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March 19, 2009

Jon Gaunt prepares radio return at new Sun talk station

By Dominic Ponsford

The Sun is poised to launch a raft of new multimedia services, spearheaded by columnist Jon Gaunt’s return to the airwaves with an online radio show.

Gaunt hosted a mid-morning radio show on radio station TalkSport until November this year when he was suspended and then fired for likening a councillor to a “Nazi” during a heated discussion about whether smokers should be banned from being foster parents.

He later issued an on air-apology and said that he had meant to say “health Nazi”.

Gaunt, who writes a weekly column for The Sun, is expected to be part of a new Sun Talk online service.

According to Media Week, he will host a daily three-hour online radio show in his old 10am-1pm slot. The Sun was today keeping tight-lipped about its plans.

An announcement about Gaunt’s new role – and other new online services – is expected to appear in the paper tomorrow.

News International had invested a substantial sum, believed to be around £1m, in audio and video studios which are to be shared by The Sun, News of the World and the Times titles.

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The studios provide new facilities for journalists to create their own packages and provide TV interviews.

They are based in the main News International building at Wapping and are already being used by the News of the World to produce its own film review programme.

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