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Nation.Cymru
File:Nation Cymru homepage.jpg
Type of site
News service
OwnerMark Mansfield (CEO)
EditorIfan Morgan Jones
URLnation.cymru
CommercialNo
Launched2017
Current statusActive

Nation.Cymru (transl. Nation.Wales) is a Welsh news service established in 2017.[2]

History

The website was established by Bangor University journalism lecturer Ifan Morgan Jones in response to the decline of the Welsh commercial media sector,[2] following cuts at stations run by Global Media Group and Nation Radio, as well as criticisms addressed at BBC Cymru Wales.[2] The website published its first article on 26 May 2017.[3]

Jones was previously editor of the Golwg360 news website, as well as being a member of the Welsh Assembly's News and Digital Information Taskforce in 2017 and giving evidence to the Assembly’s Culture, Welsh Language and Communications Committee.[4]

The website aims to close the Welsh 'democratic deficit', specifically targeting the absence of a national, Welsh-based, English language news service. Welsh language readers are currently only served by Golwg360 and S4C's content ("preaching to the converted – the Welsh-speaking middle class" according to Jones),[2] while English language readers are "underserved" by the BBC who are headquartered in London, and the limitations of Western Mail (which only runs as a semi-national daily newspaper).

London School of Economics (LSE) researcher Samuel Parry cited the website when they attributed the "major stumbling block for Welsh Independence" to the absence of an indigenous media in the country. Writing for the LSE BREXIT blog, Parry cites the inception of Nation.Cymru and similar outlet Desolation Radio as seeking to stem that problem.[5]

Some in the Welsh media have pointed to the success of the media in Scotland, where 12 newspapers are written and published exclusively in the country, and where there are 24 total papers some of whom are national newspapers with Scottish-made editions, but in rebutting this Jones contends that "Wales is not Scotland".[2]

Coverage in national media

The website has published a range of articles which have led to wider debate in other national media sources, some of which are covered below.

Iron Ring debate

Nation.Cymru drew attention in July 2017 when an article by Jones[6] was featured by WalesOnline and the Western Mail, in which Jones criticises the £395,000 proposed iron ring sculpture at Flint Castle[7] as being a tribute to "the fearsome castles built by Edward I in an enormous military and building effort to assert dominance over the uprising Welsh."[7] 77% of respondents to a WalesOnline poll agreed with Jones' piece that the Iron Ring was a "symbol of oppression" rather than a merely "a part of Welsh history".[7] The sculpture was eventually put on hold by Cadw as a result of an intervention by the Welsh Government cabinet secretary for economy and infrastructure Ken Skates.[8]

National Assembly salaries

The website led with a piece by political commentator and devolution advocate Daran Hill of Positif Politics, criticising the increasing average cost of National Assembly employees, citing a rise of £44,000 per employee and an increase of 90% between 2007 and 2017.[9] The article was again picked up nationally by the Western Mail, and led to a response by a National Assembly spokeswoman, who said in part that "while the number of AMs has stayed the same their responsibilities have grown and the Commission has increased its staffing levels proportionately, to ensure that the support provided to AMs continues to adapt to meet the Assembly’s needs."[9]

Contribution to the Assembly Independent Review of Support for Publishing and Literature in Wales

In October 2017, the website was cited in the Senedd as part of the Welsh Government's Independent Review of Support for Publishing and Literature in Wales.[10] The panel was investigating concerns regarding funding for the Arts Council of Wales after controversy regarding the review of Eric Ngalle's novel I, Eric Ngalle.[10] In the Independent Review, the panel discussed Swansea University critic Jasmine Donahaye's piece on Nation arguing that the critical review of the novel by Jim Perrin in the Wales Arts Review was problematic for telling "us more about the reviewer than about the book under review" and that the Wales Arts Council funded bodies should "make room for different voices and experiences that are challenging to established values, and to establishment norms."[11]

Neil McEvoy

The website contributed to the national discussion of Plaid AM Neil McEvoy's increased tensions with his party, including the investigation which saw him suspended from the Party[12] as well as publishing opinion pieces from McEvoy's perspective. He currently remains excluded from the Party after a panel into his membership had returned an inconclusive result, and McEvoy's decision as a result to drop his appeal.[12]

A Nation article written by McEvoy was widely reported by the BBC.[13] On the website, McEvoy argued in support for UKIP AM Gareth Bennett after the latter had been banned from speaking in the Assembly. Bennett's ban came after Assembly presiding officer Elin Jones describing his comments in the Senedd as "quite offensive" regarding transgender rights. McEvoy however said it highlighted the need for "diversity of thinking", which he felt was not present in the Assembly.[13] The BBC also described McEvoy as having "railed against the authoritarian left and criticised gender quotas for the assembly" in the article.[13]

Second Severn Crossing naming controversy

The website contributed to discussion around the re-naming of the Second Severn Crossing as the Prince of Wales Bridge when it commissioned a YouGov poll into support for the change.[14] The website found twice as many people oppose renaming the bridge as support it, with a total of 34% in some way against the name change, and 17% in some way in favour.[14] 47% had no strong feelings either way.[14] Western Mail political Chief Reporter Martin Shipton picked up the poll in his column, and asked the Wales Office for comment, however the Secretary for State did not provide a response.[14]

Institute of Welsh Affairs Decarbonising Transport report

An article written by North Wales AM Llŷr Huws Gruffydd[15] was cited by the Institute of Welsh Affairs as part of a report into Decarbonising Transport, providing "a more contemporary, and political view of bus deregulation in North Wales".[16]

