Leighton Andrews AM

When will the Echo and Western Mail merge?

News that Trinity Mirror has merged its Welsh operational management with that of North West England, leading to the redundancy of its MD in Wales, (one of whose last tasks was to escort the Prime Minister around the office) must bring closer the day when the group merges the Western Mail and the South Wales Echo.

Over the last year, the two papers have come closer together, with journalists writing copy for both. A few weeks ago the Echo started appearing in newsagents in the morning at the same time as the Western Mail.

Trinity Mirror's weekly titles saw recent mergers of offices and editors, ( an action we were able to fight off three years ago) and prices have gone up yet again. (The Rhondda Leader now costs 75p: six years ago it was 32p).

They will deny it now I am sure, but in the near future we will see a new paper called the South Wales Echo and Mail, or something like it.

Meanwhile, the BBC is bailing out ITV's regional news operation.

Radio Cwmni on-line

Radio Cwmni is back - and you can listen online.

I'll be joining Sharon and the team tomorrow afternoon.

Thought for the Day - come home to the Valleys!

It's not often initiatives we launch as Ministers get to be the subject of the Radio Four Today programme's Thought for the Day, but thanks to the Rev Roy Jenkins our Valleys Homecoming Initiative in 2010 has done so.

You can read Roy's words here, or listen here.

Lle aeth pawb - where did everyone go?

A clever bit of photoshopping ages a generation of Rhondda Fach footballers by 30 years instantly on the S4C's lleaethpawb site

ITV Wales

There used to be quite a good programme about politics on ITV Wales called Waterfront, presented by Jo Kiernan and then Lee Waters. It was replaced a year or so back by a less interesting programme called Sharp End.

Now ITV Wales has pulled the plug, meaning that there is even less competition for the BBC in political reporting.

This is what we have all feared.

Guardian gets it wrong

Yesterday's Guardian leader claimed there is now a Tory councillor in the Rhondda.

No, there isn't.

There is a Tory on RCT, representing Llantwit Fardre.

The Guardian's journalists should get out more.

BBC Tries Harder

Maybe some of the messages we have been giving the BBC hierarchy about the UK network's
failure to get to grips with Britain post-devolution have hit home.

Today on Breakfast News they had Colette Hume from Cardiff explaining the Wales and England teachers' strike, and on two occasions Bill Turnbull was heard to talk about elections for all the Welsh and some of the English councils. In that order. Then they had a report on the Northern Irish economy with Declan.

Of course, it could just be a flash in the pan: sustaining it will be the test.

Rhondda Lives goes live!

Last September, I told the story of how the Rhondda Lives project had come about.

Today Rhondda Lives has gone live and you can see the output here on the BBC Wales website.

The project was launched at Valleys Kids who have run the project in collaboration with BBC Wales's digital story-telling team and the National Library's National Screen and Sound Archive, with support from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

I was delighted to see the wonderful films generated by the story-tellers, and also to welcome the National Librarian, Andrew Green and BBC Wales Head of Strategy Cath Allen to the Rhondda.

We also opened the refurbished vestry in the Soar Ffrwdamos complex and the writer Elaine Morgan did the honours along with Mrs Parry from the Soar Ffrwdamos congregation.

Welcome back Rhys radio

Penrhys based community radio station, Rhys Radio, takes to the air for another month from Monday March 3rd. It follows a successful first broadcast last September. You can find the interview I did last time round here.

Rhys Radio is part of the RCT Community Radio Project (along with Radio CwmNi in Treherbert and Dapper FM in Penywaun) which aims to make Rhondda Cynon Taff the centre of excellence for Community Radio here in Wales. It follows the award of more than £270k funding from the Welsh Assembly Government’s Communities@one programme to fund the project.

Communities @One aims to help people in Communities First areas make the most of new technology. The programme is jointly funded through the European Union’s Objective 1 & 2 programme and the Welsh Assembly Government. Communities @One is administered by the Wales Co-Operative Centre.

Radio Cwmni

A warm welcome back to Treherbert's Radio Cwmni, the Rhondda's first dedicated community radio station, which goes back on air today for 4 weeks. The station broadcasts on 87.8FM in the Upper Rhondda Fawr and will also stream live on the internet. The broadcasts are funded by the Assembly Government's Communities@one programme.