Inside the IFNC bunker

Transmission: the Government is looking for an all-round communications package from IFNC bidders

IT’S 11.27am, and I’m fresh off the phone to a Pembrokeshire-based community website. It’s a busy time in Llanelli. All of the team can see that the finishing line for the Tinopolis bid for Independently Funded News Consortia pilot in Wales.

It’s meant months of hard work will be over, all set out in one big, glossy document – to be pored over by an expert selection panel and Ben Bradshaw, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. Now it’s over to them to decide who should be given this golden opportunity to save Welsh news from the rut it finds itself in.

It’s been a rollercoaster ride so far, with good days and bad. A good day might be grabbing a cup of tea and popping downstairs to see our interactive team. Bouncing ideas around with people at the forefront of web technology is hugely rewarding, and seeing that innovation come to life on screen is genuinely exciting.

Bad days are when Maggie Brown writes articles in The Guardian, or there’s more talk of a snap election. There’s been a lot of cynicism about this project which – I won’t lie – isn’t the best for team morale. It’s a great way of making the drive home really miserable. But what people like Brown don’t see is the determination of the people involved to make this work. Yes there’s a Conservative elephant in the room, but he seems quite mild-mannered and no-one pays him any attention.

We know Wales desperately needs this. We’ve spoken to people from all walks of life, from all over the country, and they feel let down, resigned to the barren news landscape of Wales. It shouldn’t have to – and doesn’t have to – be like this.  We know it’s going to be tight and yes, it’s been tough at times but (can’t actually believe I’m doing this), to quote Coldplay: “Nobody said it was easy”.

This has been a good day so far. I’ve spent most of it talking to some of Wales’ online community and it’s hard to not get swept away by the enthusiasm and dedication seen there. Wales is lucky to have people like this, helping to drag Wales’ media dinosaurs into the 21^st century.  It seems that we are at a tipping point: with a bit of a leg-up, websites in Wales could really thrive.  The idea, championed by Tinopolis, of open sourcing – making all content freely available to anyone who wants to use it – could be the boost that they need.  There’s a great tradition of community journalism in Wales – just look at the papurau bro, for example. This could be the next step in the natural evolution of Wales’ hyperlocal scene.

Those who doubt the need for hyperlocal news here in Wales need look no further than the decline in the Welsh newspaper industry. Many local papers are sadly either closing down or are under threat, leaving communities without a voice or a champion to speak on their behalf. Community websites are the future flag bearers for local democracy. Holding local councils and councillors to account and making content freely available for people to manipulate and use is the least the established media can do to help.

But let’s not forget the national context as well.  There’s been a lot of discussion here in the office about the significant news deficit facing Welsh people – some 87% of newspaper readers here are reading English not Welsh papers. In a devolved nation, with more and more issues becoming Wales-specific, there needs to be better national coverage online and on television.

Working on an IFNC team means spending a lot of time thinking and writing about what constitutes news. What do people want to watch on their news programme, and what do they need to watch? Working here, at a company rooted in Wales, with strong ties to Welsh communities all over the country, has helped a lot. As any good journalist will tell you, understanding your audience is key to news programming, and that’s no different here in Wales.

Being fully committed to your audience and your community is a key component of any good news provider, and IFNCs shouldn’t be about getting to soft money from the Government to paper over the cracks of old business models. This is about a commitment to the future of Welsh journalism – to provide the people of Wales with a choice as to how, when and where they get their news.

An important part of the work of an IFNC team involves watching the national and regional news programmes and figure out how to make them better. I’ve watched countless hours of local news programmes over the past few months, with content from Australia and the US becoming part of my daily diet, and it’s just reaffirmed my belief that hard news doesn’t have to be boring.  There are some stories that are really important for hear, but they can be dreadfully dull to read about or watch. It’s so important to make stories like these accessible and relevant to the audience at home. The exciting thing about the IFNCs is that Wales could be just weeks away from news coverage that achieves this.

Coming to work for an IFNC team raised a few eyebrows among friends. I was fortunate enough to have been offered a really cool job just the day before Tinopolis called. Some mates said it was too risky going to work on an IFNC, and that I was barmy. A risk it probably was, but it’s definitely been worth it. To be part of conversations that could alter the future of Welsh journalism is not something I thought I’d be lucky enough to be doing at this point in my career. If things don’t go quite to plan it will be devastating, not only because I can see the importance of this project to journalism in Wales, but because I’ll also feel really guilty for dragging one of the other Dewis down from Bangor to join me.

But the quiet optimism of our team here in Llanelli puts my mind at ease. So we’ll keep on working hard as we have been and see what happens.  This could be the start of an exciting period for Welsh journalism. Let’s just hope it’s not all just another false dawn.