in late September, Communicorp staff in radio stations such as Newstalk and Today FM were instructed journalists from the new digital publication were prohibited from appearing as contributors on air.
Communicorp, which is owned by businessman Denis O’Brien, also includes stations such as 98FM, Spin 1038 and Spin South West. Ms Gaffney said the group “did not feel it incumbent on our radio stations to promote a brand new, niche, digital competitor”. The letter was released to The Irish Times under the Freedom of Information act.The background to the decision was “an increasingly competitive and inequitable regulatory environment” where “unregulated digital media has caused irrevocable changes in the advertising market”, she said.
However, since the ban was lifted Mr Kehoe said journalists at the publication would not appear on Communicorp stations while a similar ban on Irish Times journalists remained in place.