Swansea, the second-largest city in Wales, has long been a cultural and industrial centre. It also has a rich media tradition shaped by maritime heritage, industrial expansion, and modern urban development.
From 19th-century newspapers chronicling the rise of copper smelting to today's digital-first platforms, the city's media reflects its evolving identity.
Swansea newspapers, magazines, radio, television, and emerging new media are the focus of this part of our web guide.
Swansea's newspaper tradition is deeply embedded in the print culture of Wales. The National Library of Wales hosts extensive digitised archives of Welsh newspapers, including many that circulated in Swansea during the 19th and 20th centuries. Welsh Newspapers Online provides access to more than 1.1 million pages from nearly 120 publications up to 1910, offering insights into Swansea's civic life, industrial disputes, maritime activity, and political debates.
Swansea Central Library maintains a large archive of local and Welsh newspapers, including microfilm collections and digital access to national databases such as the British Newspaper Archive. These holdings include historical issues of the South Wales Evening Post and other regional titles, preserving the journalistic record.
The British Newspaper Archive contains several 19th-century articles referencing Swansea, illustrating the importance of the city in Welsh public life.
The South Wales Evening Post remains Swansea's flagship daily newspaper and one of the most widely recognised regional titles in Wales. With more than 433,000 digitised historical pages available through Newspapers.com, it has long served as the primary source of local news, sports, business coverage, and community reporting for Swansea and the surrounding region.
Swansea also supports a range of smaller community newsletters, parish magazines, and other local publications. These often focus on neighbourhood-level issues, cultural events, and local history, complementing the broader coverage of the major regional press.
Swansea's radio landscape includes commercial stations that provide music, local news, traffic updates, and regional advertising. Community radio stations in Swansea typically highlight grassroots culture, local arts, Welsh-language programming, and volunteer-driven content. These stations play an important role in representing diverse voices and neighbourhood identities.
Swansea falls within the broadcast region of major Welsh television networks, including BBC Cymru Wales and ITV Cymru Wales. Although these networks are headquartered outside Swansea, they maintain strong coverage of the city's politics, sports, and cultural life. Local television efforts in Swansea have historically included community-focused programming and university-based media projects. These initiatives often highlight Swansea's arts scene, student life, and civic events.
Digital-first news outlets and social media-based reporting have become increasingly important in Swansea. Local news websites, blogs, and community Facebook groups provide rapid updates on events, weather, transportation, and public safety.
Swansea's creative community includes independent podcasters and digital magazines that explore local history, arts, and contemporary issues. These platforms often reach younger audiences and supplement traditional journalism.
Swansea Libraries offer access to online newspaper databases such as NewsBank, PressReader, and the British Newspaper Archive, allowing residents to explore both current and historical news sources.
Swansea University and local colleges contribute to the media landscape through student newspapers, student journalism, research on Welsh media, and training in digital communication.
News outlets based in Swansea, and those which focus primarily on the city, are appropriate topics for this category.
Recommended Resources
The Seventh Quarry Press publishes "The Seventh Quarry," a biannual poetry magazine based in Swansea, Wales, and edited by Peter Thabit Jones. Launched in January 2005, it appears each year in winter and summer. It is offered as a print magazine with back-issue flipbooks and individual press books available. Other features include a recurring Poet Profile, alternating British and non-British poets, interviews, reviews, and artwork. Its online shop is powered by Shopify.
https://seventhquarrypress.com/
Swansea Bay News is a local news website serving the Swansea Bay area, publishing community and local news, politics, events, business updates, local sports coverage, announcements, and opinion pieces. Its coverage area includes Swansea, Neath Port Talbot, Carmarthenshire, Pembrokeshire, and Bridgend. Contacts are posted for submitting stories, corrections, or complaints, along with an online enquiry form, an email address, and social media links. A search field is included.
https://swanseabaynews.com/
Swansea City News is an unofficial news aggregator and fan site covering Swansea City AFC, with a focus on Swansea City news, transfers, match previews, and reviews. It includes headlines, match reports, transfer roundups, polls, and embedded videos. The platform is updated continuously (24 hours/day) with aggregated headlines and local coverage. Its terms and conditions, copyright information, and other announcements are made. Similar sites for other teams can be accessed by selecting the team.
https://swanseacitynews.com/
The independent lifestyle magazine is focused on Swansea's people, places, and small businesses. It publishes local stories, recommendations, and features in both print and digital formats and positions itself as a community-first title celebrating independent cafés, shops, creatives, and local characters. Its key features include stories highlighting neighbourhoods across Swansea from SA1 to SA6, support for independent businesses, and each issue is free to read in print or online.
https://www.theswanseaedit.com/
The Swansea Mumbler is the news and student-run blog for the Media, Communications, and Public Relations students at Swansea University. It publishes student features, alumni news, event coverage, and bilingual posts (English and Welsh). The site publishes student showcase pieces and student experience reports, an alumni zone covering stories about former students and career updates, and media research, staff news, and event coverage, such as graduation and symposium reports.
https://swanseamumbler.com/
An entirely volunteer-run not-for-profit Community Interest Company (CIC), The Swansea Positive publishes uplifting, local stories about Swansea and the surrounding area. Its formats include a free print and online publication (issues and feature stories) distributed across cafés, hospitals, transport hubs, leisure centres, libraries, and other organisations around the city. Typical content includes local human-interest features, community projects, and enterprise stories.
https://theswanseapositive.wales/
Combining a local search engine with directories and event listings, Swansea Search is a local city portal and visitor guide for Swansea, Wales. Designed to provide locals, visitors, and tourists with practical information about eating out, nightlife, attractions, and community resources. Key sections include restaurant listings, a categorized local business and community organisation directory, properties available for sale, news, and local updates from Swansea and South West Wales.
http://www.swanseasearch.co.uk/
Run by Red Brand Media, The Swansea Standard is a free local news website covering Swansea and the surrounding areas. Key sections include local news, sports, entertainment, columnists, business, political news, events, and jobs. The site names its columnists and local democracy reporters. Its regulations and policies are available on the website, including contact details for its advertising team, to submit news articles, to register complaints, or for general enquiries.
https://swanseastandard.com/
A local food and drink magazine and website focused on restaurants, producers, festivals, farm shops, and food-industry commentary across Swansea and West Wales, Taste Swansea & West Wales publishes reviews, features on local chefs and venues, and campaigns supporting farmers and local food resilience. Its site includes longform pieces and opinion articles, restaurant and hotel reviews, advocacy for food campaigns, and coverage and promotion of regional food festivals and events.
https://tasteswansea.com/
Broadcasting from Tircoed Village and serving Swansea and South Wales with local news, community information, and music from across the decades, Welsh Coast Radio broadcasts on 106.5 FM for North and East Swansea. Live streaming and "Listen Again" options are available from the website, along with schedules and programme pages, local news and community links, including partnerships. The site also promotes an app and voice commands like "Hey Google, Play Welsh Coast Radio" and Alexa support.
https://www.welshcoastradio.com/
