By Andy Pearson
Wales could be left without a daily national newspaper according to evidence given to a group of AMs.
Members of the task and finish group were listening to evidence into the future outlook for the media in Wales, on 17 November 2011.
According to the National Union of Journalists, the Welsh media is in a state of severe crisis.
Martin Shipton from the NUJ expressed his fears that Trinity Mirror, a UK newspaper publisher that has ownership of Media Wales is “seeking to sell the Western Mail as a weekly newspaper”.
Mr Shipton said: “Wales will then be the only country in Europe without a national newspaper.
“The National Assembly and the Welsh Government should use their good resources to make sure that this doesn’t happen and getting Trinity Mirror out of the picture.”
He added: “My fear, based on what has happened in the past, is that we’re likely to be faced with an announcement out of the blue that this will happen.”
Meic Birtwhiste from the NUJ also called for Chief Executive of Trinity Mirror Sly Bailey to be held accountable and urged the committee to take evidence from the company.
Dr Andy Williams from the Cardiff School of Journalism agreed that Trinity Mirror “had been making pots of money but hasn’t been reinvesting it into the newsroom”.
They also listened to evidence from the digital media company Cube Interactive, the online newspaper Golwg 360 and the Global Academy Innovation Programme.
The future of Wales’ newspapers and TV news provision is under the microscope as never before.
With recessionary times, centralised corporate structures and the internet posing great challenges for regional and local news services, it’s encouraging to see AMs taking a genuine interest.
With diminishing workforces and falling circulations, local papers are under threat. Some have gone already.
Down
Funding for the BBC and S4C is heading down. Independent broadcasters are finding life ever tougher.
Yet there remains hope for the future, not least because there’s a hunger for local news.
So take a look at this Welsh Government video – click.
Possibility
Its points include the possibility that Wales could be left without a daily national newspaper.
Anybody with an interest in the Welsh media, PR or other creative industries will find some of the revelations incredible.
Tags: Cardiff, local news, PR, PR agency, Swansea, Wales, Welsh Government
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