Last night the passing of an Irish media institution was marked. Independent Network News or INN had provided news bulletins for local stations around the country for the past twelve years. It had formed in 1997 after the two Dublin stations, FM 104 and 98FM, who had previously provided the service banded together to provide a single service for the country.
It’s been the starting point of many a career, my own included, but at the beginning of the month it was announced that the service was to close with the loss of all jobs there. Staff found out they were out of a job when they heard it on the national RTE lunchtime radio news.
Staff, backed by the journalists’ union, the NUJ, did what they could but last night the staff and colleagues from throughout the industry met to mark the closure.
Journalism can be a really shitty business sometimes.
That’s about all I can say on the subject. I’m not going into the whys and wherefores here but my thoughts are with my friends and colleagues who lost their jobs yesterday. It was a dark day for Irish media.
I’ll leave the last word to INN themselves. The final bulletin, read by news editor Richie Cullen, which was broadcast at 12 midnight, last night October 30th 2009.
Seems a bit crazy at the moment. Panic and suspect “pragmatism” driving the race to the bottom. Leadership and forward planning appear a thing of the past. Very sad that there are few training grounds for good journalism left in Ireland. Let’s all forget “Journalism” and embrace the new re-written press release – not to mention the tits to lighten the mood.