English: Diolch yn fawr, Dirprwy Lywydd. I'm pleased to present this report from the Culture, Welsh Language and Communications Committee on the impact of the pandemic on journalism and on local media. I'd like to begin, of course, by giving my thanks to my fellow committee members, to our wonderful team of staff and to all of those witnesses who gave both oral and written evidence. I'm sure we would all agree that it is vital to democracy that we have thriving press and media that can hold us all to scrutiny. I'm sure we would also all agree on the vital importance, at a time of crisis, of accurate information at such a dangerous time. Our report looks at three areas in this regard. We found that the crisis has exacerbated and highlighted ongoing challenges for the Welsh media and for local media, and threw into sharp relief a persistent failure of some elements of the UK media to report accurately on devolved matters. We looked at the nature and accuracy of information about the response to the pandemic, the impact of the threat of redundancies on key news outlets and long-term support for local journalism and media. We're grateful to the Welsh Government for accepting all but one of our recommendations. Reporting on devolved matters quickly became problematic at the beginning of the pandemic. Many people, of course, in Wales rely on UK news outlets, whether that is broadcasters or newspapers, for their news. It was frequently the case that UK-wide news providers did not make it clear that there were different rules in different parts of the United Kingdom across the four nations. It is true to say that reporting on devolved matters started very badly and it did, through the pandemic, improve, and it became clear that more and more people were aware that the rules here were different. We gradually did see a move from the reporting of English regulations as if they applied to the whole of the UK to reporting on England and Scotland, and, eventually, to reporting on the four nations. It is crucial at this difficult time that people across the UK know what rules apply to them, and this is why we called on the Welsh Government to urge the Office of Communications to ensure that broadcasters maintain impartiality and accuracy of reporting on all four UK nations equally as a matter of course. We're pleased that Ofcom has written to broadcasters to remind them of this and of the broadcasting code. We have seen some improvement since, but it still continues to be the case that this is something that broadcasters and journalists continue to need to be reminded of. The committee has felt some frustration in this regard, particularly with elements of public sector broadcasting. In July, Reach plc, which, of course, is the company that owns some of our national and our most important local news outlets, announced that almost 90 journalists' jobs were at risk. We were able to take evidence from the company and from the journalists' unions. We were very concerned about the potential for job losses, and we asked at that time for the Welsh Government to meet representatives from the sector to get an understanding of what support might be needed and what they could do at that time. I'm hoping that the Deputy Minister will be able to tell us whether he has been able to progress that work with key stakeholders that he agreed to undertake. One crucial source of support, of course, for local news outlets is advertising revenue. We recommended very strongly that Welsh Government should ensure that statutory notices, which are great source of revenue and are within Welsh Government and local government control, should be published in hyperlocal and online providers, as well as in the larger outlets. And again, it would be good to hear