iCambria - The Blog of Wales

Quoted from http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/mid/7245774.stm:
BBC NEWS | Wales | Mid Wales | Daily Welsh newspaper abandoned

Plans to publish the first daily newspaper in Welsh have been abandoned, it has been announced. The company behind Y Byd (The World) said a £200,000 annual grant for the next three years was “insufficient”. Dyddiol Cyf also criticised the assembly government for not meeting a commitment to expand its funding and support for Welsh-language press. In response, the assembly government said more than £1m will be invested in the sector over the next three years. Ned Thomas, chair of Dyddiol Cyf, said they were “firmly of the opinion” the assembly government was not fulfilling a pledge in the coalition One Wales document to back moves to expand the Welsh-language sector, and set up a daily paper in the language. Comment: By Chris Jones, Cambria Online So what now is the Assembly Government actually going to support in the print media sector? Or is the money just going to go back into central funds as usual or to be frittered away on supporting projects that nobody wants or understands. Or be given to grant chasing amateurs who only know how to fill in application forms which include all the correct buzzwords and press the right PC buttons. We have always endorsed and supported the concept of Dyddiol Cyf . Wales needs a Welsh language newspaper to help underpin its sense of national identity and to support the growth of the Welsh language. Wales also desperately needs an independent English language national newspaper to provide an alternative to the Trinity Mirror owned Western Mail. There is a view that maybe Dyddiol Cyf should never have relied on or sought support from the Assembly or its politicians - after all what are political promises worth in this day and age? History tells us that successful newspapers, magazines and publications have all arisen in the private sector paid for by advertising and by publishing content that people want to read and are willing to pay for. History also tells us that grants can be a ‘poisoned chalice’ especially when it is snatched away at the last minute or because of political expediency from the lips of the grant reliant addicted organisation. We point out again that Cambria has never had a single penny of grant aid or support from Assembly Government or its departments in our entire ten year history and we are still here. It would be nice to think that some of the advertising spend currently given to the Western Mail and its ilk were also spread around to Welsh print and new media publishers like ourselves.