The Welsh Experience
Sianel Pedwar Cymru, or S4C, is a TV channel that broadcasts a mixture of Welsh and English programmes for Wales. If you don't know, Wales is a small country on the left hand side of England. The two nations have had something of a love-hate relationship for about two millenia now, so I don't suppose it'll get any better over the next 20 years.
Welsh is one of the ancient celtic languages of Europe (and a beautiful one, too). It was dying out until the last few decades when a determined effort was made to rescue the language, and with it, the culture of Wales. When I was a boy, growing up in England, the only Welsh that ever made it on to our TV screens was about half an hour of special programming a day, which used to get broadcast somewhere between Watch With Mother and the testcard.
Now, it's a success story. S4C was established by the 1980/81 Broadcasting Acts, and since 1982 all Welsh language programmes, whether made by the BBC or Independent programme makers, have been transmitted on S4C. S4C now says its role is the "provision of public service broadcasting to a bilingual community." It provides about 30 hours a week of Welsh language programming. It may well have contributed to the rebirth of the Welsh language. Diolch yn fawr (which means thanks a lot!).
G'Day Australia
Another approach to multiculturalism has been taken by Australia's Special Broadcasting Service, or SBS. This provides TV and radio programmes in 68 different languages. Here's a solution to a different, but related, problem. Australia is a melting pot of different peoples, attracted down under by lifestyle, climate, jobs, or whatever. While the immigrants are proud to be Australians, they're also reluctant to leave totally behind their cultural roots. So SBS broadcasts news, interviews, current affairs, community information and music in their home languages.
SBS started as a radio-only service in 1975 when the government-funded broadcasts from radio stations 2EA and 3EA in Sydney and Melbourne respectively. The service has grown to incorporate AM, FM, TV and Satellite services across the whole country.
The Maori Muddle
In New Zealand, the multicultural experience went horribly wrong. Aotearoa TV went on the air in May 1996 on a UHF channel in the Auckland area,
