Independent and Dunphy both try to get the last word

Independent News and Media was at the centre of a furious on-air row last night, when Today FM's The Last Word programme accused the company of pulling £30,000 (€38,092) worth of advertising in response to comments critical of it.

The programme's presenter Mr Eamon Dunphy told listeners the decision was taken because of remarks made by him and a co-presenter, Mr Matt Cooper, editor of the Sunday Tribune, and because of the show's satirical content.

But confirming the decision to withdraw advertising from the station, Independent News Media said the move was in response to specific comments about advertisements for the group's titles. A spokesman also questioned the station's estimate of the cancelled advertising and said the campaign pulled was worth about £6,000.

Speaking to The Irish Times last night, Mr Dunphy - a former Sunday Independent columnist - called the decision "malevolent, petty and gratuitous" and said it arose partly from a comment he had made on-air recently after the broadcast of an advertisement for the Evening Herald.

The decision was conveyed to Today FM yesterday through Irish International Advertising, the agency which books air-time for the newspaper group. Mr Dunphy said he had warned that if the decision were not reversed, he would go public about it on yesterday's show. The issue attracted "hundreds", of calls from listeners, he claimed.

A spokesman for the Independent group said the decision was a specific one relating to a specific series of advertisements. The issue was not criticism of the company per se, he added, and no long-term decision had been taken.

In a prepared statement, the group said: "Independent News and Media fully accepts the right of journalists or commentators to express opinions, positive or negative, about any of its titles.

"We do not accept, however, that a station which accepts and broadcasts a specific advertisement should then immediately criticise the copy for that advertisement on the same programme on which it is broadcast. It is commercial nonsense in these circumstances to continue to place advertisements with that programme or station."

The Last Word is one of radio's big successes. Its mixture of indepth interviews and irreverent sketches attracts a listenership of 144,000, according to the latest figures.