WalesOnline

WalesOnline understands that journalism cannot be measured in page views alone and must exist beyond a website.That is why you will find our work published across multiple platforms, wherever we think our audience is most likely to find and appreciate it.

After an undercover investigation lasting months, we produced an 18-minute video documentary we believe to be the first of its kind in the commercial regional press. It exposed the disgraceful inner workings of a direct sales firm in Cardiff whose workers went door to door trying to persuade people to give money to established UK charities. Wearing a hidden camera, we revealed behaviour which left a charity appalled and pledging to investigate every donation, a fundraising firm describing the footage as “unbelievable” and a regulator saying it is assessing our evidence. Our filming exposed lies and pressure-selling on doorsteps, new recruits being told to “trick” people into parting with their cash, job adverts with empty promises of minimum salaries and new starters being advised to spend less time with their families in behaviour described as "cult-like". The video was viewed over two million times on TikTok, precisely where young people most at risk of falling into this insecure employment were most likely to see it. We also produce tailored videos for TikTok, where we seek to break down the news for a younger audience, from explainers on Welsh Government proposals to ban vapes to the reasons for the country’s new default 20mph speed limit. Our app is the most-read in the regional press, with stories read 14.5 million times on the app alone in October 2023. Our push notifications alert people in real time to news and events that have a tangible impact on their lives, like the closure of a busy road or a police incident where they live. Our newly-launched WhatsApp communities focus on news and sport and give us not only a direct relationship with our readers but a secure way to grow our audience. We achieved 300,000 page views in this way in October. We have 300,000 subscribers to newsletters on several different subjects from news to rugby and from small geographic communities to food and drink, including Wales Matters, which is an authored newsletter sent every day and dedicated to agenda-setting journalism. As part of our committed coverage of women’s sport, we created a purpose-built platform to tell the stories of female athletes in a way uniquely designed to have the most impact. Our Welsh Rugby Podcast was launched in August in time for the Rugby World Cup. Hosted by two of our rugby journalists, it has secured a series of world class guests, including World Cup winning coach Steve Hansen, Welsh international player Dan Biggar and one of the highest-profile former internationals to have played the game, David Campese. Despite being weeks old, it quickly made the top 10 of rugby podcasts globally on Apple. Overall, our website is read more than 50 million times a month.