Category Archives: Industry

When Religion Makes the News – how well is it reported?

This post appeared first on the IWA’s clickonwales site 5.11.16

When religion makes the news how well equipped are journalists to understand it? The notion of a dedicated religious correspondent fell out of favour as Britain became more secular but religion as a force in current affairs has never been so prominent. There is a religion-and belief-sized gap in the training that would-be journalists and practising professionals are receiving. NUJ Training Wales, the training arm of the National Union of Journalists has taken a bold initiative towards filling it.

A one-day workshop will be held in Cardiff on November 8th

http://nujtrainingwales.org/event/religion-makes-news/

When Religion Makes the News will be chaired by the eminent broadcaster, Roger Bolton (Panorama, This Week, Feedback) and addressed by Aaqil Ahmed, BBC Head of Religion and Ethics. Continue reading When Religion Makes the News – how well is it reported?

The BBC and Wales – Time to Deliver

 

Lord Hall, Director General of the BBC, this morning ( 2 Nov 2016) has a session with the Assembly’s Culture, Welsh Language and Communications Committee (CWLC). And so…?

And so this, in itself, demonstrates a sea-change in the attitude of Wales to its media. That a committee has been created which pulls together these three core elements is evidence that Wales is determined to get to grips with the communication essential for its democracy and its life as a nation.

It also shows that in the non-devolved area of broadcasting and communications Welsh politicians are willing to shoulder responsibility to the limits of the devolutionary settlement. Here we certainly see a proactive and creative willingness to get the best for Welsh media. Continue reading The BBC and Wales – Time to Deliver

When Religion Makes the News – A Workshop for Journalists

Religion is an element in many high profile stories today but how well are journalists supported in their efforts to understand and interpret its role? I have organised with NUJ Training Wales the first event in Wales to address this urgent skills issue.

WHEN RELIGION MAKES THE NEWS: Workshop & Networking Event, Cardiff

A workshop for all journalists living or working in Wales: 8th November 2016

silent rally
Unity Vigil at the Senedd, Cardiff after Charlie Hebdo & Paris supermarket siege Photo: Media Wales Ltd

Continue reading When Religion Makes the News – A Workshop for Journalists

Debating the BBC (and more!) in Wales

Broadcasting in Wales: the Future of the BBC Charter, an event organised by the Wales Governance Centre. will scrutinise the future of the BBC in Wales (6pm Tuesday 15th March, Millennium Centre, Cardiff).

At a time when the future of the BBC’s Charter is being debated in public, and with politicians in Cardiff Bay  and Westminster looking at the future of the media, this is a crucial time for broadcasting in Wales. This event will look at the key topics emerging from these debates and how they might influence the future of the BBC in Wales. Continue reading Debating the BBC (and more!) in Wales

Pitch Your Ideas Workshop

I never fail to be impressed by how well participants in this workshop grasp the pitching principles I offer. I am convinced that most people are aware of what it takes to make a good sales pitch but perhaps have not had the opportunity to pull what they know together and also to reach for the sales person hidden inside each of us. And it’s fun – as you can see  in the photograph above – happy faces at the end of the workshop I delivered on 10th March! Continue reading Pitch Your Ideas Workshop

Towards Better Broadcasting in Wales

Public service broadcasting in Wales is on a knife-edge and there are loud demands for reform. The response will cast light on whether Wales is genuinely seen as a full partner within the UK.

bbc trsut

Small but perfectly formed. Is that a fair description of Wales? Small Wales certainly is, with a population of 3.1 million compared to the 53.9 million of its neighbour, England. This part of the British Isles claims distinctiveness as a nation while remaining attached to the union. Democratic devolution was endorsed initially by the slimmest of margins but the people of Wales went on to vote 2 to 1 for full legislative powers as the devolutionary process established itself. That process continues. It is the context for any valid consideration of broadcasting in Wales.  Here, in broadcasting terms, there is a nation to be served with all that implies about complexity and breadth.

But broadcasting in Wales is challenged by two particular weaknesses: market failure and inadequate influence over its media policy. Together these create in Wales an unhealthy paradox: while the public clearly supports increased self-determination as a nation within the UK, the media − whose function is to enable national self-understanding − are increasingly disabled.

This can only result in a stunted Wales, struggling to assess its own potential or needs and, ultimately, unable to benefit properly from devolution or to contribute distinctively to the UK ‘project’. A withered branch tends to get lopped off. For Wales, in the debate around Public Service Broadcasting, the stakes are very high indeed. Continue reading Towards Better Broadcasting in Wales

BBC governance must catch up with devolution

Since Rona Fairhead, Chair of the BBC Trust, a year ago, effectively killed off the body that she chairs by calling for it to be abolished, many have been wondering how the BBC should be governed and held accountable in future. After all, the corporation has suffered more than its share of troubles in recent years. But in re-shaping the governance of the BBC there is a lot at stake, too, for us in Wales.

For that reason the IWA’s Media Policy Group has made a submission to the review of BBC governance being carried out by Sir David Clementi, a former Deputy Governor of the Bank of England, for the UK Government. If the BBC Trust generally is not fit for purpose, then neither are the current arrangements for accountability in Wales. Continue reading BBC governance must catch up with devolution