On Monday the 1st of March 2021, The National Wales launched as a subscription-based digital news service, delivering daily news from Wales for a Welsh audience via a dedicated website and social media platforms. The souvenir launch paper is now published as a weekly newspaper every Saturday.
It has filled a desperately required gap in a country deficient in serious, impartial national news platforms. But it is but one part of a fast-moving global media landscape.
The creation of The National would not have happened by the public support via New Media Wales.
A free and independent media is the lifeblood of any democracy, whilst written news, in print and digitally, is a crucial component; Wales has a desperate need for independent news and commentary via video and audio formats.
When it comes to news, people in Wales are poorly served by national and commercial broadcasters. Whilst the UK media places, somewhat understandably, the interests of the 83% of the UK audience who reside in England, Wales makes do with scraps. Scrutiny of Welsh politicians, political discussions and current affairs in Wales gets very short shrift.
We want to take the lessons learnt in successfully establishing a national digital and print news service via The National Wales to build a new National media service.
Advances in digital technology mean that broadcasting video and audio to a professional standard is achievable at a fraction of traditional broadcast costs if produced in the right hands.
We have a plan to launch a National Sound and Vision platform. A digital radio station accessible via your phone or smart speaker and regular video content distributed across a range of digital media, available to view on your phone, tablet or smart tv at a time that suits you.