04 Informed


Te State of Media in Wales


David Nicholson, NUJ Welsh Executive Council co-chair, looks ahead to the union’s national conference in Cardiff on 19 September. Former broadcaster and First Minister


of Wales Rhun ap Iorwerth will give the keynote opening address at the NUJ’s major conference on the future of Welsh media, democracy and public interest journalism. Te conference will take place at


Cardiff’s Sophia Gardens on September 19 covering both broadcasting and publishing. Te First Minister is still a proud member of the NUJ, and is passionate about journalism and the power it has to help shape a nation’s future and culture. We have asked ap Iorwerth to flesh out


his government’s recent commitment to strengthen public interest journalism as one of its key priorities. Te First Minister has also been asked


to consider if there is a natural synergy between the Devolved Broadcasting Authority that the new Welsh government is commited to and a Wales Media Institute that the NUJ and the industry proposed in its July 2023 report, Of and for Wales: towards a sustainable future for public interest journalism. Tickets are going fast for the


media in wales:


conference but there are still a few leſt for members to atend this important discussion about the industry in Wales. Professor Stephen Cushion from Cardiff


University has been scrutinising how the media performed in May’s Senedd election, and his team will set out their analysis and thoughts to the conference as a precursor to the panel discussions on broadcasting and publishing. Devolved broadcasting will be on the agenda – as will the key question of whether this would be helpful for Wales, or whether it so complicated to unpick that it might be a non-starter. Funding bodies like Creative Wales and the Books Council of Wales will talk about the difficulties in funding the sector and what needs to be done to improve that, along with Planet editor Emily Trahair. Te main industry players, including BBC Wales, ITV Wales, S4C, Reach, Golwg, local radio stations, Will Hayward, and Caerphilly Observer will take part in the conference. Te BBC will talk about Charter Renewal and what this means for Wales, along


Industrial action at Te Lancet


NUJ members at Te Lancet have overwhelmingly voted in favour of industrial action as part of their long-running pay dispute with management. Te ballot results from 4 September show 94.5% supported strike action and


97.8% supported action short of a strike on a turnout of 87.5%. Te NUJ served notice to the company that members will engage in both forms of action later this month. Te NUJ Lancet chapel rejected the company’s pay offer following extensive


CONFERENCE 19.9.26 The state of


with the impact of the proposed 10- 15% jobs cuts to the corporation’s news journalists. Te takeover of ITV by Sky, and how this may impact on the Welsh news and current affairs provided by ITV Wales, will also be discussed. Filling the news deserts of Wales will


form part of the discussion. Te Local Democracy Reporter (LDR) scheme is excellent but it breaks down when there is no local paper to carry the reporter’s stories. Tat means, for example, that the BBC LDR covers Neath Port Talbot council business, but the local community in Port Talbot never see the reports because of its lack of a newspaper. Can the BBC be persuaded to make Local Democracy Reporter (LDR) council reports available to the public in Wales? Tere are many small ways in which the


fragile flower of public interest journalism can be nurtured in Wales and the conference will discuss any solution, big or small, that can improve what we offer the public in Wales. ACTION: Book your place. Space is limited and tickets are going fast.


negotiations. Staff have absorbed rising workloads, increasing expectations and sustained inflation. Tis has led to a reduction of the real-terms value of their salaries, leaving many employees significantly worse off than they were five years ago despite their growing experience, expertise, and responsibilities.


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