May 21's Swansea Bay Media Highlights

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For all those interested in & working in the Swansea Bay media
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Online BBC Cymru Wales Click
News - 500 job losses over the next three years at Carmarthenshire Council are a "worst case scenario", the authority says. A letter has gone to staff asking for different ways of working as it looks save £28m. Click
Sport - Swansea City will play two top-flight sides on a pre-season tour to Holland in July. They face NEC Nijmegen and ADO Den Haag. Click
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Broadcast The Wave Click
News 1 - Training and creating work across Carmarthenshire is a priority according to a West Wales AM in the light of a county council job cuts warning.
News 2 - Lily Allen is pictured in today's newspapers, crying after picking up honours at the Ivor Novello Awards.
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Print South Wales Evening Post Click
News - Support appears to be growing among South Wales MPs for rising Labour star Ed Miliband.
Sport - The Ospreys could return to The Gnoll, home of Neath RFC, next season. The region are set to play a number of LV= Cup matches away from the Liberty Stadium.
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Links Twitter | Website
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Post-election Swansea Bay Media Highlights

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For all those interested in & working in the Swansea Bay media
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Online BBC
Lembit goes - Liberal Democrat Lembit Opik loses Montgomeryshire. Click
Hain's plea - Peter Hain's work together call. Click

Out west - Labour wins Swansea West by 504 votes. Click

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Online South Wales Evening Post Click
Plaid win - Plaid hold Carmarthen East and Dinefwr on dramatic night. Click
Brown bid - Brown 'will try to form coalition government'. Click
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Links Twitter | Website
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April 23's Swansea Bay Media Highlights

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For all those interested in & working in the Swansea Bay media
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Online BBC Cymru Wales Click
Local top story - A ready meals plant is set to close, putting 234 jobs at risk in Swansea after it fails to reach a deal with a supermarket chain. Click
Bumpy ride - Traders in Burry Port are demanding some of its 72 speed bumps are removed claiming they are driving customers away. Click
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Broadcast The Wave Click
Editorial - Swansea Council has helped overcome the social worker shortage by recruiting from Germany and Sweden.
General Election - Plaid's Ieuan Wyn Jones remains angry that his party were left out of last night's televised prime ministerial debate.
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Print Western Mail Click
Editorial - Wales needs to back calls for St George's Day to be recognised as a bank holiday in England if it too is to succeed in getting a public holiday for St David's Day, campaigners claim.
Commercial - The Magners League promotional folk are cranking up excitement for the competition's first grand final, to be played on May 29. Savvy Swansea Bay businesses should back the Ospreys on this one and start looking at commercial hook-ups.
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Links Twitter | Website
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Community Times puts Mumbles on the map

The latest edition of Mumbles Community Times has taken an innovative approach to embracing the tourism market.
Editor Joanne Caulfield commissioned illustrator Claire Wiles to produce a map of Mumbles, revealing where some of the villages most useful businesses, services and attractions are located.
Claire produced a highly colourful affair which Joanne is pleased to present across her Easter/Spring edition's centre-spread.
Categories highlighted include clothes shops, takeaways and hairdressers.
Restaurants listed include Peppers, Patrick's and The Pier. Gift shops catalogued include Shaker Shack, Blades and Cosmic Elf.
The magazine - now a 96-page A5 glossy - plans to run the feature through to the end of summer.
I hope such innovation has the desired effect, with tourists heading for the enterprises pinpointed and those enterprises then acknowledging the power of the press.

