Inform, Educate, Entertain

The story of UK commercial radio in the 21st century has been consolidation and centralisation, with local stations losing their local identity and flavour as they merge or are bought by UK-wide stations. Added to the closure of at least 265 local newspapers across the UK since 2005, a gap in local news and entertainment provision has been created in the pursuit of profit — contributing to what has been termed a ‘democratic deficit’ in Wales. One attempt to fill this gap in local provision has come in the form of community radio stations; run on a not-for-profit basis by volunteers and reliant on a combination of advertising revenue, donations, grants and good-will. 

The importance of local news reporting was demonstrated during the initial years of the covid-19 pandemic. Community radio stations were able to report local outbreaks, provide information about localised lockdowns and give citizen journalists the chance to hold ministers to account. USW Community of Expertise: Community Engagement leader and Community Radio Tutor Steve Johnson writes about this in greater detail, and in the Welsh context, for the Institute of Welsh Affairs: ‘Welsh Community Radio: Rising to the Coronavirus Challenge’.

Steve is at the forefront of USW’s support for community radio through his work helping to develop a pan-Wales network, WCRN (Wales Community Radio Network), to enable the sector to speak with one clear voice, and his involvement with and support for Ysbyty Ystrad FM.

Ysbyty Ystrad FM (YYFM)

YYFM (https://itsyyfm.com) is a non-linear, at point-of-demand platform for Ysbyty Ystrad Fawr in Ystrad Mynach which launched in February 2021. Innovative and unique, unlike traditional hospital radio services, YYFM doesn’t have an on-site, physical studio at the hospital. Content is created elsewhere, uploaded to the website and made available for download 24/7, not just on patients’ devices using the hospital’s wi-fi network, but by anyone, anywhere. 

Hospital admin worker Steven Davies came up with the idea “to combat the loneliness and isolation felt by some patients” in an environment where “hospital room TV sets were stuck on one channel”. Content is a mix of music, news summaries, interviews, documentaries, radio dramas and hospital communications; and includes programmes in Welsh.

image: Steven Davies, YYFM founder with published author and site contributor Ian 'Chobbs' Robertson outside Ysbyty Ystrad Fawr

Having secured funding from Aneurin Bevan Hospital board bosses, Steven Davies approached USW for help realising his idea. Which led to him working with Steve Johnson, who was able to share his experience and knowledge of working in community and commercial radio. Additionally, Steve Johnson brought on board USW’s journalism students to help with logistics of setting up, running and creating content for YYFM. In doing so YYFM gained access to enthusiastic, talented people keen to volunteer their time in order to give back to a local community and gain real-world experience that would enhance their CVs.

Business News Wales

In recent years Wales has seen the emergence of online news providers attempting to address the ‘democratic deficit’ at Welsh national level. Among these is Business News Wales. In November 2021 USW and Business News Wales launched an initiative called Journos of the Future. As part of the BA (Hons) Journalism degree at USW (which is accredited by the Broadcast Journalism Training Council), this collaboration sees students spend four weeks with Business News Wales being mentored by their staff and learning about the benefits of mobile journalism.

Videos: © Business News Wales Ltd.

As a result articles written by USW students about street food (‘Apulian Street Food Cabin Brings Italian Culture to Cardiff’) and business start-ups (‘Welsh Entrepreneur Aims to Empower Start-ups to Achieve their Digital Goals’) have been published on the Business News Wales website; valuable and demonstrable experience for those students’ CVs.

USW has a responsibility to the communities surrounding it to engage with them and support activities in them. The work of the Community of Expertise: Community Engagement to support community radio and local journalism demonstrates how engaging with both not-for-profit organisations and businesses enriches the communities USW resides in. It also provides opportunities for students to gain real-world experience which enhances their CVs; opportunities which take them beyond the student community and into the communities around them.