News organisations are reassessing their Belfast operations after the successful restoration of Stormont and in response to a prevailing view that the Troubles are over.
Some journalists have left or are leaving for other postings - "victims of the peace process", as one broadcaster described himself to The Irish Times.
For those remaining, especially some reporters linked to London media outlets, the future is somewhat unsure and there is talk of redundancies.
"The challenge is to find new ways of 'doing Ireland'," said the Daily Telegraph's Tom Peterkin. Like the London Times, the Independent and the Guardian, the Telegraph is maintaining its Belfast office.
But some English reporters based in Belfast admit to "reinventing themselves", broadening their scope beyond Stormont and looking more to the Republic for lively news copy.
The Guardian's Owen Bowcott believes: "The Troubles are over, but not the political problems. So the Guardian will carry on."
The Financial Times reporter based in Ireland is not a staffer and copy supplied can end up in various sections of the paper - business news in one part, Northern Ireland in the UK section and stories from the Republic appearing on the European pages.
Another London reporter has suggested that, with new-found economic success, Ireland is now more like anywhere else in western Europe and is seen in London to have lost its distinctive news edge.
Change among the British-based broadcasters and news agencies has been dramatic.
Sky News has closed its Belfast office but retained its Dublin operation while staff have been moved to London or left the company.
Reuters has closed its Belfast bureau, the responsibility for the Northern story falling to Dublin or "stringers".
The BBC, or more correctly that section of it that reports directly to London, has scaled back its resources.
Even with the launch of the corporation's 24-hour rolling news service one insider has suggested: "Northern Ireland isn't a 24-hour story."
Agence France Presse (AFP) and Associated Press (AP) have kept their operations intact in Ireland with just one reporter each.
But as AFP's Hervé Amoric explains: "I've written almost nothing on Northern Ireland since May 8th (and the restoration of Stormont). Last year there was not a day or maybe two days when I didn't file something."
The interest now is in southern politics, especially after the general election.
"Last year 80 per cent of my copy was from the North - now it's the opposite."
If there has been a peace dividend for a news service, the Press Association (PA) news agency seems to have found it.
Its Belfast operation has expanded from two resident reporters to five plus a sub-editor and a photographer. Dublin too has seen a rise, with eight journalists there.
The Belfast papers have also adjusted. The Irish News still sends its political correspondent daily to Stormont where reporters such as Eamonn Mallie from Downtown Radio, UTV's Ken Reid and the BBC Northern Ireland political staff are still pressing on.
But the Belfast Telegraph now has just one political correspondent after decades of having two. Its front pages these days reflect the new concerns - house prices, human interest and health stories.