:00:00. > :00:08.Why are so many Welsh children living in poverty,
:00:09. > :00:13.despite countless initiatives to tackle the problem?
:00:14. > :00:15.We ask Welsh Conservative leader Andrew RT Davies
:00:16. > :00:18.how his party would run Wales,
:00:19. > :00:20.as we look ahead to May's Assembly elections.
:00:21. > :00:22.And is it print, online, radio or TV?
:00:23. > :00:24.Where do you get your daily news? And does it matter?
:00:25. > :00:38.Good evening and welcome to The Wales Report.
:00:39. > :00:40.We start tonight with the high levels of child poverty
:00:41. > :00:42.in Wales, and they are stubbornly high
:00:43. > :00:43.despite a range of policy interventions
:00:44. > :00:50.You can join tonight's conversation on social media.
:00:51. > :00:56.So 200,000 Welsh children live in poverty - that is about a third
:00:57. > :01:02.a rate that has remained static for years.
:01:03. > :01:04.The Welsh Government says it is aiming to eliminate
:01:05. > :01:07.but at current rates that now looks extremely ambitious.
:01:08. > :01:10.Felicity Evans looks at what is being done to tackle
:01:11. > :01:36.50 years ago and a South Wales mining village, these children grew
:01:37. > :01:42.up poor. All our lives we have been ill, I don't know what they have not
:01:43. > :01:46.had! It is a poor starts at any children. These black and white
:01:47. > :01:51.images remind us of how much the country has changed but poverty
:01:52. > :01:56.continues to blight the lives and ambitions of children across Wales.
:01:57. > :02:03.This woman struggles today is her two young children on a low income.
:02:04. > :02:08.This there have been plenty of times I have had to say to my children you
:02:09. > :02:16.cannot have this or I have gone on to a supermarket with ?20 and have
:02:17. > :02:19.had to buy meals with that, and literally said, we have to have
:02:20. > :02:25.passed the three times this week because that is all I can afford. I
:02:26. > :02:30.don't think children should be growing up with the worries of the
:02:31. > :02:33.chill that the appearance' financial situation on their shoulders, but in
:02:34. > :02:37.that situation with the menu in your pocket and your children asking
:02:38. > :02:42.something, you have no option but to say you cannot afford that. It
:02:43. > :02:50.leaves you feeling like a failure, it really does. H you always have
:02:51. > :02:55.that worry your children will not feel happy or beep roads or people
:02:56. > :02:57.are judging you because you don't have much money. And the result was
:02:58. > :03:15.that worry. Such in 1999, Tony Blair pledged to
:03:16. > :03:18.eradicate child poverty by 2020. The current UK Government has announced
:03:19. > :03:23.plans to scrap that legally binding target and replace it with other
:03:24. > :03:28.measures, but the Welsh government insists it still aspires to it, but
:03:29. > :03:31.it is easier to set targets than to find solutions and on wheels that
:03:32. > :03:39.has proved particularly difficult. Child poverty he remains the highest
:03:40. > :03:43.in the UK and is forecast to rise. With around 200,000 children living
:03:44. > :03:47.in poverty, it is clear Welsh governments have not had much
:03:48. > :03:51.success in tackling the problem. No one believes it will be eradicated
:03:52. > :04:00.in the next three years but there are crucial factors over the Welsh
:04:01. > :04:11.government has no control. There are areas the Welsh government does not
:04:12. > :04:15.have tax and jurisdiction over. The other area is taxation, whereby it
:04:16. > :04:21.is not actually an option for the Welsh government to massively
:04:22. > :04:25.increase the social problems designed to tackle poverty because
:04:26. > :04:28.of limits on public spending which are dictated effectively by
:04:29. > :04:36.Westminster on the amount of money wheels has to spend? But the Welsh
:04:37. > :04:40.government's techniques have also been criticised by some who say the
:04:41. > :04:47.approach has failed to recognise poverty has many different causes.
:04:48. > :04:50.They say lack of progress on child poverty as a result of treating
:04:51. > :04:53.symptoms rather than causes as well as a failure to gather proper
:04:54. > :04:59.evidence about the different circumstances faced by poor
:05:00. > :05:04.families. Poverty isn't confined to families will no one is in work and
:05:05. > :05:13.half of people in poverty and in households where someone has a job.
