City Research Online City, University of London Institutional Repository Citation: Magnussen, B. (1995). Minority language television - social, political and cultural implications. (Unpublished Doctoral thesis, City University London) This is the accepted version of the paper. This version of the publication may differ from the final published version. Permanent repository link: https://openaccess.city.ac.uk/id/eprint/7767/ Link to published version: Copyright: City Research Online aims to make research outputs of City, University of London available to a wider audience. Copyright and Moral Rights remain with the author(s) and/or copyright holders. URLs from City Research Online may be freely distributed and linked to. Reuse: Copies of full items can be used for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-profit purposes without prior permission or charge. Provided that the authors, title and full bibliographic details are credited, a hyperlink and/or URL is given for the original metadata page and the content is not changed in any way. City Research Online: http://openaccess.city.ac.uk/ [email protected] MINORITY LANGUAGE TELEVISION - SOCIAL, POLITICAL AND CULTURAL IMPLICATIONS Birgitte Magnussen .. Ph.D. The City University, London "Communications Policy Studies" September 1995 - Table of Contents Chapter 1. Introduction 1 Chapter 2. Theory. 2.0. Theoretical Considerations • 6 2.1. Ethnicity 7 2.1.1. Definitions 7 2.1.2. Minorities: Territorial and Linguistic 9 2.2. Cultural Identity 10 2.3. Mass Communication Research 15 2.4. Territorial Minorities and Mass Media 23 2.4.1. Diffusionist Theories 24 2.4.2. Relative Deprivation 26 2.4.3. The Structural theory of Imperialism 27 2.4.4. Centre-Periphery Relations and State Formations 28 2.4.5 Decentralisation, Broadcasting and Possibility Spaces 30 2.4.6. Small States and Audio-visual Policy in Europe 32 2.5. Mass Media and Ethnic Groups 36 2.6. Broadcasting and Minority languages 39 2.7. Summary of Chapter 2 44 2.8. Application of Theory 47 Chapter 3. France. 3.1. The French State and the Peripheries 50 3.2. French Linguistic Policy 57 3.3. The Mass Media in France 60 3.4. Summing Up of Chapter 3 64 Chapter 4. Brittany. 4.1. History of Brittany and Breton Nationalism 65 4.2. The State of Breton 70 4.3. Television and Radio in Brittany 74 4.4. Summing Up of Chapter 4 77 Chapter 5. The United Kingdom. 5.1. State and Peripheries in The United Kingdom 80 5.2. The Mass Media in Britain 85 Chapter 6. Wales. 6.1. An Outline of Welsh History and the Rise of Nationalism 97 6.2 Contemporary Wales - Economic and Social Diversity 109 6.3. Developments in the Welsh Language - 114 Chapter 7. Broadcasting in Wales. 7.1. The Struggle for a Welsh Television Channel 125 7.2. The Broadcasting Environment in Wales 140 7.2.1 Broadcasting 140 7.2.2. The Press 143 7.2.3. Literature in Wales 145 7.2.4. Cultural Institutions and Organizations .147 7.2.5. European Connections 150 7.3. Wales and Brittany Compared 151 Chapter 8. S4C - Administration and Structure. 8.1. Control and Funding 154 8.2. The Audience 156 8.3. Administration and Staff 164 8.4. Some S4C History - Changing Commissioning Policies 169 8.5. On Co-productions and Subtitling 173 8.6. The Economic Impact of S4C on the Independent Sector 175 Chapter 9. Programming Structure. 9.1. Schedule 185 9.2. Programme Supply 189 9.3. Programme Costs S 193 9.4. Programme Content 195 9.5. Beyond 1993? 212 9.6. Concluding Chapter 9 215 Chapter 10. Rationale of Broadcasters 217 10.1. The World According to S4C 218 10.2. The World According to the "Independents" 222 10.3. The World According to HTV 225 10.4. The World According to BBC Wales 227 10.5. English Language Broadcasting in Wales 229 10.6. Summing Up on the Rationale of Broadcasters 232 Chapter 11. Conclusions 233 References and Bibliography 246 . List of Tables 4.3.1. Public Radio/TV in Breton per Year 74 6.1.1. Unemployment 108 7.1.1. Hours Broadcast per Day 1972 132 7.1.2. Hours per Week in Welsh 1959-72 132 8.2.1. Age Group Break-down for Welsh-speaking 'homes' 157 8.2.2. Social Group Break-down for Welsh-speaking 'homes' 158 9.4.1. Exams in Welsh for Learners 1991 &1992 211 List of Illustrations 2.2.1. Model of Cultural Identity 14 4.1.1. Map of Brittany 66 4.2.1. Extent of the Breton Language 71 5.2.1. Channel 3 Areas 92 6.1.1. Map of Wales 101 6.3.1. Welsh-speaking Population 1981 117 6.3.2. Welsh-speaking Population 1991 120 6.3.3. Number of Welsh-speakers 1991 121 7.2.3.1 Welsh Language Book Production 1972-1991 146 8.2.1. S4C's Average Weekly Reach 160 8.2.2. 54C's Average Weekly Share 161 8.2.3. S4C's Income, Average Weekly Hours and Programme Costs 163 8.6.1. Location of Welsh Television Industry . 