from the Deputy Minister the extent to which that is being monitored and the extent to which that has happened. At the time, we recommended that the Welsh Government should advocate to the UK Government for an extension of the job retention scheme, and I'm sure we're all highly relieved that that scheme has been extended. The pandemic has, as I've said, accelerated problems that were already facing our local and national media in Wales, and the decline in newspaper sales has been, of course, stark and continues. At the height of the pandemic, they were selling almost no physical newspapers at all. We heard a lot of evidence about the difficulty of monetising online news media - how difficult it is for companies to make a profit. It is ironic in some ways that just as the Senedd has gained further powers, public interest journalism is being put under threat in Wales and potentially being forced to retreat. We called on the Welsh Government to urgently act to encourage new entrants into the market and to support innovative approaches to the provision of news journalism in Wales. We were pleased to hear from the Deputy Minister, in committee on 17 September, that he's asked Creative Wales to consider whether it might be able to act as an arm's-length body to provide some direct financial support for key local news outlets in Wales, and again I'm looking forward to hearing more from the Deputy Minister in this regard. There is much more I could say, Dirprwy Lywydd, but I'm very anxious to hear from other Members, both members of the committee and others, who will want to contribute to this debate. I'm grateful again to all who took part in the inquiry, and I hope that we can all agree that it is vital to the future of our fledgling democracy that that democracy is accurately reported on, so that people can become aware of the important decisions made in this place that affect them. Diolch yn fawr.
Welsh: Diolch yn fawr, Ddirprwy Lywydd. Rwy'n falch o gyflwyno'r adroddiad hwn gan y Pwyllgor Diwylliant, y Gymraeg a Chyfathrebu ar effaith y pandemig ar newyddiaduraeth ac ar gyfryngau lleol. Hoffwn ddechrau, wrth gwrs, drwy ddiolch i fy nghyd-aelodau o'r pwyllgor, i'n tîm gwych o staff ac i'r holl dystion a roddodd dystiolaeth lafar ac ysgrifenedig. Rwy'n siŵr y byddem i gyd yn cytuno ei bod yn hanfodol i ddemocratiaeth fod gennym wasg a chyfryngau ffyniannus a all graffu ar bob un ohonom. Rwy'n siŵr y byddem i gyd hefyd yn cytuno ynglŷn â phwysigrwydd hanfodol gwybodaeth fanwl gywir ar adeg o argyfwng mewn cyfnod mor beryglus. Mae ein hadroddiad yn edrych ar dri maes yn hyn o beth. Gwelsom fod yr argyfwng wedi gwaethygu ac wedi tynnu sylw at heriau parhaus i gyfryngau Cymru a chyfryngau lleol, ac wedi dangos methiant parhaus rhai elfennau o gyfryngau'r DU i adrodd yn gywir ar faterion datganoledig. Edrychwyd ar natur a chywirdeb gwybodaeth am yr ymateb i'r pandemig, effaith y bygythiad o ddiswyddiadau ar wasanaethau newyddion allweddol a chefnogaeth hirdymor i newyddiaduraeth a chyfryngau lleol. Rydym yn ddiolchgar i Lywodraeth Cymru am dderbyn pob un ond un o'n hargymhellion. Daeth adrodd ar faterion datganoledig yn fater problemus yn gyflym ar ddechrau'r pandemig. Mae llawer o bobl yng Nghymru yn dibynnu ar wasanaethau newyddion y DU am eu newyddion wrth gwrs, boed yn ddarlledwyr neu'n bapurau newydd. Roedd yn aml yn wir nad oedd darparwyr newyddion y DU yn ei gwneud yn glir fod rheolau gwahanol mewn gwahanol rannau o'r Deyrnas Unedig ar draws y pedair gwlad. Mae'n wir dweud bod adrodd ar faterion datganoledig wedi dechrau'n wael iawn a thrwy gyfnod y pandemig, fe wnaeth wella, a daeth yn amlwg fod mwy a mwy o bobl yn ymwybodol fod y rheolau'n wahanol yma. Yn raddol, gwelsom symud o adrodd am reoliadau Lloegr fel pe baent