:05:14. > :05:18.I have had a job now for about four years and personally I don't feel
:05:19. > :05:27.that having my job has helped me out of any financial situation. I am
:05:28. > :05:31.better off when I get a nice lump sum at the end of the month but I
:05:32. > :05:36.have to budget that for the month and like I said it is a struggle to
:05:37. > :05:41.try to budget with two children and the childcare and everything else.
:05:42. > :05:44.Successive Welsh governments have developed various strategies and
:05:45. > :05:48.interventions to try to break the cycle of poverty. The flying start
:05:49. > :05:53.scheme offers extra support to families with young children in
:05:54. > :05:57.areas of high deprivation. More than 37,000 children took part in the
:05:58. > :06:01.programme last year. The less conflicting data on how effective it
:06:02. > :06:04.is but those working in the field believes that makes a difference and
:06:05. > :06:12.they want to see more children taking part. Not all children in
:06:13. > :06:15.families live in a flying start area and one of next calls for the Welsh
:06:16. > :06:20.government will be to try to influence the manifesto process and
:06:21. > :06:26.call for them, where there are promising programmes, let's scale
:06:27. > :06:29.them up and that. Child poverty in Wales is still stubbornly high and
:06:30. > :06:35.decade after decade that has stymied all attempts to tackle it. Breaking
:06:36. > :06:39.the cycle for these children and the 200,000 like them across Wales will
:06:40. > :06:44.remain one of the biggest and most important challenges for the Welsh
:06:45. > :06:47.government. I feel optimistic I will do the best for my children but I
:06:48. > :06:52.don't feel supported by the government. I don't think the
:06:53. > :06:56.politicians when they are talking about benefits and the day-to-day
:06:57. > :06:59.living expenses are people in my situation, I don't feel they look at
:07:00. > :07:01.it deep enough. A Welsh Government spokesperson
:07:02. > :07:05.told The Wales Report, "Although undeniably
:07:06. > :07:07.challenging, reaffirming our ambition to eradicate child
:07:08. > :07:09.poverty by 2020 ensures there will be no loss of momentum
:07:10. > :07:15.towards our goals." They added, "We have provided
:07:16. > :07:17.almost half a billion pounds for our flagship Flying Start
:07:18. > :07:22.programme since 2006, while it has also been
:07:23. > :07:24.protected in the 2016/17 budget at ?77 million
:07:25. > :07:26.to ensure children continue We are also helping parents
:07:27. > :07:37.into work and training." Joining me now is the
:07:38. > :07:51.Children's Commissioner Thank you for coming in. Very
:07:52. > :07:55.depressing figures to start with and I am wondering, so viewers know
:07:56. > :08:00.exactly what we're talking about, what do we mean when we say child
:08:01. > :08:07.poverty? About one third of children in Wales live in poverty, that is
:08:08. > :08:11.below 60% of median, average income, and about 15% are severely affected,
:08:12. > :08:17.so we're talking large numbers and we haven't shifted over the last few
:08:18. > :08:21.years, and I think it is something we mustn't get complacent about, and
:08:22. > :08:25.in fact we should all be furious about it. We will come onto some of
:08:26. > :08:30.the potential answers any second, but what do you say to people who
:08:31. > :08:35.say it is far too narrow a definition that you have just given,
:08:36. > :08:38.and you need more qualifications are targets or whatever you want to see
:08:39. > :08:45.and the definition you have given this too narrow? There are other
:08:46. > :08:49.ways of experiencing poverty that Arent just about income and when we
:08:50. > :08:51.listen to children there are other aspects of the daily life which are
:08:52. > :08:56.severely affected by poverty that they can as well, access to
:08:57. > :09:02.different services and whether they can afford different aspects. Asked
:09:03. > :09:06.-- access to play and leisure and cultural things but we absolutely
:09:07. > :09:09.have to measure them, and I was really disappointed recently when
:09:10. > :09:13.the Westminster Government declare they wouldn't use them, they primary
:09:14. > :09:17.measure of child poverty. That doesn't make any sense in terms of
:09:18. > :09:23.understanding how many children are poor. Why would they do that? I felt
:09:24. > :09:28.they were trying to imply that child poverty was more related to the