176 9.1.1. S4C Programme Categories 1984/85 & 1989/90 187 9.1.2. S4C Programme Categories 1992, 1993 & 1994 188 9.2.1. Development in Programme Supply 1983/84 - 89/90 191 9.3.1. Average Hourly Programme Costs 193 Acknowledgements. I would like to thank professor Jill Hills for her help and support, and especially for her patience during the preparation of this thesis. I would also like to thank the numerous people in Wales who have been kind enough to take the time to help me with my enquiries regarding broadcasting in Wales. To them I would like to say: Diolch yn fawr! "I grant power of discretion to the University Librarian to allow this thesis to be copied in whole or part without further reference to me. This permission covers only single copies made for study purposes, subject to normal conditions of acknowledgement". Abstract This thesis explores the subject of minority language television by comparing the cases of Wales and Brittany, and in particular the social, political and cultural implications of the Welsh language television channel S4C. The thesis is divided up into two interrelated parts, where the first part is an analysis on state level of French and British media policy, particularly with regards to their linguistic minorities. This part of the thesis deals with the historical, political and institutional background for the provision of minority language media in Breton and Welsh. It takes as points of reference firstly the state, and secondly the minorities in question - the Breton and the Welsh - and shows how a certain policy area in this case broadcasting, can become a focus for minority demands. The thesis describes the historical and political background for the extreme difference in provisions for minority language broadcasting in the two countries. The second part of the thesis takes as a starting point the actual existence of S4C - the Welsh language channel - as a minority language broadcaster, and assesses the social political and cultural implications of this organisation. This part of the thesis examines the minority level, and assesses the potential impact of Welsh language broadcasting, mainly television, on Welsh society in general and the Welsh language in particular. Chapter 1. Introduction. The following thesis provides an attempt to examine the different approaches of two nation-states, France and the United Kingdom, towards the management of linguistic and/or territorial minorities within their borders. The thesis refers particularly to media policy and provisions for minority language broadcasting. After discussing. the general treatment of minorities, territorial and/or linguistic, in the two countries, the thesis proceeds with the examination of one particular policy area, media policy. It reviews the media policies of the French and British state with reference to linguistic minorities. The 'cases' - i.e. the particular minorities chosen - are Brittany and Wales, which are comparable on a range of different indicators. Both France and the United Kingdom are major industrial West European democracies, geographically situated in the north western part of Europe, and both are members of the European Community. The sizes of their populations are roughly similar, France: 54.3 millions and the United Kingdom: 56 millions, although the area of France - 547.026 km2 - is more than twice the size of the United Kingdom's 243.000 km2. And of particular relevance in this context, both countries have Celtic linguistic minorities on their Western seaboards, the Breton-speakers and the Welsh- speakers respectively. The apparent reason for embarking on a study of this kind, is that Wales in 1982 was given its own Welsh-language television channel: S4C (Sianel Pedwar Cymru - Channel Four Wales), which partially takes the place of Channel Four UK in Wales, broadcasting Welsh language programmes during peak hours, and Channel Four programmes the rest of the time. S4C has subsequently become the envy of other European linguistic minorities. In 1991 the weekly Welsh language output amounted to some 30 hours of broadcast television and 80 hours of radio. In Brittany by comparison, there are 1.5 hours of Breton-language television broadcast each week, and some 14 hours of state radio broadcasts in Breton. The argument of the first part of this thesis, is that the considerable discrepancy in the provision of Breton- and Welsh-language radio and television is to a large degree the result of the different way in which the French and British 1 states have treated the respective minorities of the two countries. Nor is the state of minority language broadcasting so much a function of consistent media policy decisions, as a response to the needs of efficient periphery management.