Over at the Mabilogion blog Rob Williams has a good piece in response to Huw Lewis’s call for the Welsh Assembly Government to give grants to support welsh media and also more widely on the point of Assembly Members good intention but badly thought out ideas to shore up the welsh media.
On Huw Lewis’s speech he writes ‘The top story running today on the BBC website ‘Welsh Politics’ section, is the call by Assembly Member Huw Lewis for Government grants for Welsh newspapers to run or own TV channels. He must be delighted that such a half-thought-through suggestion is garnering such attention.
He continues ‘Too many AMs at the moment are running around recommending solutions for the Welsh media which won’t work. The two WAG reports we had last month, along with the Digital Britain report managed just a handful of decent suggestions between them. Too much time is being wasted on fanciful or just plain rubbish ideas. There needs to be some careful consideration of the way forward for the Welsh media. There has, for instance, been too little discussion of New Media solutions, with the focus being print and broadcast outlets. Undoubtedly the future of news media is online – but there has been little discussion of how to co-ordinate and develop this Brave New World in Wales.
The likes of Huw Lewis will have their moment in the sun with the issue of the Welsh Media and then will disappear back into the shadows when the problem gets complicated. The Welsh Assembly has apparently been asked for a formal response to his speech.
They needn’t bother.
Friday, July 24, 2009
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Quote of the Day
From BBC Wales Parliamentary Correspondent David Cornock asking Peter Hain about the electrification of the Swansea to London Railway line :-
‘This (electrification) is the sort of big eye catching project that unpopular Government’s announce before General Elections which they then loose and so don’t have to deliver?’
Well Said David, the news on the Railways is welcome but as the Wales Today report noted only Albania and Moldova besides Wales are the only European Countries who have no electric rail track, so it is a long overdue announcement and upgrade.
‘This (electrification) is the sort of big eye catching project that unpopular Government’s announce before General Elections which they then loose and so don’t have to deliver?’
Well Said David, the news on the Railways is welcome but as the Wales Today report noted only Albania and Moldova besides Wales are the only European Countries who have no electric rail track, so it is a long overdue announcement and upgrade.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
‘Britain survives despite seismic shocks of collapse of the Soviet Union and the fall of its empire’
I am currently reading David Melding’s book Will Britain survive beyond 2020? and I would recommend it if you have an interest in welsh politics or welsh history. There is much to debate and discuss in the book and I am only half way though, but I want to highlight the following.
David Melding makes the point that Britain as a political idea/entity has survived the fall of the British Empire which was part of the reason the Union was created and the collapse of the Soviet Union in the 1990’s which created/recreated small nations across Eastern Europe.
Both events were seismic and according to the book were seen by the UK Government as golden opportunities for Scottish and Welsh nationalism to break through and put a final nail in the coffin of the UK, but each time the threat as it was seen from Whitehall and 10 Downing Street was swiftly dealt with by various Governments ensuring nationalism's gains were reversed and the UK survived.
The point being made is that the UK is strong and won’t be broken easily and that nationalist’s still has a long way to go to achieve their aims. Some will disagree as there have been victories for nationalism over the years we have an Assembly in Wales and Scotland has a Parliament and the book’s author is a Conservative committed to ensuring the Union survives.
The thing that strikes me from reading this is the opportunities lost for both Plaid Cymru and the SNP and so the debate on this evidence about the future of the UK becomes one about the strength of nationalist current political strategies and whether they seize the moment if an opportunity like those mentioned above arrives again which is surely will at some point in the future or will they let it slip as they did in the past?
David Melding makes the point that Britain as a political idea/entity has survived the fall of the British Empire which was part of the reason the Union was created and the collapse of the Soviet Union in the 1990’s which created/recreated small nations across Eastern Europe.
Both events were seismic and according to the book were seen by the UK Government as golden opportunities for Scottish and Welsh nationalism to break through and put a final nail in the coffin of the UK, but each time the threat as it was seen from Whitehall and 10 Downing Street was swiftly dealt with by various Governments ensuring nationalism's gains were reversed and the UK survived.
The point being made is that the UK is strong and won’t be broken easily and that nationalist’s still has a long way to go to achieve their aims. Some will disagree as there have been victories for nationalism over the years we have an Assembly in Wales and Scotland has a Parliament and the book’s author is a Conservative committed to ensuring the Union survives.
The thing that strikes me from reading this is the opportunities lost for both Plaid Cymru and the SNP and so the debate on this evidence about the future of the UK becomes one about the strength of nationalist current political strategies and whether they seize the moment if an opportunity like those mentioned above arrives again which is surely will at some point in the future or will they let it slip as they did in the past?
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
After 12 years of Labour social mobility is still in retreat
It’s a damming if not predictable verdict of this Labour Government in today’s report on Unleashing Aspiration by a cross party group of MP’s and experts that despite its commitment to social justice and opportunities for all, billions of pounds spent on education reform and regeneration schemes in some of the most deprived parts of the UK that we remain a society with the best connected and best financed people still overwhelmingly in the top jobs.
It speaks volumes that the Second World War created more social mobility in the UK than both Conservative and Labour Governments of late ever did. That alone should be enough to embarrass the Government into action.
The reports states the four main areas identified for this lack of recruitment from a wider pool are firstly ‘opportunity-hoarding’ – the construction of barriers that restrict entry to some jobs, such as an increased emphasis on extra-curricular activity and softer skills. There is also evidence that selection and entry procedures – underpinned by cultural and attitudinal barriers – reinforce the existing social make-up of the professions.
