Journalism is not the first draft of history, but reflects the way ordinary people experience events as they happen, the Irish Times columnist Fintan O'Toole told the audience at the launch of The Irish Times Book of the Century last night.
He said journalists did not write "for the record or in order to be read in 10 years' time." Rather, they wrote to deadlines and "to satisfy whatever immediate need or curiosity there is in the society in which they operate."
While that was a drawback in terms of presenting a historical record, it had the strength of being closer to the way most people actually experienced history, he said.
The editor of The Irish Times, Mr Conor Brady, said the book was "an extraordinary chronicle of life in this country over the century.
"First and foremost it is a monument to the many people who have gone before us, the thousands of unnamed journalists, reporters, printers and clerks," he said. "In far less favourable circumstances than we enjoy now they turned out the wonderful thing that is a daily newspaper."
He congratulated Mr O'Toole on producing "a fine narrative which will stand the test of historical and literary scrutiny," and complimented the publishers of the book, Gill and Macmillan, on their "commitment to quality".
The publisher, Mr Michael Gill, said the book was "the result of a shared vision and very close co-operation between two companies occupying quite different poles within the publishing community." The idea of the book was to use the archive of The Irish Times to "provide a window of interpretation on the 20th century in Ireland".
Also present were the chairman of The Irish Times Ltd, Mr Don Reid, and the managing director, Mr Nicholas Chapman.
The publishing director of Gill and Macmillan Ltd, Mr Fergal Tobin, also attended.