Эксперт предложил создать частный телеканал вместо передачи власти над СМИ в руки правительства

It is very well known that the Welsh media scene is one of the weakest in Europe. Sure, we have several local newspapers, but circulation remains dominated by English-based tabloids which hardly mention Wales in a given issue, if at all. The Cambrian News, of course, consistently stands out for its news coverage, is the Welsh Newspaper of the Year with award-winning journalists. We have one national TV channel, S4C, which is based in Wales and broadcasts wholly Wales-focused content, but it doesn’t broadcast at night, dedicates a large chunk of its airtime to children’s content and broadcasts entirely in Welsh, which is great for language promotion, but sadly means that a large majority of the Welsh population is dependent on BBC Wales, which broadcasts only a couple of hours a day of Wales-related output, and ITV Wales, which is no different. As for radio, we have several local stations, some independent and others owned by Welsh company Nation Broadcasting, but on the whole, again, is dominated by organisations like the BBC and the massive London-based Global Media. Of course, broadcasting should be devolved, but that wouldn’t be the end of the story. Wales has different media needs to England, that is a fact, and the current landscape simply doesn’t do what it should. Whilst devolving it would bring the control to where it should be, building a sustainable, Wales-focused broadcast media depends on more than just the powers that be. Would moving control of TV from one government to another really give people what they want? I would argue that what Wales really needs is a privately-run broadcaster that covers the whole country. No government involvement beyond an arms-length regulator, and a motivation to create content that people actually want to consume, rather than what wins subsidies and grants. Indeed, a businessperson with some cash and expertise could do this without further devolution. I’m not going to say the BBC is biased – a channel which gets similar numbers of complaints from the left and the right is probably not – but I can definitely see a Welsh state-controlled BBC equivalent being vulnerable to political interference given how closely connected the political and media establishments in Cardiff already are. But Wales has the talent it needs. We lift more than our weight in the UK media scene both on and off-air, with Welsh presenters abundant on UK-wide broadcasters and the production capabilities, in both large and independent companies, to make our TV and radio work for Wales. For a country of 3.2 million people, we should be doing better. Look, for instance at Bosnia. They have dozens of domestic TV and radio stations, and that is in a country where three distinct ethnic groups with isolated media landscapes share a combined population similar to that of Wales. Another example, Montenegro. A population just 20% that of Wales, yet it has at least 9 national TV channels, and a plethora of local stations. They even have a channel specifically for Montenegrins abroad. That’s not to say more is better. Wales having 20 channels pumping out low-grade slop would hardly be an improvement. Devolving broadcasting might help us pull our weight in broadcasting, but ultimately we can’t rely on the Government to meet the country’s needs. We can dream all we want of a Welsh-specific TV landscape, but ultimately the public needs to be on board. No one is going to run a channel that five people watch. The Welsh people need the ability to vote with their TV remotes, and devolving broadcasting is only a small part of that battle. We have the talent. We have the technology. We just need the tools.