New Newstalk owner lifts ban on Irish Times staff appearing on its radio stations

New Newstalk owner lifts ban on Irish Times staff appearing on its radio stations

Beaur Media Group recently acquired Communicorp and its stations, including Today FM, Newstalk, 98FM. File Picture: Leah Farrell/RollingNews.ie

The company which owns Today FM, Newstalk, 98FM and other stations has lifted a ban on journalists from The Irish Times appearing on the air.

Bauer Media Audio, which recently completed its takeover of the Denis O’Brien-owned Communicorp, announced the lifting of the ban this morning.

In a statement, the group said its executive team had this week "reviewed restrictions relating to contributors from The Irish Times appearing on the group's radio stations."

"Effective immediately, a decision has been made to remove any restrictions and Irish Times staff members, columnists and contributors will be welcome to appear on Newstalk, Today FM, 98FM, SPIN, SPIN South West and Off The Ball.

"This decision has been communicated to The Irish Times and we look forward to working with them in the future," the statement added.

The ban on Irish Times journalists appearing on the stations was put in place in 2017 following the publication of a column by Fintan O’Toole.

Writing in the wake of controversial comments about rape made by former Newstalk presenter George Hook, Mr O'Toole accused the station of being "flagrantly sexist". 

He also encouraged people not to tune in to its programming.

Responding to Mr O'Toole's article at the time, Newstalk managing editor Patricia Monahan said the piece was "an outrageous attack on a private organisation". 

Speaking in the wake of its acquisition of Communicorp earlier this week, President of Bauer Media Audio Ireland Paul Keenan said the group had made the decision that it isn’t "a politically affiliated group". 

Mr Keenan said his organisation doesn’t have any bias in the way in which it approaches its markets.

Bauer Media Group owns and operates radio stations in several other countries, including the UK, Sweden, Norway, Poland, Slovakia, Denmark and Finland.

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