:09:29. > :09:34.behaviour of families, so they were going to be measuring things like
:09:35. > :09:38.education, and substance abuse and that kind of thing. We know a lot of
:09:39. > :09:43.things are associated with poverty but to me it makes absolute sense
:09:44. > :09:47.that if you measure poverty you have to measure income. They have
:09:48. > :09:52.recently backtracked on that which I was pleased to see. There was a
:09:53. > :09:55.crucial contribution and we underline that she has a job, and
:09:56. > :10:01.the lot of the narrative is about people who are not working, but she
:10:02. > :10:06.has a job and yet finds herself in a difficult financial position. That
:10:07. > :10:09.is not uncommon? The majority of children living in poverty have at
:10:10. > :10:14.least one parent who is working and that is something we forget. We have
:10:15. > :10:19.tended to build up a them and I was seen Ariel, and people living in
:10:20. > :10:24.poverty have been quite stigmatised in the popular media, and by
:10:25. > :10:27.messages coming from the top. We have to remember that when we're
:10:28. > :10:31.talking about children in poverty we may be talking about a parent
:10:32. > :10:38.getting up at 5am to do a cleaning job or do a night shift, and they
:10:39. > :10:45.may well have children living in poverty, and they are not lazy and
:10:46. > :10:48.feckless. When people talking about eradicating child poverty, can we
:10:49. > :10:53.say that on the basis of what we have now that is not going to
:10:54. > :10:56.happen? The trajectory shows we will not eradicate child poverty but I do
:10:57. > :11:02.think it is good to continue having targets and we mustn't lose momentum
:11:03. > :11:05.or our anxiety. The most worrying thing around all of this was the
:11:06. > :11:09.analysis that says that it is actually going to get worse, and
:11:10. > :11:16.we're not even moving towards the target but far-away? Yes, the
:11:17. > :11:20.current projection is that with the changes to tax and benefits that
:11:21. > :11:24.have been the in the last year, it is still quite hard to measure how
:11:25. > :11:28.that will play out because it also depends on job creation and wages,
:11:29. > :11:34.but the expectation that it get worse. As we approach these
:11:35. > :11:37.elections in May, is it your feeling that the political parties in Wales
:11:38. > :11:42.have real grasp of this issue and that they are thinking seriously
:11:43. > :11:48.about how to get towards that target or not? I think we have a different
:11:49. > :11:54.political atmosphere in Wales across the political spectrum, and there's
:11:55. > :11:58.a commitment and worry right across the spectrum, so I would expect
:11:59. > :12:02.whoever forms the next government to be working hard on child poverty but
:12:03. > :12:06.the answers to it are not completely agreed on. Most people are committed
:12:07. > :12:12.to the flying start programme and I think it is great but doesn't reach
:12:13. > :12:16.children. It doesn't help with families living in the pockets of
:12:17. > :12:21.poverty outside of the areas targeted, so I think we should be
:12:22. > :12:27.expanding flying start and helping a lot more with housing costs and
:12:28. > :12:33.social housing and fuel efficiency and childcare, decent childcare,
:12:34. > :12:37.good quality universal childcare if possible, that would be a great
:12:38. > :12:38.boost. We hope to be talking about these things again during the
:12:39. > :12:39.campaign but thank you. As part of BBC Wales'
:12:40. > :12:42.How Wales Works season, the main party leaders
:12:43. > :12:45.in Wales to find out how they would run things
:12:46. > :12:48.if they won power in May. We have spoken to Ukip,
:12:49. > :12:50.the Liberal Democrats and Plaid Cymru, and next
:12:51. > :12:52.week we will hear from Tonight it is the turn
:12:53. > :12:55.of Andrew RT Davies, the leader of
:12:56. > :12:57.the Welsh Conservatives. His party is hoping
:12:58. > :12:59.the build on the successes of the last Assembly Election
:13:00. > :13:01.in 2011 Before we talk to Mr Davies,
:13:02. > :13:05.Professor Richard Wyn Jones from the Wales Governance Centre
:13:06. > :13:07.at Cardiff University takes a look at the challenges
:13:08. > :13:27.ahead for the Welsh Conservatives. It is clear that the Conservatives
:13:28. > :13:32.want to make this a straight labour- Conservative fight and want to
:13:33. > :13:38.continue the momentum that we saw in the May general election last year.
