The Idea for this Welsh Language Newspaper first made light of day in 2004, the none too inspired product of the mind of ''Old Media Hack'' Ned Thomas. Ned a former London Times Journalist popped up in Wales around 1969 and was soon running the ''Intellectual'' journal Planet aka the Welsh Internationalist. Sounds good, maybe influential amongst the Anglo - Welsh Chattering classes but successful? Well maybe we could judge that by it's sale figures, profit and loss as no meaning here as Planet as most Welsh Journals and Magazines for the most part are grant funded. I have no idea how much Planet or any other regular publication gets in grants be they in the English language or Cymraeg, and I have no time to find out but I dare say the information is out there? As for Y BYD, I have had sent to me a pile of news cuttings regards what some see as a ''Bad Business'' in the Assembly only handing out £600.000 over a three year period for a Welsh Language Newspaper. Further, that this grant by the Welsh Assemly has not been handed out to Y BYD Consortium but put out to tender, quite right too! .
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However, whilst I am in favour of a Welsh Language Daily Newspaper, I am like many others not convinced such will succeed. Over the years I have become aware how few 'Cymraeg Speakers' regularly buy Y Cymro or Golwg, let alone Barn or Y Faner. I just somehow have in mind, that if Ned Thomas is behind Y BYD it will end up as a 'Cymraeg' version of The Independent or Guardian, that would hardly guarentee the sale of 1000's of copies daily. However, those who propose such a paper say it will be more as a popular Tabloid but Dylan Iorwerth tried that with SULYN, a popularist Sunday Newspaper and that failed. Since this noble experiment Dylan Iorwerth has had his feet firmly planted in grant funded Golwg, which I believe sells up to 3.ooo copies weekly? Interestingly Dylan Iorwerth and others involved in Welsh Language publishing are not too pleased with Idea of Y BYD, they being concerned that it will rob existing publications of advertizing revenue. Now I am not going to bore you with matters appertaining to markets and advertizing and marketing, as I guess most will know that few Daily Papers or popular magazines survive on just cover price. No! it's the advertizing that counts, big time. So who would advertize 'Yn Cymraeg' in Y BYD, after all most of the adverts in Y Cymro are in English or otherwise are placed 'Yn Cymraeg' by other grant funded 'Cymraeg Bodies'. So just work it out for yourselves, £600.ooo over three years, will that do it? No, I think not and as with the NBG and WMC they would be back for more, year after year after year? or collapse like Celtica did. Not very good examples really, being these experiments with tax payers money are not publications but I am sure you get the point.
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All the above aside, I am anyway against Y BYD or any Welsh 0r English Language Newspaper getting a grant at all after all it seems to work against the whole spirit of having a Free Press. Keep in mind ''He who pays the Piper calls the Tune'', thus I can only see such as Y BYD ending up as a mouth piece of the Welsh Assembly. I have no doubt that it would not be an investigative Newspaper fearing to bite the hand that feeds it. Right now, I feel Wales could do with a Lol, Rebecca or Black Sheep more than another publication for Y Crachach and the chattering classes. However, that need not be the end of the matter, why not merge Barn, Golwg with Y Cymro which by the way suprisingly gets grant funding. I say suprising as it's part of a major publishing group, Tindle Media (See Info Link below). Whatever, already Y Cymro is a tabloid and with an well tested distribution means, it could have the brief to produce the popular journalism which it already does, Golwg supply the Celebrity/Cultural interest stuff and Barn the Political/Intellectual stuff. This I feel would make an all round well formed potentially successful daily paper, then one and all who speak or are learning 'Cymraeg' must get out and buy it every day. Plus if needs be, enthuiasts must get out on the street and sell it as many evening papers are sold from little stands. Thinking Grants all the time just means really you do not believe in your cause very much does it? Of course, this is not likly to happen is it, as each of the existing 'Cymraeg' publications now guards their own little patch. They are detirmined, it seemsto ward of potential Grant Grabbers stealing away their annual subsidised funding and advertising revenue. Alternatively, let the Western Mail and Daily Post jointly produce a 'Cymraeg' supplement, finnanced by advertizing and grants, just accepting it will be like the rest of our media, under some ones control and not needs be in any national or public interest. Perhaps the simplest answer would be just hand all the money over to Y Cymro and turn that into a Daily Newspaper, of all 'Cymraeg' publications this is the one I have regularly bought and am capable of having a go at reading depite my 'Cymraeg' being crap! It's generally short and popularist material does prompt my curiosity, and of course once upon a time it used to contain much of Nationalist interest, not so much now though post Tindle take over.
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The problem is, Y Cymro, Daily Post and Western Mail solutions would put the paper into clutches of foreign owned media which have their own hidden agendas, for all these papers are owned from across the Border. this brings me to say, that the main call and campaign in Wales should be for a Free Press, and perhaps what is needed is for 'Free Press Enthusiasts' to get together and work towards publishing a truelly Independent Newspaper for Cymru/Wales. This brings to mind SEREN (see Info Link below), an on line radical journal which maybe could be basis for such a development, myself would rather go down the road of supporting such direction than an Assembly grant funded ''moderate mouthpiece'' which I foresee a Welsh Language Newspaper prone to consideration of providers of grants and advertisers, most of whom would be more grant funded and generally ''Crachach'' controlled bodies. Anyway, it's back to the drawing board for Y BYD, as it now as to put in a bid in competition with others. It will be interesting to see what will be the outcome. Myself, despite being concerned on a number of issues, have one good thing to say in favour of Y BYD, at least they would be based in Machynlleth. For further information on all to do with Y BYD, I suggest you do your own Google Search as a great deal will come up.
