On 14th December Hywel Wiliam and I gave evidence to the Welsh Affairs Select Committee inquiry into broadcasting in Wales on behalf of the IWA.
Our written evidence submitted in advance.
Category Archives: Industry
What’s in it for Wales? Tony Hall’s new BBC
“This is the story I want to focus on this evening.” said Tony Hall, Director General of the BBC in a speech given to Cardiff Business Club on Monday 23rd November. “The BBC as a home for distinctive quality and creativity, supporting the best talent and brightest ambition – a driving force behind the UK’s extraordinary global competitiveness in the creative industries.”
Continue reading What’s in it for Wales? Tony Hall’s new BBC
Television from Small Nations – Internationalisation
How big is ‘small’ in terms of a nation? And to what extent should size determine the value of a culture? Or should cultural value be kept separate from political clout? These questions matter increasingly in many arenas but on 16th November I spent a day at the first of three University of South Wales workshops with people who address them in terms of tv. It was fascinating and inspiring.
I loved the trailer we were shown by the producer of Norskov, a new Nordic detective story set in a fictional regional town in Denmark. A cheerful character addresses a huge, jovial crowd:
“Some people say Norskov’s out on the edge. I guess they don’t know the world’s round!”
Roars of approval.
The centre is where you are, is the message. Because you matter. Your culture. Your place. Your language. You are the hub of the universe. Continue reading Television from Small Nations – Internationalisation
IWA Wales Media Audit and Cardiff Media Summit
“get reading this thorough and classy piece of work”
I had the pleasure of chairing the second Cardiff Media Summit on the 11th November at the Wales Millennium Centre. The first summit was held in December 2014, a half-day event. It was clear then that in order to address the problems and take advantage of the opportunities facing the media in Wales there was an urgent need for objective facts as the basis for policy recommendations. Just under a year later we have the IWA Wales Media Audit 2015 , launched at the summit.
This is an update to the Media Audit done by the IWA in 2008. The 2015 Audit offers information about provision in Wales of press, online and broadcast media, includes a review of all major policy statements since the last audit and, drawing on the information gathered, makes 37 recommendations. Continue reading IWA Wales Media Audit and Cardiff Media Summit
An End to the Centre-Periphery Game? Arts and the Media in Wales
David Anderson , Director General of Amgueddfa Cymru takes the BBC to task for its poor coverage of arts and culture in Wales. In a hard-hitting article in the latest edition of the IWA’s ‘The Welsh Agenda’ magazine he analyses how what he calls ‘The Centre-Periphery Game’ has encouraged this shortcoming, exacerbating a failure of perception on the part of the BBC centrally but also a failure of the arts community in Wales to challenge the status quo.
Continue reading An End to the Centre-Periphery Game? Arts and the Media in Wales
Is the BBC Trust getting the message from Wales?
The BBC Trust held a seminar in Cardiff ‘as part of the Charter review process’ on 20th October. It was open to the public but the majority of those present were media workers, academics or correspondents. The Western Mail report on it is accurate but conveys nothing of the atmosphere among the attendees which was, at times, mutinous and, finally, outspokenly critical. These sore spots have to be examined or they will go on festering to no good purpose.
Continue reading Is the BBC Trust getting the message from Wales?
IWA Media Audit – Dialogue and Debate
Throughout the past week the Media Policy Group of the Institute of Welsh Affairs has been publishing its draft analysis of the state of main media sectors in Wales. This approach has allowed us to receive valuable feedback on our chapters on the radio industry and the press that will be incorporated into the final report. This will be launched at the Cardiff Media Summit on November 11th. We have also had the benefit of expert comment pieces carried on the IWA site and look forward to more. It is proving to be a good experience of dialogue around these important issues and of the kind of debate about them that has long been called for in Wales.
The analysis we have laid out is sobering. Continue reading IWA Media Audit – Dialogue and Debate
Media in Wales – A Democratic Necessity
Media in Wales – A Democratic Necessity
Lee Waters and Angela Graham introduce the first part of the IWA Wales Media Audit.
This post first appeared on the IWA clickonwales site October 13th 2015
British, Bold, Creative – for all of us in Wales?
British, Bold, Creative: a catchy, punchy title for the BBC’s statement of its plans for the next decade and beyond but, read from the point of view of the Welsh bit of ‘British’, the contents are something of a curate’s egg.
One sees the effort to engage with the Nations and Regions. There are suggestions about reconfiguring the delivery of news and about opening up platforms for a wider sharing of materials. The aspirations are right, as in section 7.3 Entertaining the whole UK:
Firstly, we will improve how we portray and represent the different Nations of the UK on our pan-UK network services. Secondly, we will strengthen the services for each Nation.
Then comes a very big ‘but’:
But significant new investment in a broader range of programming, such as drama, comedy and entertainment, cannot be delivered within the current Budget agreement with the Government… funding these ambitions would require additional income. Continue reading British, Bold, Creative – for all of us in Wales?
Broadcasting for the Nations
Broadcasting for the nations – on the agenda at last
The First Minister’s letter to the BBC shows a new urgency on the plight of Welsh broadcasting. August 2015
The Welsh Government’s decision to go for broke by demanding an extra £30m from the BBC licence for broadcasting in Wales, is a matter for both relief and rejoicing. In the last decade it has been strangely reluctant to take up the issue of service deficiencies in Wales. In the face of the decline of the ITV service, unending cuts at BBC Wales and reductions in S4C funding it has been tepid in its responses to calls for action by both the Institute of Welsh Affairs and the National Assembly’s own committees. Continue reading Broadcasting for the Nations