Independent media commission needed to safeguard plurality in Welsh public service broadcasting
A publicly-funded independent commission is the only way to safeguard plurality in public service broadcasting in Wales.
That’s the view formed by the National Assembly for Wales’ Communities & Culture Committee after a five month inquiry.
The body should be jointly created by the Welsh and UK governments and take over the role of Ofcom’s advisory panel in Wales and provide a fund for commissioning news and non-news programmes from independent producers in Wales.
Members recommend that the £25 million commissioning fund should be met through a mixture of a levy on non PSB providers, lottery funding and public money from the Welsh and UK governments.
The new body would be responsible for commissioning news and non-news programming initially for transmission on ITV Wales and eventually for commissioning further content for other services and media.
“We have seen Welsh programming being slashed on ITV Wales in recent years,” said committee chair, Janice Gregory AM.
“But plurality in English and Welsh medium broadcasting is essential for the future of the democratic process and indeed devolution in Wales. The situation in Wales is now critical for ITV and plurality, particularly with the recent announcement of the departure of the widely respected managing director of ITV Wales, Elis Owen.
His departure means that for first time ever Wales has ceased to be regarded as a separate entity in terms of channel 3 broadcasting and is now part of a super region that includes Granada and Central.
The committee feels that an independent body, charged with commissioning programmes from independent producers to broadcast on ITV, is the only way to safeguard that tradition of plurality in Welsh broadcasting.”
The other main recommendations of the report are that:-
the Welsh Assembly Government works with broadcasters and independent producers to work with the BBC in developing a creative media hub in Cardiff.
That the Welsh Assembly Government urges the UK Government to review the Broadcasting Act to create a single commercial licence for Wales.
That Welsh Minsters, in conjunction with Ofcom, review the possibility of devolving the allocation of community radio licences in Wales.