Additional evidence following oral evidence

1)           What assessment have you made of the health of Welsh-language news journalism (Bangor University’s Ifan Morgan Jones has said that “because of public funding, Welsh-language journalism is enjoying something of a golden age”).

This tallies with other comments I've heard that public subsidies are insulating Welsh-language journalism from many of the challenges facing the media at large. Clearly, it is critical that appropriate safeguards are put in place to guarantee independence in any situation that involves public funding for the media, but there is no indication at all that the Welsh-language media's integrity has been compromised in any way by this funding. 

2)           Does Welsh language news journalism require any different support to English-language news journalism in Wales?

Speaking personally, I believe it is very important that Wales has a strong Welsh-language media, but the relatively small scale of the Welsh-language sector suggests that it would be more vulnerable to market fluctuations, were it not for some level of public support. While I am not saying the current funding strategy needs changing, I believe it would be healthy for this to be under regular review, looking at questions such as whether it would be more beneficial for a wider group of recipients to be given a smaller amount each, or whether a smaller number of larger grants is more productive.

3)           Do you publish any Welsh-language content in your publications?                 

                - If not, how could you be encouraged to do so?

The constituent parts of what is now Media Wales have traditionally been English-language publishers, and as such, the company is set up to publish predominantly in the English language. While there are pockets of Welsh-language editorial in our titles, these are generally submitted. We would potentially be interested in significantly enlarging our Welsh-language online content, but establishing a sustainable means of providing a meaningful Welsh-language would be expensive, and difficult to achieve in the face of the market pressures that the whole industry is currently facing. However, we do believe that the significant reach that WalesOnline possesses could be an asset in terms of connecting high quality Welsh-language journalism with a wider audience.