This is a report on the proposed changes to S4C's funding and governance by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) following the 2010 Comprehensive Spending Review. The Committee says a deal over S4C's future was struck in "regrettable haste" by the BBC and Ministers, and that more detail should be given on the proposed funding and governance arrangements for the broadcaster. Nevertheless, the committee argues that the proposed deal should result in synergies and cost savings for both broadcasters. With studies estimating that S4C is responsible for sustaining over 2,000 jobs in Wales and contributing £90-100 million to the Welsh economy, it is crucial that S4C continues to independently commission its programming from production companies based in Wales, rather than additional programming being supplied to the channel by the BBC. Under the Government's proposed arrangements, S4C's funding will shift from being provided by a direct grant from DCMS to funding through the BBC's licence fee. While it is essential that the DCMS, the BBC and S4C work together to achieve potential synergies and efficiencies, this must not detract from S4C's independence. The DCMS and the BBC must guarantee S4C's funding and ensure that S4C receives in full its allocated portion of the licence fee. The Committee also argue for an enhanced role for the National Assembly for Wales in holding the S4C Authority to account for its performance and for a wider review of the purpose and remit of the broadcaster.

In this report the Welsh Affairs and Culture, Media and Sport committees approve the appointment of Huw Jones as Chairman of S4C, the Welsh language national broadcaster. The two committees held a joint pre-appointment hearing with Huw Jones, the Government's preferred candidate for Chairman of the S4C Authority. This followed earlier reports from both committees expressing concern for the future independence of S4C after new governance and funding arrangements with the BBC were introduced - Welsh Affairs Committee: S4C: fifth report of session 2010-12, HC 614 (ISBN 9780215559449) and Culture, Media and Sport Committee, BBC Licence Fee Settlement and Annual Report, fourth report of session 2010-12, HC 454 (ISBN 9780215559654). The committees are satisfied that Huw Jones has demonstrated the high degree of professional competence and personal independence required for the post. They recommend that the Minister proceed with the appointment.

Incorporating HC 34 i-xii, session 2007-08 and HC 281 i-xvii, session 2006-07

The "European Yearbook of Minority Issues" provides a critical and timely review of contemporary developments in minority-majority relations in Europe. It combines analysis, commentary and documentation in relation to conflict management, international legal developments and domestic legislation affecting minorities in Europe. "Part I" contains scholarly articles and, in 2002/3, features two special focus sections ('Belgium' and 'New Minorities'), accompanied by a miscellaneous articles section. "Part II" reviews the implementation of minority legislation and international standards at the universal and regional levels as well as new developments in relation to them and contains a list of international norms. Apart from providing a unique annual overview of minority issues for both scholars and practitioners in this field, the Yearbook will be an indispensable reference tool for libraries, research institutes as well as governments and international organisations.

A survey of media in Wales - across print, broadcast and online and in Welsh and English - and includes data and commentary. The report also contains reflections on Ofcom’s second public service broadcasting review and on the options to improve Wales’ media provision.

The Culture Media and Sport Committee says that the main outcomes of the BBC Trust's strategic review do not move the BBC on to the extent required by current circumstances, and that the incoming Chairman will have much to get grips with. The new licence fee agreement was reached "unexpectedly" in October 2010 between the Department for Culture Media and Sport and the BBC, but without any time for wider consultation with viewers or Parliament. The Committee believes the agreement reached is a reasonable one, but the process undermined confidence in both the Government's and the BBC's commitment to transparency and accountability. On the partnership between BBC and S4C, it is unclear how S4C can retain its independence under the new arrangements. It is extraordinary that the Government and the BBC should agree such wide-ranging changes without consultation or giving S4C any notice or say at all. The Committee is particularly concerned that National Audit Office still does not have the promised access to conduct independent assessments of the BBC's value for money. The Committee is also disappointed that banded information on talent salaries is still not in the public domain. The BBC opened itself to predictable ridicule with the decision to hire a "migration manager" who had to commute from the United States to manage the transition to the new Salford site. The report concludes that big questions remain over how radically the BBC needs to reconfigure both content and delivery in the years ahead.

In this exciting interdisciplinary collection, scholars, activists, and media producers explore the emergence of Indigenous media: forms of media expression conceptualized, produced, and created by Indigenous peoples around the globe. Whether discussing Maori cinema in New Zealand or activist community radio in Colombia, the contributors describe how native peoples use both traditional and new media to combat discrimination, advocate for resources and rights, and preserve their cultures, languages, and aesthetic traditions. By representing themselves in a variety of media, Indigenous peoples are also challenging misleading mainstream and official state narratives, forging international solidarity movements, and bringing human rights violations to international attention. Global Indigenous Media addresses Indigenous self-representation across many media forms, including feature film, documentary, animation, video art, television and radio, the Internet, digital archiving, and journalism. The volume’s sixteen essays reflect the dynamism of Indigenous media-making around the world. One contributor examines animated films for children produced by Indigenous-owned companies in the United States and Canada. Another explains how Indigenous media producers in Burma (Myanmar) work with NGOs and outsiders against the country’s brutal regime. Still another considers how the Ticuna Indians of Brazil are positioning themselves in relation to the international community as they collaborate in creating a CD-ROM about Ticuna knowledge and rituals. In the volume’s closing essay, Faye Ginsburg points out some of the problematic assumptions about globalization, media, and culture underlying the term “digital age” and claims that the age has arrived. Together the essays reveal the crucial role of Indigenous media in contemporary media at every level: local, regional, national, and international. Contributors: Lisa Brooten, Kathleen Buddle, Cache Collective, Michael Christie, Amalia Córdova, Galina Diatchkova, Priscila Faulhaber, Louis Forline, Jennifer Gauthier, Faye Ginsburg, Alexandra Halkin, Joanna Hearne, Ruth McElroy, Mario A. Murillo, Sari Pietikäinen, Juan Francisco Salazar, Laurel Smith, Michelle Stewart, Pamela Wilson

This book aims to expand the theoretical framework of and counter the Eurocentric narratives in language policy research, by comparing policies of EU and India and demonstrating the importance of taking a comparative perspective while studying language policies. This book challenges the notion of macro-level power in language policy research and offers evidence that, in democratic frameworks, macro-level power is not absolute. It is not uniform across policy domains, but rather susceptible to pressure, especially in the domains of healthcare and social welfare. This book makes three important contributions to the theory of language policy by: Arguing for the need to reconceptualise macro-level power Proposing ‘Categories of Differentiation’ as a new analytical tool for policy research Demonstrating that socio-political changes are reflected at the textual level This book is of interest to researchers working on language policies and those investigating language related legislation across different policy domains, to practitioners and policymakers in language policy, as well as to graduate students conducting comparative policy research. “This is a much valued and timely book making a strong case for the subject of language policy across Europe and India. The large comparative case studies of four distinctive states across Europe and India in a simple descriptive mode makes the reading of this book enjoyable. The domains of administration, legislation, healthcare and social welfare are undoubtedly novel ways to deal within the concept of language policy in a wider sense. The author uses discourse analysis to bring out the relationship between intention, explanation and interpretation of a phenomenon like language policy and its implementation. The social diversity as expressed in linguistic mapping is well captured in the novel idea of “categories of differentiation” both as a normative methodological tool and its historical-empirical manifestation.” — Asha Sarangi, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.

review of the BBCs royal Charter : 1st report of session 2005-06, Vol. 2: Evidence