March 29's Swansea Bay Media Highlights

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For all those interested in & working in the Swansea Bay media
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Print South Wales Evening Post Click
Editorial - Reporter Richard Youle meets a Swansea City fan about to visit his 92nd top soccer ground, completing his Football League set. This season he's travelled 5,000 miles watching football.
Opinion - Campaigners fighting to keep Swansea Tennis Centre open could succeed in their efforts.
Commercial – Half-price afternoon tea offer at Swansea's Baguette du Jour. Good tie-up for the cafe and the Evening Post.
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Broadcast The Wave Click
Editorial - The Environment Agency is investigating a significant sewage spill in Swansea Bay. It's affecting part of the seafront cycle track near Swansea's Singleton Park. Click
Commercial – Bigging up its own success (quite rightly), The Wave’s website flags up October as launch date for its new all-Wales news service in partnership with key Wales Live partners. Click
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Online Andy Pearson Publicity Click
Blog 1 – New Nation Radio breakfast jock Allan Lake aims to make a splash on his big return. Click
Blog 2 - Buzz mag flies media flag for South Wales comedy, with Paul Merton and Rhod Gilbert. Click
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Links Twitter | Website
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Swansea Bay celebrations for successful media bidders

There's a big new name on the Swansea Bay media landscape ... and it's one the good folk at Swansea Sound and The Wave can be very excited about.
The Government has today named Wales Live as the winning bid to run an independently funded news consortium (IFNC) pilot projects in Wales. The Wales Live bid featured the two local stations under the banner of parent company UTV.

Meanwhile, Llanelli-based independent TV production company Tinopolis is part of a similar success story for Scotland.
Wales Live is a collaboration between Swansea Sound/The Wave owners UTV and North Walian publisher NWN Media.
Michael Wilson, managing director of UTV Television , said: “What a fantastic achievement for the Wales Live team!.
"We put our hearts and souls into winning this bid. With our partners NWN Media, we look forward to delivering a fresh and authoritative news service to the whole of Wales across TV, online and radio with the current ITV Wales News Team.
"The process is still on-going and we remain fully committed to moving forward on contracts."

The IFNCs will receive a total of £47m in Government funding over two years to provide local news content across the web, mobile and other new platforms, along with the TV slot currently occupied by ITV regional news. Funding comes from a £130m under-spend in the licence fee.
Wales Live will take over the ITV Wales news service - although a Tory Government could spell trouble for the whole IFNC scheme.
Government decision-makers said the winning bidders "understood the implications of convergence, demonstrating how television, local newspapers, the internet, local radio could work together in new and interesting ways."
They said UTV had a "clear vision for an innovative community-based approach in conjunction with citizen journalists and its newspaper partner, NWN Media."
Reserve bidder for Wales was Tinopolis, with a consortium featuring Swansea University, Bay Radio, the South Wales Evening Post, the South Wales Guardian, ITV journalists and others being left out in the cold.

March 22's Swansea Bay Media Highlights

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For all those interested in & working in the Swansea Bay media
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Print South Wales Evening Post Click
Editorial – Police are appealing for anyone who saw a Swansea man in the hours before his unexplained death.
Opinion – Well done to each and every person who joined in Sunday’s Sport Relief effort in Singleton Park.
Commercial – Wales’ rugby shirts are to be sponsored by Admiral Insurance, with a substantial Swansea workforce; page one and 13 exposure for the big-money link-up.
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Broadcast The Wave Click
Editorial – Two Swansea firefighters are celebrating after successfully rowing across the Atlantic Ocean for charity.
Commercial – Typical ad break ... Days Motability, Army Recruitment, FRF Vauxhall, ATS Euromaster Tyres, British Gas.
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Online Andy Pearson Publicity Click
Blog 1 - Swansea student media folk excel at poll time. Click
Blog 2 - Media Master plunges in with Swansea Bay Business Life. Click
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Links Twitter | Website
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Media Master plunges in with Swansea Bay Business Life

With Media Master's own business looking to consolidate a more focused market, a new lane is being strolled this month: advertising.
For the first time, Andy Pearson Publicity has booked space in Swansea Bay Business Life which - by now - will have been mailed to more than 5,000 business people and decision makers.
It'd be welcome if some of them took serious notice of my advertorial. I'll report back in future weeks to discuss the response rate.
The ad, incidentally, features new logo artwork by Swansea's Sigga Design.
In the meantime, here's my blurb as it appears in the high-gloss mag, part of the South Wales Evening Post empire.