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When I have more time, I will look more into the matter of Welsh Publications in 'Cymraeg' and English but suffice to say for now, it will be interesting to know if audits are ever done. After all most of these publications are funded by tax payers whom deserve to know where their money is going and if it is well spent. I really cannot see how English Language Welsh, usually arts journals as Planet, Poetry Wales and New Wales Review need to be grant funded. These minority interest publications, usually printed in top quality expensive fashion, could really be self printed by means of their enthusiasts running a Desk Top Printing Operation. Then their enthusiasts could go out and sell their publication on the streets as do Big Issue sellers, and why not? No, I am not winding anyone up. If Wales is to be Independent one day, we are going to have to budget for priorities as regards Education, Health and Welfare. Nevermind all this pandering to the so called ''Welsh Intelligentsia'', we got to look after our mams and their babies, Young Children, Youth and our Senior Citizens. Regards a number of English Language arts publications, do we really need all these produced seperatly with seperate grant funding. Why not merge them and produce one A4 size popular Arts Magazine, note that an excellent events magazine in the South 'BUZZ' seems to manage pretty well without grants, as does the Welsh English language publication phenonema 'CAMBRIA'.
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Cambria brain child of Nationalist Publisher Henry Jones Davies of Nant Caredig, ystrad Tywi launced CAMBRIA 10 years ago. An Independent publication with no grant funding, as successfully sustained development by means of the founders own finnancial belief, loans off enthusiasts and by going out there and getting the advertizing. The spirit that has driven HJD is perhaps best summed up in reference to his beliefs on matter of much, including Post Devolution Wales. See following link: Blog Vaughan Roderick Fe wnaeth Henry Jones-Davies hynny yn y ffordd hen ffasiwn trwy fentro ... Mae Henry Jones-Davies wedi taro'r hoelan ar ein phen yn ei linell gyntaf or ...www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/vaughanroderick/2007/04/henry_jonesdavies_yn_taranu.html - 26k - Cached - Similar pages.
I have no doubt that the success of Cambria is down to not getting grants but is fuelled by much enthusiasm and excellent marketing itself at home and abroad effectivelly, not least amongst the exile community. This is an achievement that needs to be noted that up to the advent of CAMBRIA, all efforts to publish and Independent English Language Magazine for Wales have failed. There is of course the long standing Country Quest of the Cambrian News, and in recent years an almost similar Magazine calling itself 'Welsh Country Living' has been published but it's CAMBRIA which really stands out as a Welsh print and publishing phenonema to be recognised as achieving most from ground zero to it's now towering success story.
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Myself have no time for it's promotion of ''Tartan Taffery'' and it's courting of the Assembly of Appeasement with associations to that ''Message of Treachery'', which I mention in previous posts. However, I must recognise CAMBRIA's achievements and depite my moans about Dewi Day parading recognise, that much in this direction is due to CAMBRIA, not least it's promotion of Dydd Dewi. As I said elsewhere in previous post, I am not for throwing the baby out with the bathwater. We are better off in Wales with CAMBRIA Magazine than without it, although I am a little weary that it may have an ''Hidden Agenda'' I might not be sympathetic to? Whatever, my own 'Adfywiadwr Gwladgarol' politics aside, congratulations to HJD for proving that Wales can do something with out grant funding, all should pay attention to that fact. HJD is no longer editor of CAMBRIA, this function has now been taken on by his wife Francis Jones Davies. thePeerage.com - Person Page 19593 Henry Ellis Jones-Davies is the son of Colonel T. E. Jones-Davies.2 He married Frances Dorothy Buxton, daughter of Sir Jocelyn Charles Roden Buxton, ...www.thepeerage.com/p19593.htm - 21k - Cached - Similar pages
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Tindle It also owns 14 UK radio stations. ... Bridgend & District Recorder; Bromley Borough News; Cambrian News ... 1950 buys Tooting & Balham News for £250 ...www.ketupa.net/tindle.htm - 17k - Cached - Similar pages
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North Wales Daily Post - Media UKInformation about North Wales Daily Post, the UK newspaper, including address and contact details.www.mediauk.com/newspapers/41993/north-wales-daily-post - 17k - Cached - Similar pages
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Western Mail - Media UK Information about Western Mail, the UK newspaper, including address and contact details.www.mediauk.com/newspapers/13876/western-mail - 17k - Cached - Similar pages
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seren Socialist Environmental Republican News from Wales.seren.blogspirit.com/ - 27k - Cached - Similar pages
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seren Socialist Environmental Republican News from Wales.seren.blogspirit.com/ - 27k - Cached - Similar pages
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The Morning Star Welsh CPB - for socialism, for communism. ... "The Morning Star is a lone voice reporting on issues that directly involve the working class ...welshcommunists.co.uk/star.htm - 23k - Cached - Similar pages
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Indycymru, seems to have all fallen apart, suggest you search web from time time in case it comes back on line one day?
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Hwyl!
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Gethin.
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