Lots happens in the radio industry each week so here’s a summary of the week we just enjoyed.
Here’s what Happened
A new series of climate focused programmes have started airing across 23 local radio stations, following a grant of €600,000 from Coimisiún na Meán.
Ours to protect is being treated like a brand rather than a radio show, with its own social media presence and website. The series is made up of around 1,200 seven minute segments, with 1 airing each week on each participating broadcaster.
The content of the segments will be local and varied, and they have different slots on each station. Some stations have integrated the segments into breakfast shows, others in talk shows, with some broadcasters airing them in off peak time slots.
Outside of Irish Music Month, this will be the first major IBI project funded by Coimisiún na Meán. It’s interesting to see that they’re not just airing the same content across the network, but are instead producing local content for each station.
It’s an expensive project for sure, but it’s going to be fascinating to see how effective it is. It’s certainly not going to stop climate change, but it might bring a lot of attention to little solutions in local areas. that can only be a good thing.
A former radio presenter has admitted to money laundering €10,000 through her bank account.
Nikki Hayes, whose real name is Eimear Black O’Keeffe, used to host shows on 2FM and Classic Hits Radio. She has now admitted to money laundering and will be sentenced in October.
Keith Spencer BL, who was representing the presenter, informed the court that his client has a nine-year-old daughter and has no previous convictions.
He also said that she was “particularly vulnerable” at the time of the incident, and that he will be making the case that “her moral culpability was low”.
We’ll need to wait until October for the outcome, but it’s a crazy story no matter how you look at it.
Usually we try and stick with Irish radio, but this week I’m breaking my own rules. Our final story today focuses on a controversy at Radio New Zealand, which is the country’s public service radio broadcaster.
A staff member at RNZ has been placed on leave, while the station investigates edits made to news wire articles to include pro Russian phrasing and talking points.
The articles in question focus on the war in Ukraine, but the article was edited to include words like “coup”. The Guardian reports that there were 4 articles edited in this way. RNZ issued corrections to some article’s when the public raised concerns about the phrasing, but not all articles have been updated.
Ultimately there are no winners here. It hurts RNZ, it hurts the editor, it’s just bad news all round. Time will tell what happens in this story, but it’s certainly an interesting situation.
Quick Bits
QRadio, The Irish News, and Interpress are folding into one company called Intomedia
RTE Radio Player got an app update adding a new pop out player with media controls
The Celtic Media Festival took place in Donegal this week
RTÉ RnaG was named Radio Station of the Year at the festival
the Reuters Digital News Report for 2023 will be launched in a live stream next week
Doireann Garrihy announced a new podcast
2FM host Laura fox is taking over hosting Irelands fittest family
RTE is upgrading its copy clearance system, replacing emails and PDF’s with a new web portal
And that’s the summary for this week. Come back to radio land next week for more radio news📻 and be sure to check us out on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn for more fun from the world of radio.