'Radioactive' mud dumping scandal

The website was cited nationally when it ran successive articles in August 2018 on the issue of "300,000 tonnes of mud" which was proposed to be dumped onto the River Severn, by EDF Energy from its Hinkley Point nuclear power plant. The article, entitled "What you can do to stop the dumping", was written by Neil McEvoy AM and was critical of Natural Resources Wales for taking only "five samples of mud taken from below 5cm back in 2009", as well as the agency's subsequent decision to then destroy those samples. McEvoy however praised the likes of Super Furry Animals keyboardist Cian Ciaran for their activist work. The views expressed in the article were re-published in the South Wales Argus and other newspapers.[17]

Crowdfunding

In early 2017, the service established a crowdfunding round on GoFundMe, securing £5,305 in donations for the goal of "setting up a community-driven national news website, run and contributed to by volunteers, and with any money made invested back in the website.[18]

The website states it is apolitical and will not support any particular candidate. It however rejects "the toxic politics of the far-right".[3] Supporters of the service however include Plaid Cymru's Mark Hooper, who says it serves as an opportunity for "Welsh news for Welsh readers",[19] as opposed to "the most read newspapers here in Wales, which are all controlled from the British capital, London, and the BBC, and they have very little Welsh content."[19]

Coverage

See also: Media of Wales

The site aims to provide frequent (but not 24/7) non commercial coverage of a range of subjects which tackle their "central question: How can we become a better nation?"[3]

The website's coverage has been generally praised as balanced, with Welsh political blogger Jac o' the North (Real name Royston Jones, a prominent figure in the Free Wales Army) initially praising the site for "one of the best political analyses I have read for a long, long time."[20] However, two years in the website has divided some, with previous supporter Jac now describing the news service as turning into "a mouthpiece for Plaid Cymru".[21]. In February 2020, investigative journalist Phil Parry, editor of rival news outlet The Eye Wales published several articles exposing how the website is funded via taxpayers’ money through the Books Council of Wales (BCW), and its close links to Welsh nationalist party Plaid Cymru [22] [23] [24].

The website's work has been cited in a range of forums, including in the National Assembly for Wales during an Independent Review into the Arts, in the Institute of Welsh Affairs report into Decarbonising Transport,[16] in pieces by Wales Online and the Western Mail, as well as on the BBC.

See also

References

  1. ^ "leftfootforward.org Traffic Statistics". Alexa. Retrieved 6 September 2019.
  2. ^ a b c d e "An Independent Wales in the European Union". An Independent Wales in the European Union. Retrieved 2019-09-06.
  3. ^ a b c "Welcome to Nation.Cymru". Nation.Cymru. 2017-05-26. Retrieved 2019-09-06.
  4. ^ "Ifan Morgan Jones". The Conversation. Retrieved 2019-09-06.
  5. ^ Parry, Samuel (23 March 2017). "Yes Cymru: the debate on Welsh independence has begun for good". LSE BREXIT. Retrieved 6 September 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  6. ^ Morgan Jones, Ifan (24 July 2017). "Wales looks forward – this Iron Ring shouldn't shackle us to the past". Nation.Cymru. Retrieved 6 September 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  7. ^ a b c Hughes, Marcus (25 July 2017). "More than 5,000 people sign petition opposing Iron Ring sculpture planned for Welsh castle". WalesOnline. Retrieved 6 September 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  8. ^ Fulcher, Merlin (27 July 2017). "Welsh government slams brakes on 'insulting' Iron Ring landmark". Architects' Journal. Retrieved 6 September 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  9. ^ a b Shipton, Martin (11 August 2017). "Average cost of National Assembly employee rises to more than £44k". The Western Mail. Retrieved 6 September 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  10. ^ a b George, Steve (4 October 2017). "Agenda: Culture Welsh Language and Communications Committee" (PDF). National Assembly for Wales. Retrieved 6 September 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  11. ^ Donahaye, Jasmine (11 July 2019). "What's in a review? Eric Ngalle, Jim Perrin and the Wales Arts Review". Nation.Cymru. Retrieved 6 September 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  12. ^ a b "Neil McEvoy feared five year exclusion from Plaid Cymru". BBC News. 11 July 2019. Retrieved 13 September 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  13. ^ a b c Deans, David (6 September 2019). "Who is former Plaid Cymru AM Neil McEvoy?". BBC News. Retrieved 6 September 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  14. ^ a b c d Shipton, Martin (4 May 2018). "Pollsters debunk Alun Cairns' claim that a silent majority supports naming the Severn bridge after Prince Charles". The Western Mail. Retrieved 6 September 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  15. ^ Huws Gruffydd, Llŷr (13 April 2018). "The people of Wales would love to do without their cars – but where are the buses?". Nation.Cymru. Retrieved 6 September 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  16. ^ a b Roberts, Chris (1 June 2018). "IWA: Re-energising Wales. Decarbonising Transport in Wales" (PDF). Institute of Welsh Affairs. Archived (PDF) from the original on 6 September 2019. Retrieved 6 September 2019.
  17. ^ "Concerns over 'radioactive' mud dumping plans". South Wales Argus. 22 August 2018. Retrieved 6 September 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  18. ^ Parry, Samuel (23 March 2017). "Yes Cymru: the debate on Welsh independence has begun for good". LSE BREXIT. Retrieved 6 September 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  19. ^ a b "Interview with Mark Hooper: Plaid Cymru, Cardiff Central Candidate". Gair Rhydd. 2017-06-05. Retrieved 2019-09-06.
  20. ^ Jones, Royston (19 August 2017). "Plaid Cymru and Escapist Politics". Jac o' the North. Archived from the original on 23 August 2017. Retrieved 6 September 2019.
  21. ^ "Why I won't be in Caernarfon". Jac o' the North. 2019-07-26. Retrieved 2019-09-06.
  22. ^ https://the-eye.wales/plaid-cymru/
  23. ^ https://the-eye.wales/plaid-cymru-again/
  24. ^ https://the-eye.wales/nation-in-a-state/
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