Union chiefs have shared fears about the future of independent news, political and cultural titles serving Wales.

National Union of Journalists general secretary Michelle Stainistreet, pictured, is among 145 signatories to a letter calling for improved funding from the Welsh Government for such publications.

The letter has warned it is now “more difficult than ever for publications to balance their budgets at all”, despite efforts from the Books Council of Wales to lobby the Welsh Government for improved funding.

In response, the Welsh Government has noted it is providing £200,000 to fund Welsh media enterprises and improve Welsh-based journalism.

The letter states: “Not only would sustainable core funding help tackle the information deficit, and enable publications to reach more than a fraction of their potential readership, it would also enable ethical working conditions, make the sector far more open to entrants from non-traditional backgrounds and fulfil many more of the noble ambitions of the Fair Work Wales strategy.

“Throughout this century, much emphasis has of course moved into the digital arena.

“The plethora of Welsh news, culture and current affairs sites online is testament to a new national confidence and self-expression, one for which print media has unquestionably acted as a seedbed.

“It is important that public funding goes into online and multimedia publications, for this is how we so often consume our news and opinion, but the value of print media is becoming increasingly clear and urgent.”

In response, a Welsh Government spokesperson told Nation.Cymru: “Our annual funding to the Books Council of Wales is helping to support the publishing sector, including Welsh magazines.

“Through our Co-operation Agreement with Plaid Cymru, an additional £135,000 has been made available to the Books Council in the last year to support Welsh language magazines.

We are also providing £200,000 to fund Welsh media enterprises and improve Welsh-based journalism, which will also play a part in addressing the issues facing the sector.”