Rhodri ap Dyfrig [Twitter]

For anybody interested in the development of the media, the time in which we live is an endless source of fascination, turbulence and opportunity. Creation, distribution and consumption have been completely transformed by increasing access to and use of the web. This disruptive force has had an effect on all traditional media, though some of the predictions of their imminent demise seem to have been a little overplayed, with the printed press, television and radio still playing a large role in our media experiences.

From a Welsh language perspective, it could now be said that we are in the third generation after the arrival of national publicly funded Welsh language radio and television in 1977 (Radio Cymru) and 1982 (S4C). This generation is used to having a huge amount of choice. For them, just having television or radio in Welsh in itself is not good enough - it must be as good as, if not better than other media out there in the world to make them connect with it.

This is a huge challenge for all people who wish to see the world mediated through their own language, as the financial, political, and social pressures exerted on the media mean that there is always more to be done. However, this is also the generation that does not just consume media and have many more ways to create and distribute it themselves.

Here is a quick look at the current situation of Welsh language media, with a few pointers to what is to come. As with the nature of the converged media sphere there are many overlaps between all four areas:

Audiovisual Media

S4C celebrated 25 years of broadcasting in 2007, but it has increasingly come under fire for both being too traditional and not being Welsh enough. Financial pressures are also at the fore in people's minds with the new government's decision to order £2million of cuts to S4Cs budget this year, with immediate effect. And, it is not inconceivable that more cuts will be demanded. This leaves the channel fighting to prove its worth in the digital world, and means that the future direction of the channel is uncertain.

One area in which there are still problems is S4C's relationship with the online space. Whilst other public service broadcasters have been creating non-television material for the web for some years now, S4C is yet to truly embrace the internet, creating content and services that are for purposes other than supporting websites for television programmes.

This gap has been highlighted in a recent article by Ron Jones, CEO of Tinopolis, one the leading Welsh media groups, who said "if we do not safeguard Welsh as an online language, the language cannot claim its place in the modern world." The traditional media have an important role to play in popularising the Welsh language online and pressure is mounting for S4C to deliver services online that function in completely different ways to traditional television.

Recent research (Cunliffe & ap Dyfrig) has shown that the Welsh language certainly has a vibrant presence on online video services such as YouTube, but that there are still difficulties in finding this material and bringing it to a Welsh speaking audience. It is clear that television (and other media) must work with the non-professional online world in order to create new ways of reaching audiences.

Radio / Audio

Welsh language radio seems to have stagnated in terms of development. There has not been an explosion of web-based radio in Welsh and community radio is poorly distributed and patchy in terms of the amount of Welsh language speech and songs that it plays. In this multiplatform and multichannel age there is still only one national Welsh language station -BBC Radio Cymru- which has to deliver for all audiences and all ages. This asks serious questions of the ability of the station to reach the potential Welsh speaking audience (and beyond).

One shining beacon of innovation and independent spirit within this area is Radio Amgen (Alternative Radio) which has been webcasting and podcasting since 2001. It is nearly alone however, in providing a different audio experience for listeners.

Internet Media

The dispersed nature of the web and the little research that exists on the use of the Welsh language online make it very difficult to assess clearly its health and vitality. The Council of Europe's European Charter for Regional and Minority Languages make little or no mention of this space in their reports which seem to illustrate this gap, as well as showing the little respect that is generally given to online media at the same time.

The written text continues to dominate the web as the major form of linguistic communication. This means that people are perhaps less likely to contribute in Welsh than they would in English, probably due to lower levels of confidence in literacy in written Welsh, possibly combined with a perception that there are no informal, written registers of Welsh. The global nature of the web also brings pressures to bear on users to communicate in languages such as English that have much more potential reach, although the improvement in language technologies such as Google Translate may yet provide some ways of easing this pressure in certain cases.

However, there exist Welsh language communities online across many networks, blogs and other sites with a wide range of material produced on a daily basis. There are few ‘Welsh only' networks with much of this activity taking place on worldwide US-originated platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. Only Facebook has been translated into Welsh so far with localisation remaining a low priority even for Google's services such as Gmail.

Estimates of the number of active Welsh language blogs range from 50-100 and many can be seen through the blog aggregator Blogiadur. It can safely be said that there is a need for more activity in this area, especially at a local level.

The big battle ahead for the language in online media is to ensure that many more people produce their own content online. This is necessary in order to ensure that the Welsh language is seen by people as a language of the internet, not just a language of very small corners of it.

News Media

After a long campaign raising over £300,000 from the public in shares, Y Byd -the long-awaited Welsh language daily newspaper-, was unsuccessful in 2008 in its bid for subsidy from the Welsh government. Some commentators have said that the amount offered was not enough to fund a daily newspaper and was tantamount to breaking the promise made by the coalition governmentvii to establish a daily newspaper in Welsh.

The funding was awarded to Golwg Cyf., publisher of Golwg weekly magazine and in May 2009 they launched Golwg360, an online only service providing Welsh and international news. Its launch was marred by severe website and design problems, but a redesign several months later has brought the service to an even keel. It remains to be seen whether it can become a popular news source and a challenge to the BBC Cymru news service, although its low funding means that it will struggle to develop additional services such as video content in the short to medium-term.

Wales has a strong tradition of creating monthly community newspapers, called Papurau Bro. On the whole, these are still communally edited and delivered by hand and although some attempts have been made to migrate material online, few have been successful. Local online media in Welsh is therefore very thin on the ground, and indicates that the mere replication of Papurau Bro online will not work. This gap in the provision could leave the Papurau Bro with dwindling readers and contributors, and must also be addressed if this important community activity is to be continued.

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What runs throughout all of the above is that a new approach is required across all forms of media, including non-professional media. It seems that after periods of relative strength, the Welsh media landscape is at a crossroads once more, and that there are many areas that need urgent attention if the Welsh language is to prosper as a relevant and vibrant language of media and communication.