AN economic return of £1.34 is made on every pound spent on Gaelic media, a new report has revealed.
However, a plea for funding to be doubled has been made in order to protect the language and make its future more secure.
“Real positive strides could be made in the language, culture and economy if there was better investment in Gaelic media as funding has been very static over the last few years. If you want growth you have to invest,” Ealasaid MacDonald, director of strategy and external affairs at MG Alba, told the Sunday National.
Speaking ahead of the XpoNorth conference next month, she said MG Alba's recent economic report showed that when investment is made in Gaelic media there is a positive economic return.
Based in Stornoway, MG Alba provides the Gaelic media service for Scotland, running the BBC Alba channel in partnership with the BBC as well as services like SpeakGaelic.
Across Scotland it supports 340 well-paid jobs but with better funding this could increase to 770 with a return of £1.43 for every £1 spent, according to MG Alba's analysis in its new report Route Map For Gaelic Media.
While the Gaelic television service is successful with very young and older audiences, it only reaches four in 10 of younger adult users of Gaelic each week.
There is therefore an “urgent need” for Gaelic public service media to connect better with that audience, the route map reports. This can only happen through investment in the right content and delivery on all the platforms used by younger media consumers.
“Failure to harness the potential of Gaelic in the digital era will result in a lost generation and missed opportunity,” the report warns.
At the moment this is not possible because of financial constraints, it adds.
The document also argues that there is “a critical need” for Gaelic Public Service Media (PSM) to be recognised in statute and to have Public Service Broadcaster (PSB) status in its own right.
At the moment, there is no statutory provision for Gaelic media other than the obligation on MG ALBA to provide audiences with a wide range of Gaelic content, which is enabled by a non-statutory agreement with the BBC for the duration of the current royal charter.
In comparison with provisions made for broadcasting in Welsh, statute is silent on the requirement for a Gaelic service, silent on its PSB status, silent on its overall funding and silent on the obligations of the BBC.
“The legislative framework is dated and inadequate. It needs to be fully renewed,” the report states. “A new agreement for Gaelic Public Service Media, which adequately funds and strengthens BBC Alba, BBC Radio nan Gàidheal and all other media outputs, is needed to increase the volume, reach and impact of Gaelic media content as well as to optimise the role of media and technology innovation in language learning and usage.”
It adds: “The current level of provision for Gaelic media is below the minimum required to engage successfully with all its intended audiences.”
MacDonald said that as a minority language Gaelic needed to be protected.
“Gaelic as a language is in a dangerous position and if we don’t provide and ensure our young people are connected to the language we will be in real trouble,” she said.
“We have significant issues that we have to deal with in the north of Scotland such as depopulation, jobs and the economy and the Gaelic media should be one part of helping to address that.
“We provide economic growth so we are part of the cultural and the economic fabric of the Highlands and Islands.”
MacDonald said that everyone benefits from investment in Gaelic media.
“If you have a thriving Gaelic media and a thriving Gaelic language, you have thriving communities and if you have thriving communities the taxpayer and society benefits and that is what we want.”
MacDonald is one of the speakers at a session exploring the relationship between creative industries and place on June 15 at XpoNorth, the specialist support mechanism for Highlands and Islands Enterprise.
From top international speakers and creative business leaders to creative industry students, the XpoNorth conference brings creatives together and provides them with the opportunity to learn from some of the best in the business, network with peers and unite to discuss new and innovative ways of working.
To register interest in attending the conference on June 15 and 16 and be kept up to date with the latest news from XpoNorth visit www.xponorth.co.uk. Delegates can now register to attend for free via eventbrite.co.uk.