:13:39. > :13:45.They picked up seats that people just haven't imagined them packing
:13:46. > :13:49.up. What we know about the conservatives is we know what they
:13:50. > :13:54.are against, it is very clear what the Welsh Conservatives are against,
:13:55. > :13:59.and what I find more difficult to work out is what they are for, and
:14:00. > :14:05.if you are governing ultimately you need some kind of positive project
:14:06. > :14:09.and vision. Obviously during the election campaign we may well hear
:14:10. > :14:14.that but the problem is that the election campaign in the context of
:14:15. > :14:16.the Welsh media, being so weak, is quite a difficult context in which
:14:17. > :14:35.to project those messages. have a large number of list members.
:14:36. > :14:42.The lists will be a luxury this time around. The benchmark for success is
:14:43. > :14:46.winning constituencies. There are some obvious low hanging fruit is,
:14:47. > :14:52.some pretty marginal seats, but what they will be hoping for is that they
:14:53. > :14:58.can really turn the tables on Labour in places like North East Wales. If
:14:59. > :15:03.they do that, frankly, under Andrew RT Davies, it is bombproof. On the
:15:04. > :15:06.other hand, if they have a disappointing night, I would've
:15:07. > :15:16.thought his position will become a pretty fragile quite quickly.
:15:17. > :15:24.Professor Richard Wyn Jones there. Andrew RT Davies joins me now.
:15:25. > :15:33.We are clearly about change. Changing the landscape of Wales.
:15:34. > :15:40.Throughout my leadership, we have offered alternatives. Health service
:15:41. > :15:45.and are protected budget. Creating autonomy for teachers to run the
:15:46. > :15:51.education system in Wales for the benefit of pupils. Empowering
:15:52. > :15:56.businesses to make sure they can get easy access to finance. Policies we
:15:57. > :16:05.have announced. When we criticise the Welsh Government for buying
:16:06. > :16:09.Cardiff airport, we brought forward a blueprint. At every juncture, we
:16:10. > :16:26.bring forward a blueprint not just criticise. If we are elected, we
:16:27. > :16:33.will build a new motorway next year. If you walk into the first ministers
:16:34. > :16:38.office in me, what is the first bit of proper legislative change with
:16:39. > :16:43.you will put into place? The legislative change we bring forward
:16:44. > :16:48.will be in our manifesto. Bills we want to come forward. The first one
:16:49. > :16:53.is about economic competence. And enterprise Bill that would put the
:16:54. > :17:00.thinking about driving the Welsh economy forward, so instead of us
:17:01. > :17:04.following down the league tables, we would have legislated in law and
:17:05. > :17:08.enterprise Bill to make sure the Welsh Government and public bodies
:17:09. > :17:13.engage fully in better public procurement of goods and services.
:17:14. > :17:17.Ultimately, the government would be charged with driving the Welsh
:17:18. > :17:22.economy forward, rather than managing its decline as it has done.
:17:23. > :17:28.That would be the first thing and what would be the price tag? A lot
:17:29. > :17:33.of it is changes to the mentality the way the government works in law.
:17:34. > :17:40.At the moment, we have had 17 years of managed decline with Labour, the
:17:41. > :17:46.Liberal Democrats and Plaid Cymru. The first spending commitment is
:17:47. > :17:55.protecting the NHS budget for five years. We made that commitment in
:17:56. > :17:58.2011. Regrettably the people of Wales chose to elect a Labour
:17:59. > :18:08.government that has taken ?1 billion out of the health service. If you
:18:09. > :18:12.look at cancer waiting times, yesterday I was asking the First
:18:13. > :18:18.Minister about the appalling state of waiting times for cancer services
:18:19. > :18:25.in my region of south-west and central Cardiff. I would suggest the
:18:26. > :18:30.outcomes in Wales regrettably not as good as we want them to be. We want
:18:31. > :18:35.to ensure the outcomes are improved. That is why we have called for an
:18:36. > :18:41.independent enquiry into the NHS here in Wales so we can make those
:18:42. > :18:45.improvements not on political wins are led by clinicians, telling us
:18:46. > :18:49.what we need to do to improve the health service in Wales. In your
:18:50. > :18:56.view, the NHS in Wales is still present danger to their health in
:18:57. > :19:01.certain dashing some circumstances compared to England? In some
:19:02. > :19:07.hospitals, there are higher mortality figures than income
:19:08. > :19:12.parable hospitals in England. We have been calling for an enquiry for
:19:13. > :19:22.three years. Instead of knee jerk reactions from politicians, such as
:19:23. > :19:30.the special measures after the disaster covered, we need to listen
:19:31. > :19:34.to clinicians and have an enquiry at the whole NHS, impartially and
:19:35. > :19:40.independently, to make dramatic improvements across the NHS in
:19:41. > :19:46.Wales. What of this dependent on funding and basis for taxation in
:19:47. > :19:51.Wales. Devolving tax powers has been spoken about. Wales Bill is now
:19:52. > :19:55.under debate. It is on pause whilst the sort out some things that are
:19:56. > :20:03.wrong with that. What is your take on that? It was always a draft Wales
:20:04. > :20:05.Bill. The whole point of that is to consult and consider the
:20:06. > :20:09.representation is being made. This is a great opportunity to empower
:20:10. > :20:16.the country of Wales through the National Assembly on areas of
:20:17. > :20:23.transport, energy, electoral arrangements. And major things like
:20:24. > :20:30.income tax. The Secretary of State... We are having discussions.