yn berthnasol i'r DU gyfan i adrodd ar Loegr a'r Alban, ac yn y pen draw, i adrodd ar y pedair gwlad. Mae'n hanfodol ar yr adeg anodd hon fod pobl ledled y DU yn gwybod pa reolau sy'n berthnasol iddynt hwy, a dyma pam y gwnaethom alw ar Lywodraeth Cymru i annog y Swyddfa Gyfathrebu i sicrhau bod darlledwyr yn parhau i fod yn ddiduedd ac yn gywir wrth adrodd ar bob un o bedair gwlad y DU yn gyfartal fel mater o drefn. Rydym yn falch fod Ofcom wedi ysgrifennu at ddarlledwyr i'w hatgoffa o hyn ac o'r cod darlledu. Rydym wedi gweld rhywfaint o welliant ers hynny, ond mae'n dal i fod yn wir fod hyn yn rhywbeth y mae angen atgoffa darlledwyr a newyddiadurwyr ohono o hyd. Mae'r pwyllgor wedi teimlo rhwystredigaeth yn hyn o beth, yn enwedig gydag elfennau o ddarlledu sector cyhoeddus. Ym mis Gorffennaf, cyhoeddodd Reach plc, sef y cwmni sy'n berchen ar rai o'n gwasanaethau newyddion cenedlaethol a'n gwasanaethau newyddion lleol pwysicaf, fod bron i 90 o swyddi newyddiadurwyr mewn perygl. Gallasom gymryd tystiolaeth gan y cwmni a chan undebau'r newyddiadurwyr. Roeddem yn pryderu'n fawr am y perygl o golli swyddi, a gofynnwyd ar y pryd i Lywodraeth Cymru gyfarfod â chynrychiolwyr o'r sector i gael dealltwriaeth o ba gymorth y gallai fod ei angen a'r hyn y gallent ei wneud bryd hynny. Rwy'n gobeithio y bydd y Dirprwy Weinidog yn gallu dweud wrthym a yw wedi gallu datblygu'r gwaith y cytunodd i'w wneud gyda rhanddeiliaid allweddol. Un ffynhonnell hanfodol o gymorth i wasanaethau newyddion lleol yw refeniw hysbysebu wrth gwrs. Gwnaethom argymell yn gryf iawn y dylai Llywodraeth Cymru sicrhau y dylai hysbysiadau statudol, sy'n ffynhonnell refeniw wych ac sydd o fewn rheolaeth Llywodraeth Cymru a llywodraeth leol, gael eu cyhoeddi gan ddarparwyr hyperleol ac ar-lein, yn ogystal â'r cyfryngau mwy. Ac unwaith eto, byddai'n dda clywed gan y Dirprwy Weinidog i ba raddau y mae hynny'n cael ei fonitro ac i ba raddau y mae hynny wedi digwydd. Ar y pryd, gwnaethom argymell y dylai Llywodraeth Cymru bwyso ar Lywodraeth y DU i ymestyn y cynllun cadw swyddi, ac rwy'n siŵr ein bod i gyd yn falch iawn fod y cynllun hwnnw wedi'i ymestyn. Fel y dywedais, mae'r pandemig wedi cyflymu problemau a oedd eisoes yn wynebu ein cyfryngau lleol a chenedlaethol yng Nghymru, a bu'r gostyngiad yng ngwerthiant papurau newydd yn enfawr, ac mae'n parhau wrth gwrs. Ar anterth y pandemig, prin y gwerthid papurau newydd ffisegol o gwbl. Clywsom lawer o dystiolaeth am anhawster moneteiddio cyfryngau newyddion ar-lein - pa mor anodd yw hi i gwmnïau wneud elw. Ar yr un pryd ag y mae'r Senedd wedi ennill pwerau pellach, mae'n eironig mewn rhai ffyrdd fod newyddiaduraeth lles y cyhoedd yn cael ei rhoi dan fygythiad yng Nghymru ac o bosibl yn cael ei gorfodi i encilio. Galwasom ar Lywodraeth Cymru i weithredu ar frys i annog newydd-ddyfodiaid i'r farchnad ac i gefnogi dulliau arloesol o ddarparu newyddiaduraeth newyddion yng Nghymru. Roeddem yn falch o glywed gan y Dirprwy Weinidog, yn y pwyllgor ar 17 Medi, ei fod wedi gofyn i Cymru Greadigol ystyried a allai weithredu fel corff hyd braich i ddarparu rhywfaint o gymorth ariannol uniongyrchol i wasanaethau newyddion lleol allweddol yng Nghymru, ac unwaith eto rwy'n edrych ymlaen at glywed mwy gan y Dirprwy Weinidog ar hynny. Mae llawer mwy y gallwn ei ddweud, Ddirprwy Lywydd, ond rwy'n awyddus iawn i glywed gan yr Aelodau eraill, aelodau'r pwyllgor ac eraill a fydd am gyfrannu yn y ddadl hon. Rwy'n ddiolchgar eto i bawb a gymerodd ran yn yr ymchwiliad, a gobeithio y gallwn i gyd gytuno ei bod yn hanfodol i ddyfodol ein democratiaeth ifanc fod newyddiadurwyr yn adrodd yn gywir ar y ddemocratiaeth honno, fel y gall pobl ddod yn ymwybodol o'r penderfyniadau pwysig a wneir yn y lle hwn sy'n effeithio arnynt. Diolch yn fawr.