Calls for working group on media

FEARS for the future of Irish-owned newspapers and broadcasters hit by the recession have prompted calls for the Government to set up a working group to see how the industry might be supported.

The calls, by opposition parties and the National Union of Journalists (NUJ), follow the closure of the weekly, Foinse, the country’s only remaining Irish language newspaper, this week.

Seamus Dooley, head of the NUJ in Ireland, said the difficulties encountered by Foinse, which had suffered a 75% collapse in advertising revenue in recent months, were also affecting regional papers and independent broadcasters as well as major newspapers and RTÉ.