but really seasons don't get any sillier in the Irish media than the Christmas and New Year period. Last time around it was dominated by the grim pseudo-journalism of the ascending tsunami death-count. This time there was almost literally nothing, and it seems our papers have got worse at disguising their boredom.
Please try to bear with Meejit as, amid the Christmas cheer (and gloom), this column struggles to shape an intellectual framework that covers some of the notable media events and characters of the past year.
"You needed to be a Sinn Féin/IRA sympathiser to get on in Dublin journalism in the late eighties." This bare-faced, black-is-white untruth was spoken to Meejit recently by a person too young to know better, with a mind overstuffed by Myers/Harris paranoia.
John Lennon's legacy is elusive, but Harry Browne says the 25th anniversary of his murder was followed by an event that helps put the Beatle in perspective: the death of his contemporary and fellow tortured-genius, Richard Pryor.
AN ICTU March and the Irish Ferries controversy meant that unions were top of the news.
The Irish Ferries story and Microsoft's tax breaks in Ireland show that capitalism still reigns.
The departure and return of some golden oldies.
The claims of 'highest international standards' in the Corrib gas project are no more than a 'public relations attempt to placate an inquiring public', according to a new Centre for Public Inquiry report. Harry Browne reports
Meejit has been looking at some recent media mistakes and apologies.
The media seem reluctant to probe medical and pharmaceutical stories.