:20:31. > :20:35.The Secretary of State has announced the pause. What do you think is
:20:36. > :20:39.wrong with that? I have given evidence to the Welsh affairs select
:20:40. > :20:46.committee. I think all the leaders have done that. The necessity test
:20:47. > :20:56.has been dropped. We have a genuine powers model. There are areas where
:20:57. > :21:02.there are agreement and the need to make changes. The Secretary of State
:21:03. > :21:07.deserves huge credit for saying she has listened to what people have
:21:08. > :21:10.said, there are going to work it out in consultation and bring it back in
:21:11. > :21:20.the summer. The Welsh Labour government could learn a lot from
:21:21. > :21:25.this legislative process. Very often we are exacerbated by Welsh Labour
:21:26. > :21:30.planning on as if they have a divine right to rule. What is the mean
:21:31. > :21:33.change you want to see in the bill, so that people know when the bill
:21:34. > :21:41.comes forward if you have had your conditions met or not? We are
:21:42. > :21:47.discussing this across Whitehall. The necessity test has been dropped.
:21:48. > :21:56.We know that. What else? Reserve powers, robust reserve powers model
:21:57. > :21:59.where the assembly has genuine confidence and where backbench
:22:00. > :22:03.members can bring forward legislation on areas they have a
:22:04. > :22:07.democratic mandate to legislate in. I want to see the transfer of income
:22:08. > :22:14.tax powers, so that brings accountability to the heart of the
:22:15. > :22:20.way public life functions in Wales. I will continue to drive it forward.
:22:21. > :22:26.You have made the point again about income tax powers. If Wills is no
:22:27. > :22:32.longer part of the EU, something you favour, there is going to be a
:22:33. > :22:37.significant loss of income. Your cancer -- your Conservative
:22:38. > :22:43.colleagues are saying that. If he comes to campaign with you in me,
:22:44. > :22:53.what will you say to people? There is a assembly election where people
:22:54. > :22:59.will vote on local government. Then there will be a referendum. Everyone
:23:00. > :23:03.will have the opportunity to vote, according to what they think is the
:23:04. > :23:16.right way for this country to proceed. Ultimately the EU will have
:23:17. > :23:20.tax-raising powers. I want to make sure that we want a little economic
:23:21. > :23:23.union that ultimately allows us to trade goods and services across
:23:24. > :23:28.Europe and across the world. Ultimately that is why I believe we
:23:29. > :23:33.would be better out. You ask the point about finances and money
:23:34. > :23:40.coming and. We have a deficit in the money we put into the European Union
:23:41. > :23:45.of ten billion pounds. We get out about ?6 billion. That is the UK
:23:46. > :23:48.figure. I can guarantee that a UK Government would make sure that
:23:49. > :23:53.money would be redistributed around the regions of the United Kingdom,
:23:54. > :23:59.otherwise it would be failing in its three to deliver help and support to
:24:00. > :24:04.the nation that it has elected to govern. Frankly we cannot continue
:24:05. > :24:07.with operation fear of driving people into the ballot box because
:24:08. > :24:13.you're scaring them into voting one way. The need a rational ardent and
:24:14. > :24:18.debate. Finally, when you make these arguments and you're telling Welsh
:24:19. > :24:22.voters seem to think about their assembly and the benefits or not of
:24:23. > :24:26.been in the European Union, are you saying to them that Wales is going
:24:27. > :24:33.be better off financially outside the European Union? That is the key
:24:34. > :24:39.question. Firstly, we need to focus on the assembly election. That is
:24:40. > :24:46.the first election. The decision you make, that'll stick for five years.
