This is a bit of a late post. It relates to a story that was a big news item on the BBC's Radio Cymru and S4C news bulletins on Monday and was for a time the lead story on BBC Arlein.
I haven't mentioned it because I expected that it would also appear in the English MSM, on BBC Wales, ITV, The Western Mail or the Daily Post. But no! This appears to be a story that only Welsh speakers are interested in according to the MSM
A survey carried out by Beufort polled more than 1000 people in Wales. Only 11% of respondents considered themselves to be fluent Welsh speakers.
BUT
76% of them said that they thought that it is important for companies to advertise their services and wares in the Welsh Language.
82% of respondents said that the Welsh language is something to be proud of.
Why wasn't this story considered to be of interest to non Welsh speaking listeners and viewers of BBC and ITV Wales news programmes or readers of the Daily Post, the Western Mail or the Echo?
Would it be naughty to suggest that the editors prefere language conflict issues to dominate their coverage rather than to report the fact that most Welsh people, regardless of linguistic ability, support and value the Welsh Language as one of our national treasures?
Some years ago I did research on attitudes to the Welsh Language and jobs where one might reasonably be expected to speak Welsh. It was focus group research and the groups in the Valleys were even more positive than the groups in the North and West.
ReplyDeleteIt was in the Western Mail, as part of their coverage of Monday's Welsh Affairs Select Committee hearing on the language LCO
ReplyDeletehttp://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2009/04/28/language-order-faces-more-changes-91466-23487567/
I picked it up on the Syniadau blog.
ReplyDeleteThe other percentage was that 81% believed training staff so that they could offer a service in Welsh was important.
I don't think anyone would be so short-sighted as to think this training would not cost money. Therefore is seems that this 81% consider it a price worth paying.
So perhaps the main reason these figures were not widely reported is because they coincide with the current consultation on the proposed language LCO ... something which a few high profile companies and organizations are dead set against.