It must be more than a trifle unusual for a Welsh government minister to become front page lead in a national newspaper.
But that is what has been achieved by Elin Jones, our rural affairs minster.
Her move announced last week has been hailed as “groundbreaking” and “thought to be unique within Europe”.
I can understand how most who read this blog will feel a but mystified. The national newspaper in not the News of the Screws, or even the Grauniad, but Farmers Guardian.
The story goes on to cover most of page two in the second farming paper in the UK – the first is Farmers Weekly, a rather glossy and very fat production.
I thought it worth drawing attention to the success because of the near silence in the British press to most of what happens in the Assembly.
Not silence for everything. A week or so ago, there was a medium-length article, based on alleged happenings in a rural village in Monmouthshire which I had never heard of. The story, I think, was about waste disposal.
Far more to the point was the minister whose name was linked to the story – Jane Davidson, enrvironment minister.
Prior to the election when only Labour supplied ministers, Ms Davidson – known to some as The Princess – not infrequently appeared in the London press. As education minister, he had developed a hot line to some of the London dailies (especially The Guardian, I would imagine) as well as to the specialist weeklies.
Sometimes we decry these specialist weeklies. But this is where specialists get their news nowadays. As I write this, farmers would only now about the massive changes Wales is imposing on its agri-environmental schemes ONLY from the Farmers Guardian, the Farmers Weekly, and the Daily Post.
The story has (according to the web-site) still to be covered by the Western Mail (Steve Dube’s pages appear on Wednesday, and Ms Jones’s announcement was on Tuesday afternoon, too late for his deadline).
Yet one has the strong feeling that the Princess has stolen a clear march in the field of winning publicity.
When I worked for London educational magazines, the news editors seemed to have a fair idea of what was being decided in Wales. The reason – Ms Davidson had been there first.
This never happened for farming. OK, minister Carwyn Jones had other things on his plate.
Has anything changed since ? I am not sure how the Princess worked, but I got the impression that the lady was not unknown in London newspaper offices, speaking either to the education specialists, or to the news editor.
How else could she have been named as one of the environmental leaders of Britain by the Independent ?
Currently, ministers rely on what is pushed out for them by the Cardiff government press office. The Farmers Guardian story carried quotes from the minister, but they were press office quotes.
Farming is an area in which Wales is clearly leading the UK. Agri-environmental. Badgers. Red meat. And so on.
The Princess worked with the assistance of probably the best press officer – Janice Pickwick (now working in Cathays Park, I believe). But one got the impression that every government trip to London was combined with a press trip to ensure she became known.
Come the next election, Ms Davidson might receive an obituary, although she’s not dead.
It can sometimes be difficult to espy a journalistic field in which a minister can made an impact. Education is one. Farming is another. Perhaps the work is already being done. I hope so.
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