:24:47. > :24:49.That is the government that will deliver on the health service,
:24:50. > :25:01.economy, local government and education. The referendum will
:25:02. > :25:06.happen weeks later. Every man and woman will have a chance to vote as
:25:07. > :25:13.individuals. This is not about politicians. Yes, it is. A lot of
:25:14. > :25:17.people out there still believe people will be voting as
:25:18. > :25:23.politicians. The important thing is the Welsh Conservative Party and the
:25:24. > :25:29.Conservative Government in the UK have delivered a referendum. Will
:25:30. > :25:33.Wills be better off financially outside the EU? I believe that will.
:25:34. > :25:41.I'm choosing to put my cards on the table. We pay 16 billion into the
:25:42. > :25:49.European Union -- into the European Union, that is the figure for the
:25:50. > :25:51.UK, and we get 6 billion out. I believe agriculture, structural
:25:52. > :25:57.support, would benefit and get a boost from us leaving. We will have
:25:58. > :26:01.a few lively chat in the weeks ahead. Thank you.
:26:02. > :26:05.The way consume news in Wales has changed dramatically over
:26:06. > :26:07.the past few years, with many of us now turning
:26:08. > :26:09.to the internet and more recently to social media.
:26:10. > :26:12.But a special BBC Wales St David's Poll has shown
:26:13. > :26:14.that all is not lost for more traditional news outlets.
:26:15. > :26:16.While consumption of print media in Wales may still
:26:17. > :26:20.be on the decline, with just 14% of those polled saying they mainly
:26:21. > :26:25.44% of those polled said they mainly get their news from television -
:26:26. > :26:29.that is up 5% from last year's survey.
:26:30. > :26:32.Compared to 29% who said that they mainly
:26:33. > :26:34.get their news from the internet or social media.
:26:35. > :26:41.Many argue that the decline of the regional and local
:26:42. > :26:44.newspaper industry and the dominance of London-based media
:26:45. > :26:46.- whose coverage of Welsh issues is patchy - has resulted
:26:47. > :26:55.in a democratic deficit in Wales.
:26:56. > :26:57.With the Assembly elections and an EU referendum
:26:58. > :26:59.around the corner, we have been to Caerphilly,
:27:00. > :27:00.where one newspaper is putting local issues back
:27:01. > :27:22.Caerphilly Observer started as a website publication in 2009. A lot
:27:23. > :27:27.of people started asking for paper copies. We were disappointed when we
:27:28. > :27:36.said it was a website and not an actual newspaper. We launched our
:27:37. > :27:46.first print edition in 2013. We have not looked back. If you create a
:27:47. > :27:53.product that is not representative or reflective of the community that
:27:54. > :27:57.you're to serve, then you're simply going to go out of business because
:27:58. > :28:07.people are not going to be reading your newspaper. If you give your
:28:08. > :28:12.content away for free like we do, people are far more inclined to pick
:28:13. > :28:24.up that newspaper. The days of people paying for years in print I
:28:25. > :28:33.think I'd definitely numbered. I mean they get my news in the bath on
:28:34. > :28:45.my Kindle, BBC News website. The internet. The radio, morning TV. Not
:28:46. > :28:56.newspapers. If papers start disappearing, that is dangerous. To
:28:57. > :29:02.keep photos and the public informed, you need the press able to
:29:03. > :29:08.scrutinise politicians and public bodies and institutions. If you take
:29:09. > :29:12.away that important function of the media, how can voters be informed
:29:13. > :29:21.when it comes to their decision at the ballot box? Code Caerphilly
:29:22. > :29:24.Observer be replicated to cover a larger region? I don't know. On this
:29:25. > :29:29.we have people willing to try these things, we will not find out.
:29:30. > :29:32.Joining me now is Dr Rebecca Williams
:29:33. > :29:40.from the University of South Wales.
