Yr ymgyrch i atal Arwel Elis Owen rhag cael ei benodi'n brif weithredwr S4C

Efallai i'r stori yma yn y Western Mail lithro oddi tan radar y rhan fwyaf ohonom ynghanol rhialtwch y 'Dolig a 'ballu. 'Dwi'n ei dyfynnu yn llawn.

A BEHIND-THE-SCENES campaign is under way to stop S4C’s interim chief executive

Arwel Ellis Owen getting the role on a permanent basis, the Western Mail can reveal today.

Mr Owen was appointed to the role on a part-time basis in August, immediately after his full-time predecessor Iona Jones was ousted. She is now taking the broadcaster to an employment tribunal, alleging unfair dismissal.

In October S4C learned that the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) would be cutting its budget by nearly 25% over the next four years, and that after that the channel will get the bulk of its funding from the BBC licence fee.

Initially Mr Owen was employed on a three-month contract, but it was extended after delays in advertising for a permanent chief executive. Earlier this month, following the resignation of S4C Authority chairman John Walter Jones, a decision was taken to postpone the appointment of a new chief executive until a new chairman was in place.

Mr Owen has refused to say whether he has applied for the full-time chief executive post, but it is widely assumed that he has done so. Now an email campaign has got under way with the aim of ensuring that he is not appointed.

Emails sent to a number of recipients, including the Western Mail, include a chapter from a book published in 1994 that touches on Mr Owen’s departure from the BBC in 1988.

At the time he was head of programmes at BBC Northern Ireland, which showed an investigative programme about the shooting dead of three unarmed IRA members by British troops in Gibraltar.

The book, Don’t Mention the War: Northern Ireland, Propaganda and the Media by David Miller, told how there had been political pressure from the Thatcher Government not to screen the programme. The BBC decided to show the programme despite the pressure.

Nevertheless, the book states: “On the day following transmission, Owen gave a radio interview in which he criticised the BBC’s caution in the face of governmental attack. In particular he is said to have alleged that the transmission of the programme hinged on the tone of Mrs Thatcher’s comments at [Prime Minister’s] Question Time.

“Senior management at the BBC deny that Mrs Thatcher’s performance had any bearing on the decision to broadcast the programme. One senior executive involved in the decision making commented to the author that ‘that is just ridiculous. It does not work like that’.

“The interview [given by Mr Owen] came to the attention of senior management when it was proposed that it should be transmitted on Radio Four’s PM programme. It was then pulled on the instructions of the Director General [Michael Checkland].”

Later, says the book, Mr Owen was “eased out” of the BBC.

A broadcasting industry source told the Western Mail: “His departure from the BBC was not a moment of glory.

“The question must be asked whether he is the most appropriate person to be S4C’s chief executive at a time when the channel’s relationship with the BBC will be crucial to survival.”

Questions have also been raised about Mr Owen’s ability to commit time to S4C, given that he is also chairman of the Care Council for Wales.

An S4C spokesman said: “Mr Owen does not wish to comment on his departure from the BBC.

“His commitment to the Care Council is two days a week, while his commitment to S4C is three days a week. There is time in a working week for him to fulfil both roles, and it is common for those holding public service appointments of this kind to do other things.”

S4C vice chairman Rheon Tomos said: “Arwel’s commitment to everything he does is without question. His contract with S4C is for three days a week, but he commits far more than the stipulated time to the role.”

'Rwan mae'r holl fater yn ddiddorol ar sawl cyfri. Honiad sydd yma bod ymgyrch ar droed i argyhoeddi'r wasg bod amgylchiadau ymadawiad Arwel o'i swydd pennaeth rhaglenni BBC Northern Ireland, yn ogystal a'r ffaith ei fod yn treulio rhan o'i wythnos waith yn cadeirio Cyngor Gofal Cymru yn ei wneud yn anaddas i fod yn brif weithredwr S4C.

Yn eironig ddigon mae'r blog yma wedi crafu asgwrn yn y gorffennol efo Arwel oherwydd iddo gynhyrchu adolygiad o'r ffilm Hunger i Barn trwy brism naratif BBC Northern Ireland yn nechrau wythdegau'r ganrif ddiwethaf. Haeriad y blogiad hwnnw oedd bod ymdriniaeth Arwel o bwnc sydd bellach yn rhan o hanes, yn rhy wasaidd i lif propoganda'r Bib ar y pryd.

Mae'r awgrymiadau mae'r Western Mail yn adrodd arnynt yn wahanol - bod llyfr wedi awgrymu i Arwel gael ei symud o'r Bib yng Ngogledd Iwerddon am siarad ar ei gyfer mewn cyd destun gwleidyddol yn ystod anghydfod rhwng y Bib a llywodraeth Geidwadol y dydd. Ymhellach roedd y materion dan sylw yn rhai hynod sensitif yn wleidyddol (arweiniodd y digwyddiadau dan sylw at gryn anhrefn a thywallt gwaed ar strydoedd Gorllewin Belfast am wythnosau) mewn cyfnod hynod sensitif yn wleidyddol.

Mae'r cynhwysion elfennol hynny yn bodoli yng Nghymru heddiw - llywodraeth Geidwadol, pwnc cynhenus yn ymwneud a'r cyfryngau a chyfnod o sensitifrwydd gwleidyddol. Mae'r awgrym yn glir - peidiwch a dewis hwn rhag iddo droi'r drol unwaith eto ar amser anodd.

Mae awgrym pellach wrth gwrs - y gallai drwg deimlad sydd wedi goroesi ers yr amser hynny rhwng Arwel a'r Bib fod yn broblem o dan yr amgylchiadau presenol.

Rwan o edrych ar hanfodion y briffio mae'n amlwg petaent yn wir yn y byddant yn niweidiol i ymgeisyddiaeth Arwel, ond faint sydd y tu ol iddynt mewn gwirionedd? - awgrym na chafodd ei gefnogi a thystiolaeth mewn llyfr a gyhoeddwyd yn 1994, a llyfr oedd ag agenda clir gwleidyddol ar hynny (agenda 'dwi'n cytuno a hi yn gyffredinol gyda llaw - ond stori arall ydi honno). Dim mwy. Mae'r ensyniadau (sydd yn niweidiol) wedi eu codi ar y nesaf peth i ddim tystiolaeth glir. Does yna ddim llawer mwy na hel clecs yma mewn gwirionedd.

Felly mae'r cwestiwn yn codi eto - pwy sydd yn briffio, a pham? Rydym eisoes wedi edrych ar bennod arall o friffio yn ystod helynt S4C - briffio yn erbyn yr Awdurdod y tro hwnnw. Bryd hynny daethom i'r casgliad mai'r sawl sydd fwyaf tebygol o ofni newid ydi'r sawl sydd a'r mwyaf i'w golli o'r newid hwnnw. Byddai newid mewn polisi comisiynu a phwrcasu rhaglenni yn cael effaith sylweddol ar lif incwm ambell i gwmni cynhyrchu.

Yma y byddwn i'n chwilio gyntaf am ffynhonnell y briffio yn erbyn Arwel hefyd.