IN picking up Swansea Bay Business Life, you made a wise choice. I’m similarly astute in promoting my services here.
The magazine hits thousands of local decision makers, with content finely tuned for the vibrant local business sector.
That’s why you’re reading it and why those like myself, with brilliant professional services to offer, pay to ensure our profiles are raised in its pages.
However, this magazine isn’t the only place I’ll flag up my rebranding. Indeed, I urge all businesses to view the whole media picture in its full widescreen glory.
There are an increasing number of great opportunities for publicity because, thanks to production technology, the Swansea Bay media sector has fragmented markedly.
Choice was once limited to the South Wales Evening Post, Western Mail and Swansea Sound. Now there’s a thriving, multi-tiered communications industry featuring everything from fresh new local-interest websites such as http://www.gowernews.co.uk/ and music fanzines to high-end glossy mags covering style, the arts and lifestyle.
There are new niche broadcasters such as Afan FM and Nation Radio. Whisper it here, but even Swansea Bay Business Life has keen competitors in its lucrative market.
All this means that, although the promotional opportunities are there, the local media landscape has become increasingly difficult terrain.
That’s why Andy Pearson Publicity is essential in ensuring that every penny spent on your media strategy is wisely invested. Editorial pieces should be pitched at the right time to the right journalist, ad campaigns should be carefully considered and soundly structured, promotions should be placed to maximise sales effects.
My own unique database lists, in great detail, around 50 media operations with a foothold in Swansea Bay. It’s there to be used.

March 15's Swansea Bay Media Highlights

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For all those interested in & working in the Swansea Bay media
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Print Western Mail Click
Editorial – New Year Welsh house price growth has fizzled out with the market becoming more unpredictable, a leading property website says.
Opinion – Political point-scoring by political parties will do nothing to address the structural problems affecting our economy. What we need is a consensus for making Wales a competitive, thriving and prosperous place to live.
Tuned in – Music fans are being promised an emotional reunion this summer when Swansea rockers The Storys play their farewell gig at the city’s Grand Theatre.
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Broadcast The Wave Click
Editorial – High-powered reports into the deaths of three Swansea-area teenagers are expected to be made public this week.
Commercial – Well done to Swansea city centre photographer Justin Harris for his link-up with The Wave ... he’s provided a new portfolio of presenter portraits. Click
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Community Radio Tircoed Click
News – WAG and Barnardo's have clashed over a report produced by the charity calling for more childcare help for young mothers.
On the go - You can now tune in to Radio Tircoed on the Nokia internet radio application. For info click here
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Online Andy Pearson Publicity Click
Blog 1 - Business show lures Swansea media folk ... and others! Click
Blog 2 - Swansea media duo make timely progress. Click
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Links Twitter | Website
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New chief for Swansea Bay media team

Sister radio stations Swansea Sound and The Wave have a new head girl.

Helen Bowden, right, arrives with strong Swansea credentials and 20 years of radio experience.

Her track record suggests that she'll wish to build wisely on the Swansea Bay community links already enjoyed by the Victoria Road crew.
Originally from Swansea, Helen spent her teenage years in Mumbles.
She returned in her 20s before taking up a job with The Children’s Society charity.
Helen began her radio career as a breakfast show co-host with borderland broadcaster Severn Sound.
Most recently she has been at Blackpool's Radio Wave who she joined as programme manager before rising to station director level four years ago.
On the Lancashire coast, she chaired town centre enterprise partnership Blackpool BID, was involved in a business leader group and sat on a body looking after the welfare of children across Blackpool.
She instigated the a local heroes project and a culture and lifestyle awards scheme. Radio Wave was recently named UTV station of the year.
Married with two children, Helen said: "I'm incredibly excited about this new challenge. I love this area and can’t wait to get to know local businesses and work with them.
"I'm Welsh, my parents spent much time in Swansea and I spent the best years of my life here.
"The Wave and Swansea Sound are two very successful stations and I look forward to taking them into the next era.”
She was appointed to Swansea Sound and The Wave by parent group UTV Media to replace Carrie Moseley.
Helen, welcome home!