The Media

Part of 6. Topical Questions – in the Senedd at 3:25 pm on 15 July 2020.

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Photo of Jenny Rathbone Jenny Rathbone Labour 3:25, 15 July 2020

Sorry, I didn't hear you; it was rather faint. Thank you very much for calling me. It's good to know that the Deputy Minister is going to be having discussions with the unions on this matter, but I've never been in favour of separate legislation for the media, simply because although local newspapers and local radio and local television have a very important role to play, we still have to rely, for UK-wide news and international news, on many of the organisations that are published elsewhere, which obviously help us stay informed about the world we live in. But it is a sad fact that the UK media is now dominated by two organisations and led by people whose qualification as being fit and proper is definitely questionable. So, it is important to realise that Reach—the organisation that now owns the Western Mail, WalesOnline and the Daily Post, and many other regional outlets—is dominated by Richard Desmond, who is infamous for having made his initial money out of pornography and his far too close a relationship with at least one UK Government Minister. This company had a turnover last year of £150 million and is still expected to have a turnover of a £100 million, yet they are letting people go, cutting jobs even though they've taken the coronavirus job retention scheme. And, of course, the other media mogul dominating our newspaper, television and online subscription services is Rupert Murdoch, and for those who watched the excoriating first part of the documentary on Murdoch last night, we were reminded by one contributor that the top priorities of Mr Murdoch are Rupert Murdoch, Rupert Murdoch, Rupert Murdoch. These two media moguls now dominate the whole of the UK industry, so it's really what can Wales do about this in collaboration with the UK Parliament and the UK Government. It's hard to know how the UK is going to respond given its rather too close relationship with Mr Richard Desmond. And I just wondered what the Deputy Minister thinks we can do to somehow try and rectify the regulation of the media, so that they are not simply churning out nice to have, popular stuff that distracts people from the important task that Government and legislatures ought to be taking account of.