BBC Wales, BBC Cymru Fyw and Radio Cymru: story routes and how to pitch a local-history story
Harvested 2026-10-26 (skills harvest 14:37). BBC contact pages read 26 Oct; Radio Cymru programme inboxes NOT yet checked.
The inboxes (BBC's own pages)
- [address kept in the project workspace]: "send your story to all BBC Wales news services in English and Welsh" (one email reaches the English and Welsh desks: the default route).
- [address kept in the project workspace]: story suggestions for BBC News Online Wales only (team at BBC Wales HQ, Cardiff; switchboard [number kept in the project workspace]). The page dates from 2013: ignore its old Llandaff postal address (BBC Wales moved to Central Square, Cardiff).
- [address kept in the project workspace]: the TV programme Wales Today.
- [address kept in the project workspace]: BBC Cymru Fyw (Welsh-language online), listed on its official Facebook page.
- [address kept in the project workspace] and WhatsApp [number kept in the project workspace]: BBC News UGC hub (UK-wide). BBC publishes the contributor's name as given unless asked not to, never the number or email.
- BBC Wales newsdesk phone [number kept in the project workspace] (from @newsgathering on X, 2015: check before use).
- Radio Wales / Radio Cymru: each programme lists its own contact on the station site; pick one programme, not the station.
What the BBC pages tell a pitcher (read literally)
- "We will presume that we may quote what you say, unless you ask us not to": every sentence in a pitch must be printable as written.
- "Include telephone numbers where you can be reached": a desk calls, it rarely emails back.
- "We can't promise always to reply individually": silence is the normal outcome; no chasers inside a week, never more than one.
- Practitioner advice already in 2.md (Definition, "Our tips on pitching the BBC", May 2025): BBC local radio and regional TV "are often hungry for local interest stories"; one desk, one angle at a time, never scattergun.
Pitch shape that fits a news desk
- Subject line = the news, with place: "Llandough: 1994 dig archive from demolished Tŷ Mawr traced at Museum Wales".
- Line 1: what is new and dated (a find in a public record, an anniversary, a publication date).
- Line 2-3: why people in the Vale / Wales care (a listed house demolished, a place name story, Welsh-Patagonian link).
- Line 4: what we can offer: pictures we hold the rights to, a document they can film, a speaker (identity = owner's decision).
- Phone number, one link to a public evidence page (not the shop). Under 120 words. For Cymru Fyw write it in Welsh first (Cymraeg yn gyntaf), English below.
Hooks with dates
- Anniversaries: the demolition (1988) and the clearance (March 1989) give a news peg every year; the 40th falls in 2028-29, so plan a long-lead feature pitch 6-8 weeks before.
- New finds from public catalogues (e.g. the 1994 excavation archive held at Museum Wales, accession 95.56H).
- Publication of a free trilingual e-book (cy/en/es): Cymru Fyw and Radio Cymru angle; the Welsh-Patagonian angle suits the 28 July Gŵyl y Glaniad window.
Rules for us
- Press only on the owner's GO. Pitches are HubSpot drafts; never send.
- BBC Wales already sits on the case parties ledger (the project workspace: "BBC Wales / BBC Written Archives"). Before any marketing pitch, read that entry and the open threads so marketing never crosses or duplicates a case contact. Never contact ITV (standing rule).
- Public wording: no banned words, no accusations about named people, never name the owner, nothing about family holdings or addresses.
- Monitor coverage with the free alerts set up in press-requests-and-mention-monitoring.md.
How we apply it to Cedwyn
- Draft one newsgathering.wales pitch (English + Welsh) as a HubSpot task "[DRAFT PRESS - needs GO] BBC Wales:
", and one Welsh-first variant for [address kept in the project workspace] Not both sent in the same week if the owner approves: newsgathering reaches both languages already. - Fact lines must follow current rules: "The family acquired Tŷ Mawr in 1667, as reported in the 1974 newspapers and by ITV News in 1988. The first record mention we have found is the 1824 David Stewart survey." No Bute-dated entries.
- Offer only images we hold the copyright in; link to the free evidence page with utm_source=bbc&utm_medium=press.
- Log the pitch and any reply in the project workspace; coverage goes in the Sunday growth notes.
Sources
- bbc.co.uk (newsgathering.wales, newsonline.wales, wales.today, quoting/reply policy)
- bbc.co.uk (haveyoursay@, WhatsApp [number kept in the project workspace], name/number policy)
- facebook.com ([address kept in the project workspace])
- x.com (newsdesk phone, 2015)
- bbc.co.uk (BBC Cymru Wales general contacts)
Raw Markdown: bbc-wales-cymru-fyw-story-routes.md · version and changes: changelog · machine index: agents.json