Anyone who has even a passing interest in Welsh politics will have come across the complaint about “a weak Welsh media” (in the English language) at least a couple of times.
The complaints range from a basic lack of coverage of Welsh current affairs (usually aimed at the UK media), coverage of the wrong things, disregarding the realities of devolution or coverage that doesn’t go into enough depth or doesn’t challenge enough. It’s a broken record.
I looked at the media and the implications of independence (and devolution) in 2019. It seems every four-to-six months or so “the state of the Welsh media” rises to the top of the agenda briefly before sinking back down.
Instead of fully re-writing it, it’s worth reviewing how things have changed (or not) since then – and there have been some significant developments in the last three years or so that have been cause for both optimism and pessimism; it depends on how you want to interpret it.
In November 2022, a report produced in partnership between the Institute of Welsh Affairs and Open University was published on the current state of public service journalism in Wales (pdf).
The difference between this report and the countless other reports produced on this topic over the last decade or more is that a 15-member citizens’ panel shaped the agenda.
The two organisations deliberately chose to over-represent groups that are traditionally under-represented in these kinds of engagement programmes (for example, just under 19% of the final panel were from backgrounds other than white).
They didn’t hit all of their targets. People with degree-level qualifications were over-represented on the final panel compared to the target, as did the number of people from South Wales Central (Cardiff & Glamorgan Valleys). Meanwhile, Welsh speakers and males ended up under-represented despite a high response rate.
Here’s a summary of their thoughts:
To be completely frank there’s nothing in this report that we haven’t heard before – which is a shame, but also underlines that these concerns aren’t restricted to the political bubble.
Senedd committees have been told the same things consistently for a decade or more. The findings were also similar to points raised during countless Senedd debates, in the State of Wales 2019 media series and by commentators elsewhere. The issue isn’t that we don’t know what the problems or weaknesses are.
In the end, the recommendations can be summarised like this:
Again, frustratingly, there’s very little that hasn’t already been brought up over the last several years. If the panel were brought back together in three or four years time, they’ll probably end up saying the same things.
As a piece of work, the report – although using a novel method to garner views – is another report in a long list of reports repeating the same conclusions, perhaps in hope (desperation, even) that someone somewhere will do something.
The most interesting recommendation out of all of them is the, somewhat throwaway, line about creating a “trust rating” for news sources in Wales. How that would work in practice could lead to all sorts of arguments.
As for what is happening or has happened – it’s a mixed picture, but it’s not entirely bad news.
