Save Welsh TV!

The Guardian has the first of a two-part article today on the current state of Welsh broadcasting which points out that 'Wales is reaping the benefits of political decentralisation when the trend in UK media is moving in the opposite direction'. It couldn't be better timed, with the Chief Executive of ITV News speaking at an Institute of Welsh Affairs lunch in Cardiff today.

This has been a focus of the Assembly's Culture Committee since September. Before Easter we are due to have a joint session with the House of Commons Welsh Affairs Select Committee on the issue.

The Culture Committee enquiry has succeeded in putting pressure on the media regulator OFCOM to stand up for Welsh News services. It looks now like we will see a commitment by ITV for the next ten years to the continuation of Welsh news. It is hours of non-news programming which look in jeopardy.

I have been campaigning on this issue for a long time, through questions at the Culture Committee and interventions in the Assembly Chamber. OFCOM has suggested the idea of a Public Service Publisher if they do let ITV off their public service obligations. In October I suggested that first, we should campaign to protect ITV Wales' current hours, but if that fails, we should be looking for Wales to get its own Public Service Publisher.

People wanting to support the campaign should click on www.savewelshtv.co.uk.








(c) Leighton Andrews 2005. Material from this blog may be freely used, if attributed to www.leightonandrews.blogspot.com