€4.4 million awarded to support public interest journalism

Coimisiún na Meán has today (27.08.2026) announced €4.4 million in funding to support public interest journalism in Ireland, under the News Reporting Scheme. 

Following a successful pilot last year, the second round of the Scheme will provide funding for 80 long-form projects covering news items which are under-reported or are at risk of being under-reported in the Irish media. Approximately €2.7 million will go to the commercial radio sector, with the remaining €1.7 million going to print and online publications. 

Rónán Ó Domhnaill, Coimisiún na Meán Media Development Commissioner said: “On behalf of Coimisiún na Meán, I’d like to offer my congratulations to the successful applicants in this round of the News Reporting Scheme. The goal of this Scheme, along with our other Journalism Schemes, is to offer funding and support, on a platform-neutral basis, to independent, skilled and trusted journalism and to support the investigation and coverage of news and current affairs stories which may not otherwise be covered. I look forward to seeing the successful projects come to fruition over the coming months, including the 12 Irish-language or bilingual projects that have received almost €900,000 in funding. 

“I would also like to thank Minister Patrick O’Donovan for his continued support of our Journalism Schemes including the allocation of funding for the News Reporting Scheme, and for specific ringfenced funding under the Scheme which has been awarded to the commercial radio sector, a valued source of trustworthy news, which provides a vital service to communities around the country.”