A independent panel is needed to examine newspapers and other media sectors in Wales according to a new report.

The National Assembly for Wales Committee said in its report called ‘the future outlook for the media in Wales’ that the National Union of Journalists claims that Welsh newspapers are facing crisis that ‘threatens their survival’.

The major threat, say the NUJ, comes from the ‘cuts-for-profits’ models imposed by the groups that own Welsh newspapers, such as Media Wales which axed 36 jobs last year.

The union claims said that ten reporters are now providing local news for seven of Media Wales’s weekly paper.

The minister for housing, regeneration and heritage, Huw Lewis, said he has ‘grave concerns’ about the newspaper industry because of the effect it has on the Welsh Government’s work and on Welsh communities.

He said that the Welsh Government was ‘extremely concerned and disappointed’ by cuts at Media Wales. He also acknowledged that the industry is of vital importance and is facing serious problems but said that it is even more difficult to find solutions to the problems.

The new panel will provide advice on sustainable policies to safeguard the future of media in Wales, looking at issues such as the development of sustainable business models that would support local print media.

Assembly member Ken Skates said: “While the future of the media industry in Wales is not clearly mapped out, what is certain is the need for a sustainable media sector to not just survive but to thrive and continue holding institutions such as the Welsh Government and National Assembly for Wales to account.”