Y Byd
Dyddiol Cyf. has expressed its disappointment following the announcement on 5 February by the Minister for Heritage, Rhodri Glyn Thomas, that only an extra £200,000 a year will be available to develop the Welsh press.
We will not now be able to establish a credible daily newspaper with a grant of that size. It is highly unlikely that anyone else could, either.
Recent research clearly shows that between £600,000 and £1m of public money would be needed annually, some of it raised from Assembly advertising, for such a venture to succeed. This was made perfectly clear to the Assembly Government: those are the figures shown to all its parties before and after the election in May 2007, and those are the figures that Dr Tony Bianchi gave in his report.
Also, the Minister was sorely misadvised to defend his decision by insisting that the Irish daily newspaper Lá Nua could exist on an annual grant of £200,000. On that very same day, Lá Nua announced that it would be shutting down by the end of the month due to financial problems.
The Assembly Government will, therefore, have to reconsider how it aims to keep the promise it made in its One Wales document, to
We, as a nation, deserve a daily newspaper. The aim of establishing a daily Welsh-language newspaper is still alive, as is the demand. There has to be another journalistic voice in Wales in order to secure plurality within the media It is vital that we don't lose sight of that.
Following Rhodri Glyn Thomas' statement, and having considered the current situation, Aled Price has decided that the best course of action for him and for the venture is for him to resign as the Editor of Y Byd. We are very grateful to him for all the hard work he has done for us.
Read our news release.
