TG4 has announced the appointment of Deirdre Ní Choistín as its first head of news and current affairs.
The creation of the role follows the Government’s acceptance in July of a recommendation by the Future of Media Commission that TG4 should have independent editorial control over its news service. The Irish language broadcaster said the new position had been advertised to help it achieve that aim.
Ms Ní Choistín has been TG4′s communications manager since 2019, while before this she established the online news and entertainment platform Molscéal for the broadcaster. She has extensive news experience as producer and director of TG4′s current affairs series 7 Lá for 14 years and has also had a central role in all of TG4′s election productions since 2002.
“Deirdre will begin developing a new vision for TG4 News and Current Affairs on television and digital platforms. Our independent editorial capacity will ensure that there will be a diversity of news to serve TG4 audiences and the Irish language community as a whole. Discussions with RTÉ will begin soon in order to ensure sufficient investment in a new service,” said TG4 director general Alan Esslemont.
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Under the Broadcasting Act 2009, the TG4 news service, Nuacht TG4, is part of RTÉ's statutory one-hour-a-day provision to TG4.
Mr Esslemont told The Irish Times in 2021 that Nuacht TG4 had once enjoyed “independence of vision” from RTÉ, but this had been “eroded” over time, and he called for the system to resemble ITN’s delivery of two separate services to Channel 4 and Channel 5 in the UK.
This would allow TG4 to offer viewers its own distinctive editorial or “súil eile” perspective, rather than a direct translation of English language news.
In 2021, a survey commissioned by TG4 and conducted by National University of Ireland, Galway, in conjunction with research firm RedC, found that the Irish-speaking public wanted a broader and more extensive news service on the channel.
