The news gets more globalised every day. So how can small countries protect and grow a distinctive media?
The First Minister will open the Cyfrwng Media Wales Conference, one of Europe’s leading conferences for television, new media, film, radio, journalism, performance and visual art, on Thursday 16 June 2011. Attended by academics, students and media industry professionals, it aims to address some of the key issues facing the media in Wales and other small nations today. This year’s conference is being hosted by the Centre for the Study of Media and Culture in Small Nations from 16-17 June at the University of Glamorgan’s ATRiUM campus in Cardiff.
The conference aims to take an international perspective on media and culture in small nations, and will include key-note addresses by Welsh film director Marc Evans (Patagonia) as well as speakers from New Zealand, Catalonia, the Basque Country, Denmark, Iceland and Belgium, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland. The conference will also feature a round-table discussion on the future of the Welsh language broadcaster S4C, and a presentation on the BBC’s new Drama Village at Cardiff Bay.
Professor Steve Blandford, director of the Centre for the Study of Media and Culture in Small Nations, said: “The media in Wales has its own particular character, not least the debate on the future of S4C and the exciting development of the BBC’s drama village in Cardiff Bay. We hope to draw on international experience through the conference to address these vital issues and add to the international discussion.”
Professor Peter Robertson, Dean of the University of Glamorgan’s School of Creative and Cultural Industries, said: “The University of Glamorgan is delighted to host this major conference in the heart of Cardiff. It will bring together journalists, experts, media professionals and decision-makers across the sector, underlining the growing role that Wales plays in the media and creative industries.”
