Category Archives: Media

Debating the BBC (and more!) in Wales

Blog, Industry, Media, Portfolio, PortfolioTelevision

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 →

Fear and Faith – Radio Wales

Portfolio, PortfolioRadio, Radio, Uncategorized

I was a guest on ‘All Things Considered’, going out on BBC Radio Wales on Sunday 13th March at 9am here. The topic was Fear.  Also in the discussion were Dr Richard Hain, a specialist in Paediatric Palliative Care; Shereen Williams, Director of the Henna Foundation and the Jesuit, Fr Roger Donovan, Director of St Beuno’s Ignatian Spirituality Centre. Continue reading Fear and Faith – Radio Wales →

ACS & DOCS Cardiff University

Portfolio, PortfolioTelevision, Teaching, Television

Another fascinating group of people on my workshop for academics about involvement in tv documentary on 1st March.

This three-hour session for Cardiff University Graduate College covers what an academic needs to know about how tv documentary gets developed, commissioned and made and how academics can contribute successfully and enjoyably. Universities commonly offer training in how to engage with news via sound-bites but seldom on what it means to be involved in long-form output or series.

The feedback was uniformly excellent.

Continue reading ACS & DOCS Cardiff University →

Small World: Coverage of International Issues WCIA

Blog, Dialogue, Portfolio, PortfolioPrint, Print

photo credit: Emyr Jenkins

On December 3rd the Welsh Centre for International Affairs hosted an excellent joint event with Cardiff University School of Journalism about reporting on international news stories. I was keen to hear from the panel  of very experienced journalists and it was indeed a treat to have them all in Cardiff for the evening as they certainly did give us entertaining and valuable insights into their field of expertise in both broadcasting and the press. See reports below from Maria Diaz and William Hayward.

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Continue reading Small World: Coverage of International Issues WCIA →

Gen Verde – On the Other Side

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All Things Considered Radio Wales – Gen Verde On the Other Side

Roy Jenkins interviews the members of the Gen Verde performance group who spent a week with pupils from two secondary schools in Torfaen preparing them for a concert at the Newport Centre on 12th November. Impressive contributions to the programme from the young people about this experience of seeing life from someone else’s point of view. It was a privilege to help organise this fantastic project.

GV10

The Wales Report – Broadcasting in Wales

Portfolio, PortfolioTelevision, Television

On the day of the IWA’s Cardiff Media Summit I fronted an analysis of the challenges facing broadcasting in Wales shown on The Wales Report BBC One Wales ahead of Huw Edwards’s interview with BBC Director of Strategy, James Purnell.

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Huw Edwards interviews James Purnell

BBC ‘committed’ to Welsh broadcasting     BBC News

IWA summit
IWA Cardiff Media Summit 11th November 2015

See article on IWA Audit and associated issues:

Analysis – IWA Wales Media Audit   BBC News

S4C ‘cycle of decline’ funding fear   BBC News

‘Lamentable’ lack of BBC Wales TV programmes in English   BBC News

 

What’s in it for Wales? Tony Hall’s new BBC

Blog, Industry, Portfolio, PortfolioTelevision, Television

“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.”

Lord Hall Continue reading What’s in it for Wales? Tony Hall’s new BBC →

Television from Small Nations – Internationalisation

Blog, Industry, Portfolio, PortfolioTelevision, Television

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.

Norskov_1

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

Blog, Industry, Media, PortfolioTelevision

IWA montage

“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 →