Will Moncrieff be banned from his own radio show?
As Newstalk DJ prepares to become a columnist at The Irish Times...
THE outright ban of Irish Times writers on Communicorp radio stations – including Newstalk and Today FM – looks set to take a bizarre twist as Newstalk’s Seán Moncrieff is set to be unveiled as a new columnist in the newspaper.
The Irish Mail on Sunday has learned
The Irish Times has said the ban seems like an ‘own goal’
that popular presenter Mr Moncrieff, will be revealed as a columnist in the newspaper’s soon-to-be relaunched magazine in the next fortnight. This raises the question: would Mr Moncrieff have to ban himself from his own show?
Sources with knowledge of the situation told the MoS this week ‘they don’t foresee a problem’ with him taking up a contributor position with The Irish Times. The paper has said Newstalk’s ban would seem like an ‘own goal’, and they have no issue with Mr Moncrieff taking up a position. They added the paper is not that ‘petty’. Communicorp made the move after Fintan O’Toole wrote a column, criticising Newstalk’s handling of DJ George Hook’s controversial comments about rape.
When contacted by MoS, a Newstalk spokesperson seemed to backpedal on their statement and ban on Irish Times writers and qualified it as saying the ban applied to ‘journalists and staff’ at The Irish Times. On Friday, Paul Howard, who writes the Ross O’Carroll Kelly column in the paper, had a scheduled interview with Spin FM cancelled due to the ban. He said the ban smacks of a ‘petulant move by management’.