Nation.Cymru () is a Welsh news service established in 2017 with the aim of creating a national English-language news service for Wales. It receives £20,000 a year from the Books Council of Wales and the rest of its financial support comes from 1,000 monthly subscribers to the site.
History
The website was established by Bangor University journalism lecturer Ifan Morgan Jones in response to the decline of the Welsh commercial media sector and lack of public knowledge of the activities of Welsh political institutions such as the Senedd. Jones was previously editor of the Golwg360 news website, as well as being a member of the Welsh Assembly's News and Digital Information Taskforce in 2017 and giving evidence to the Assembly's Culture, Welsh Language and Communications Committee.
In early 2017, the service established a crowdfunding round on GoFundMe, securing £5,305 in donations for the goal of "setting up a community-driven national news website, run and contributed to by volunteers, and with any money made invested back in the website.
Its first article published on 26 May 2017 said that the aim was to create a "national, popular, not for profit news service" that was independent of any other commercial organisation, therefore being "by the people of Wales, for the people of Wales".
The website aims to close the Welsh 'democratic deficit', specifically targeting the absence of a national, Welsh-based, English language news service. Welsh language readers are currently only served by Golwg360 and S4C ("preaching to the converted – the Welsh-speaking middle class" according to Jones), while English language readers are "underserved" by the BBC (headquartered in London) and the Western Mail (which only runs as a semi-national daily newspaper).
London School of Economics (LSE) researcher Samuel Parry cited the website when they attributed the "major stumbling block for Welsh independence" to the absence of an indigenous media in the country. Writing for the LSE Brexit blog, Parry cites the inception of Nation.Cymru and similar outlet Desolation Radio as seeking to stem that problem.
Academics such as McAllister and Cole have noted that "the weakness of the media has an effect on political coverage within Wales and on how informed the Welsh electorate are." Meanwhile, Blain, et al., have compared Wales' media deficit with the reach of the media in Scotland, where 12 newspapers are written and published in the country, and where there are 24 total papers some of whom are national newspapers with Scottish-made editions, but in reply Jones has asserted that "Wales is not Scotland".
The website states it is apolitical and will not support any particular candidate. It however rejects "the toxic politics of the far-right".
Supporters of the service include Plaid Cymru's UK parliamentary candidate, Mark Hooper, who says it serves as an opportunity for "Welsh news for Welsh readers".
In 2019 it received funding from the Books Council of Wales, who support similar publications such as Poetry Wales, the IWA's Click on Wales and The Welsh Agenda, the New Welsh Review, Planet, and the Wales Arts Review.
In February 2021 Ifan Morgan Jones stepped down as editor and Gareth Hughes took over the role. Later the same year David Owens was appointed as culture editor. In January 2023, Emily Price took over the role of news editor.
Coverage
The site aims to provide frequent (but not 24/7) non commercial coverage of a range of subjects which tackle the "central question: how can we become a better nation?"
The website has been cited widely:
On the floor of the Senedd during Plenary discussions into devolution of broadcasting In the Welsh Government's Draft Budget 2021 In the Senedd Independent Review into the Arts In the Institute of Welsh Affairs (IWA) piece on Who Speaks for Wales? The IWA's report into Decarbonising Transport In pieces by Wales Online / Western Mail On the BBC News website On BBC Radio Cymru
Coverage in national media
The website has published a range of articles which have led to wider debate in other national media sources, some of which are covered below.