The Portadown News was a satirical web-based newspaper dealing with Northern Irish

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

 politics and culture. It was written (initially anonymously) by journalist and political commentator Newton Emerson

Newton Emerson

Newton Emerson is a political commentator and satirist in Northern Ireland. He describes himself as a 'liberal Unionist'. Despite this, he writes in two Nationalist-leaning newspapers, the Irish edition of the Daily Mirror, and The Irish News...

, a Portadown

Portadown

Portadown is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The town sits on the River Bann in the north of the county, about 23 miles south-west of Belfast...

 resident. Its format and style were similar to The Onion

The Onion

The Onion is an American news satire organization. It is an entertainment newspaper and a website featuring satirical articles reporting on international, national, and local news, in addition to a non-satirical entertainment section known as The A.V. Club...

.

The site was updated biweekly, with the first issue appearing in March 2001. In November 2001 Freeserve

Freeserve

Freeserve was a British Internet Service Provider, founded in 1998. It was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index but merged into the Wanadoo group in 2000, itself a subsidiary of France Telecom...

 dropped the site after receiving complaints. The next month Emerson was forced to leave his job with a Belfast

Belfast

Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...

 telecommunications company after the republican

Irish Republicanism

Irish republicanism is an ideology based on the belief that all of Ireland should be an independent republic.In 1801, under the Act of Union, the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland merged to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...

 Andersonstown News

Andersonstown News

The Belfast Media Group's Andersonstown News is twice-weekly published Belfast, Northern Ireland newspaper, which focuses on news and issues, in west Belfast....

named him as the website's editor. The newspaper accused Emerson of unionist

Unionism in Ireland

Unionism in Ireland is an ideology that favours the continuation of some form of political union between the islands of Ireland and Great Britain...

 bias. Emerson had written anonymously out of fear of reprisals but suffered no consequences from being outed beyond receiving occasional email threats.

The site's "reporters" included loyalist Billy

William III of England

William III & II was a sovereign Prince of Orange of the House of Orange-Nassau by birth. From 1672 he governed as Stadtholder William III of Orange over Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel of the Dutch Republic. From 1689 he reigned as William III over England and Ireland...

 Shootspatrick

Saint Patrick

Saint Patrick was a Romano-Briton and Christian missionary, who is the most generally recognized patron saint of Ireland or the Apostle of Ireland, although Brigid of Kildare and Colmcille are also formally patron saints....

, republican Anne Phoblacht

An Phoblacht

An Phoblacht is the official newspaper of Sinn Féin in Ireland. It is published once a month, and according to its website sells an average of up to 15,000 copies every month and was the first Irish paper to provide an edition online and currently having in excess of 100,000 website hits per...

 and unionist Will March

Orange walk

Orange walks are a series of parades held annually by members of the Orange Order during the summer in Northern Ireland, to a lesser extent in Scotland, and occasionally in England, the Republic of Ireland, and throughout the Commonwealth...

. There were also contributions by Portadown residents, including Tyler McSpide

Spide

A spide , is a pejorative stereotype, in Northern Ireland, especially in Belfast, of a person who has a particular dress code and attitude. Spides are often young, unemployed, male adults...

.

The website resulted in a weekend spin-off newspaper column in the Sunday World

Sunday World

The Sunday World is an Irish newspaper published by Sunday Newspapers Limited, a division of Independent News and Media. It is the largest selling "popular" newspaper in the Republic of Ireland and is also sold in Northern Ireland .-Origins:The Sunday World was Ireland's first tabloid newspaper...

, and a bestselling book. Emerson has also written for the Irish Times, the Irish News and the Irish edition of The Daily Mirror

The Daily Mirror

The Daily Mirror is a British national daily tabloid newspaper which was founded in 1903. Twice in its history, from 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its masthead was changed to read simply The Mirror, which is how the paper is often referred to in popular parlance. It had an...

. In 2005 Emerson stopped writing the Portadown News in order to write a column for The Mirror, but the site remains online.