Under the sponsorship of Dame Rosemary Butler AM, the event included practical workshops for pupils, informal conversations, and discussions by various well-known guest speakers from the fields of politics, journalism and public relations, as well as academics from Swansea, Cardiff and Aberystwyth Universities.

The expert panellists (pictured below) included:

• Elliw Gwawr (Chair) - Westminster Reporter, BBC Cymru.
• Nerys Evans  - Director of Deryn, public affairs consultancy.
• Bethan Jenkins AM - Regional Assembly Member for South Wales West.
• Owain Phillips - ITV Wales Reporter.
• Owain Schiavone - Golwg360 Director.

The event offered pupils the opportunity to look at the ways in which journalists source their news stories, and question the impact bloggers and social media have on the reporting of the democratic process in Wales. By analysing the way the daily news agenda is built, the aim was to explore the nature of the symbiotic relationship that exists between politicians, journalists and the public relations industry in Wales, and how the cooperation and the inherent conflict between them helps in building the news agenda of the day.

Iwan Williams, Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol lecturer in Media and Public Relations at Swansea University, said: “The aim of this conference was to stimulate students' understanding of the process of promoting and filtering news stories, and also to provide students with a better understanding of the possible career paths that are open to them - from journalism to politics, and from public relations to lobbying”. 

‌Image: The expert panelists with pupils from Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Bryn Tawe

The Presiding Officer of the National Assembly fro Wales, Dame Rosemary Butler AM, said: “The media plays a key role in ensuring that the National Assembly can engage with the people it serves, the people of Wales.

“I have been running a campaign for the past two years called “Addressing the Democratic Deficit in Wales” which looks to tackle the problem we face where many Welsh people consume their news and current affairs through UK media platforms that often don’t properly relay the huge policy differences in Wales to their Welsh audiences.

“A project like this one being run by Swansea University plays an important part in teaching the next generation of Welsh journalistic talent that they need to ensure that the Welsh news agenda, and the work of the Assembly in particular, is properly covered whether they work for a UK or Welsh media orgnaisation.”