:29:41. > :29:46.Kevin Moon, you are known for being in charge of what people recognise
:29:47. > :29:54.as a successful product, but that is changing form? Very much so, and
:29:55. > :29:57.changes rapidly almost every year, but the important thing to remember
:29:58. > :30:03.is that although print is in decline and nobody will argue with that, our
:30:04. > :30:07.audience know across a variety of platforms and particularly online is
:30:08. > :30:12.bigger than ten years ago. In your view, is it also to do with the fact
:30:13. > :30:15.that more than ever, we have a younger generation whose way of
:30:16. > :30:19.accessing information is totally different and they have far more
:30:20. > :30:22.things available to them, so the concept of news from the newspaper
:30:23. > :30:29.is perhaps something quaint and old-fashioned. I think so, and for a
:30:30. > :30:34.lot of young people know, something like Twitter is where they get
:30:35. > :30:38.breaking news, and the idea of paying to access anything is quite
:30:39. > :30:42.different from that generation. And I think the idea certainly of going
:30:43. > :30:45.out and making the effort to buy a newspaper is something that seems
:30:46. > :30:53.quite Alien to the younger generation. So two things, the price
:30:54. > :30:57.factor, especially for the business looking at its income stream, and
:30:58. > :31:02.secondly, trying to provide things and I am mentioning the younger
:31:03. > :31:08.generation, in a different way, so what have you done practically to
:31:09. > :31:14.come around those things? It is local newspapers across the country,
:31:15. > :31:19.and we produce our information in print and online and through mobile
:31:20. > :31:23.and social media, and I think Rebecca is right to see that younger
:31:24. > :31:30.people get breaking news from Twitter and sheer to amongst friends
:31:31. > :31:34.on Facebook, but they tend to go to a long-standing news sources to get
:31:35. > :31:38.into verified. That is a fascinating point and as we head towards the
:31:39. > :31:44.busy election period, what do both of you make about the importance of
:31:45. > :31:47.having reliable, trusted sources of information, what is it about the
:31:48. > :31:53.media landscape in Wales that causes you concerned? I think one of the
:31:54. > :31:57.main issue is with getting information through social media is
:31:58. > :32:02.that we tend to follow or be friends with people quite similar to us, and
:32:03. > :32:06.I think we saw that quite a lot last year in the run-up to the general
:32:07. > :32:09.election, where there was quite a lot of positivity that may be Labour
:32:10. > :32:14.could win that election and that didn't turn out to be the case, and
:32:15. > :32:19.I think there's that echo chamber effect, where you tend to view the
:32:20. > :32:24.opinions you already agree with, and I think that is maybe a threat in
:32:25. > :32:27.terms of finding it other policies and competing viewpoints, that if we
:32:28. > :32:31.only surround ourselves with the viewpoint of people who agree with
:32:32. > :32:40.those, I think there are some limits to how we can learn about what all
:32:41. > :32:47.other options are. Just a final point, about the state of the Welsh
:32:48. > :32:51.media, and whether you think that we overdo the concerns, and I will come
:32:52. > :32:57.to Kevin in a moment, but Rebecca, what is your thought as you look to
:32:58. > :33:03.the landscape? Do you think, with Scotland, is the Welsh media in a
:33:04. > :33:09.rather parlous state or not? We are right to be concerned about it and I
:33:10. > :33:12.think the more people who are now apparently watching television,
:33:13. > :33:16.there has been an increase in VAT, and I think we need to be concerned
:33:17. > :33:20.about the future of the BBC generally and in the decline in
:33:21. > :33:25.newspapers, and I think we need to think about ways we can tackle all
:33:26. > :33:29.of those things. Two thoughts for you to close, are you conscious of
:33:30. > :33:33.being in a media industry in Wales which is giving cause for concern,
:33:34. > :33:41.and secondly, where is your particular model, in press terms,
:33:42. > :33:46.going to be in five years' time? On the first point, I think the Welsh
:33:47. > :33:49.media across all platforms is in a relatively robust state, and the
:33:50. > :33:53.bigger issue in terms of that information that people are gleaming
:33:54. > :33:58.is that the vast majority of people on wheels get information from the
:33:59. > :34:01.national media, and in terms of in five years' time, I think that what
:34:02. > :34:08.will happen and we have already seen happen is that there will be more of
:34:09. > :34:13.daily newspapers that potentially become weekly newspapers, but that
:34:14. > :34:18.is about profitability rather than sales, and we didn't even get onto
:34:19. > :34:19.talking about free newspapers. That is for another time, but thank you
:34:20. > :34:20.both. If you would like to get
:34:21. > :34:24.in touch with us, email us at thewalesreport@bbc.co.uk,
:34:25. > :34:25.or follow us on social media -
:34:26. > :34:27.we arere @TheWalesReport. Thanks for watching.
:34:28. > :34:31.Diolch am eich cwmni, nos da.