Second, the employment structure of professions has changed. Over time, more and more professions have become graduate-only. This was not always the case in the past. During the UK’s first great wave of social mobility, for example, journalists might have worked their way up by starting out as a messenger on the local newspaper, lawyers through the article route, or accountants by starting out as book-keepers. Such opportunities have diminished in recent decades. Rising regulatory and accountability demands have probably exacerbated this problem.
Third, although vocational training routes have been expanded, progression rates into the professions are low. Only 0.2% of Apprenticeship learners progressed to further or higher education in 2007/08, and few directly into the professions, suggesting that there is a major silo problem in our education and training system.6
Fourth, patterns of structural change that have affected the UK economy have resulted in more professional and managerial jobs being concentrated in London and the South East. This has reduced the opportunities for young people from outside these regions to get a first foot on the professional career ladder.
The call from Alun Milburn a former Labour Minister for social exclusion to be the overarching theme of this and future government is hollow because this was all the talk back in 1997 when Labour was elected and they failed to deliver on it.
Has this Government got the energy or the will to take these recommendations on board and can we expect an incoming Conservative Government to put social exclusion at the top of the agenda and address these issues or will the decline in opportunities continue at the expense of us an future generations?
UPDATE this post from Adam Smith blog on yesterday's report makes similar points and and talks about the UK adopting the Swedish type education system.
It speaks volumes that the Second World War created more social mobility in the UK than both Conservative and Labour Governments of late ever did. That alone should be enough to embarrass the Government into action.
The reports states the four main areas identified for this lack of recruitment from a wider pool are firstly ‘opportunity-hoarding’ – the construction of barriers that restrict entry to some jobs, such as an increased emphasis on extra-curricular activity and softer skills. There is also evidence that selection and entry procedures – underpinned by cultural and attitudinal barriers – reinforce the existing social make-up of the professions.
Second, the employment structure of professions has changed. Over time, more and more professions have become graduate-only. This was not always the case in the past. During the UK’s first great wave of social mobility, for example, journalists might have worked their way up by starting out as a messenger on the local newspaper, lawyers through the article route, or accountants by starting out as book-keepers. Such opportunities have diminished in recent decades. Rising regulatory and accountability demands have probably exacerbated this problem.
Third, although vocational training routes have been expanded, progression rates into the professions are low. Only 0.2% of Apprenticeship learners progressed to further or higher education in 2007/08, and few directly into the professions, suggesting that there is a major silo problem in our education and training system.6
Fourth, patterns of structural change that have affected the UK economy have resulted in more professional and managerial jobs being concentrated in London and the South East. This has reduced the opportunities for young people from outside these regions to get a first foot on the professional career ladder.
The call from Alun Milburn a former Labour Minister for social exclusion to be the overarching theme of this and future government is hollow because this was all the talk back in 1997 when Labour was elected and they failed to deliver on it.
Has this Government got the energy or the will to take these recommendations on board and can we expect an incoming Conservative Government to put social exclusion at the top of the agenda and address these issues or will the decline in opportunities continue at the expense of us an future generations?
UPDATE this post from Adam Smith blog on yesterday's report makes similar points and and talks about the UK adopting the Swedish type education system.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
New ideas for the media to keep news, current affairs and politics but no mention of Wales
As Lee Waters over at the Bevan Foundation blog noted BBC is cutting its live coverage of Welsh Politics in favour of more commercial activities to raise money on S4C2. It’s the latest bad news following ITV decision to cuts funding and adding more to the ever shrinking welsh media at a time when more scrutiny in needed.
In this climate any new ideas on broadcasting can be maintained should be looked at and Roger Parry the media entrepreneur whose report has written a report for the Conservatives on low cost local regional TV, the sort they have in the USA. It’s an attempt to clip the BBC’s wings in terms of local delivery and get ITV off the hook in terms of providing news, current affairs and political coverage in the regions, the only drawback is there is no reference to Wales in the report . It talks of the 81 city based stations covering four fifths of the UK, the final fifth is of course Wales. If even the media magnets think Wales is a lost cause then what hope is there for the future of broadcasting in Wales.
Back to the proposals reported last week by Roger Parry that a future Conservative Government would replace regional news bulletins with 81 city based TV Stations covering news, current affairs and politics as well as cooking and gardening programmes. The report is a response to the Government proposals in Digital Britain to top slice the BBC licence fee and giving it to ITV to make up for the shortfall in advertising revenue they are suffering, it hasn’t gone down all that well and according to Tory Culture Spokesman Jeremy Hunt he says it would prop up an outdated model of broadcasting into the 21 Century.
The battle lines for the future of the UK Media have been drawn but the outlook for Wales’s broadcasters now and in the future is grim indeed.
In this climate any new ideas on broadcasting can be maintained should be looked at and Roger Parry the media entrepreneur whose report has written a report for the Conservatives on low cost local regional TV, the sort they have in the USA. It’s an attempt to clip the BBC’s wings in terms of local delivery and get ITV off the hook in terms of providing news, current affairs and political coverage in the regions, the only drawback is there is no reference to Wales in the report . It talks of the 81 city based stations covering four fifths of the UK, the final fifth is of course Wales. If even the media magnets think Wales is a lost cause then what hope is there for the future of broadcasting in Wales.
Back to the proposals reported last week by Roger Parry that a future Conservative Government would replace regional news bulletins with 81 city based TV Stations covering news, current affairs and politics as well as cooking and gardening programmes. The report is a response to the Government proposals in Digital Britain to top slice the BBC licence fee and giving it to ITV to make up for the shortfall in advertising revenue they are suffering, it hasn’t gone down all that well and according to Tory Culture Spokesman Jeremy Hunt he says it would prop up an outdated model of broadcasting into the 21 Century.
The battle lines for the future of the UK Media have been drawn but the outlook for Wales’s broadcasters now and in the future is grim indeed.
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