Media Watch: TV blackouts Scottish Parliament vote over broadcasting powers
Scotland’s TV stations ignored a hard-hitting debate in Holyrood yesterday. MSPs lined up to say the BBC, STV, and London-based regulator Ofcom are failing Scotland. MSPs then voted convincingly by 70 to 48 in favour of devolving broadcasting powers to Scotland.
But Holyrood’s powerlessness and the broadcasters’ indifference were on full view when they ignored the vote in the evening news.
Silence from the flagship news programmes
On its website, the BBC reported on an earlier committee hearing about its cuts to funding in Scotland - but a website headline about the debate itself just led to an error page and the broadcaster has not covered it on its site 24 hours after the debate. Reporting Scotland did not cover it. STV did not mention the debate at all on its website.
Absurd “Nazi” comparison from BritNat red-tops
The hardline British Nationalist Daily Express did cover the debate - but with the absurd headline: “SNP Bid to gain control of BBC Scotland is 'straight from the Goebbels playbook'”.
The paper quoted Alistair Bonnington, who was head of legal at BBC Scotland for 16 years until 2008, comparing the SNP's tactics to “those of Nazi propagandist, Joseph Goebbels.”
The Daily Mail had a photo of culture secretary Mairi McAllan frowning and the headline: “SNP’s McAllan is ‘stoking grievance politics’ amid row over BBC job cuts”.
No reporting from self-styled quality papers
Meanwhile other newspapers that claim to cover Scotland such as the Times, and The Scotsman, failed to report on how Scotland’s elected representatives lined up to condemn both the BBC and STV and to demand that powers over broadcasting be devolved.
If a debate accusing the BBC of bias, bad journalism and funding unfairness was held in Westminster it would head the news of course. But Scots are poorly served by the UK media.
England loses Blankety-Blank; Scotland loses news programming
In the debate, Glasgow Anniesland MSP Colm Merrick explained that Scotland has low autonomy in broadcasting in European terms, much less than even than regions of Spain.
Scotland is also suffering disproportionately from BBC cuts. Merrick said while England “is set to lose “Blankety Blank”, Scotland is set to lose flagship news programmes”. That is the kind of line that could have given a headline to any newspaper that was interested in covering Scotland as opposed to following a BritNat agenda set in a London newsroom.
He also made the point that Scotland has an older population with more digital exclusion so that moving BBC Scotland’s linear channel to online only will affect a larger percentage of the population.
Almost £100 million less for Gaelic TV than Welsh language TV
The National and Holyrood Magazine did report on the speech by Scottish culture secretary Mairi McAllan. Holyrood quoted her calculation that BBC expenditure in Scotland is equivalent to only 88.8 per cent of the licence fee income raised in Scotland, compared with 110.2 per cent in Wales and 99 per cent in Northern Ireland. There is also a funding gap of approximately £95m between Welsh and Gaelic language channels. The Herald the next day had a news feature about the funding row over Gaelic TV provision but did not mention the debate.
Unfair emphasis on certain stories
MSP for Clackmannanshire and Dunblane Keith Brown accused the BBC of being unfair to Scotland, covering ferries going over budget and delayed but not a much more costly UK Government military procurement failure with the Ajax tanks. He said: “The BBC - I don’t know how many programmes or many news bulletins they’ve done on the ships going over budget… Where is a documentary on the Ajax tanks scandal, which is proportionately more Scottish taxpayers’ money than those ferries?"
Aberdeen Central MP Jack Middleton was angry about STV’s decision to close the remnants of Grampian TV, STV North. Instead they moved resources to a low-information radio channel in the central belt, which does not serve a public duty to provide news.
This change was opposed not only by the NUJ, but by the Scottish Government, by all five parties then represented in the Scottish Parliament, and by 96% of viewers in the area; yet was waved through by Ofcom, whose explicit remit is to represent the interests of the public.
At an earlier committee hearing, the Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee heard national NUJ organiser Nick McGowan-Lowe said Ofcom does not protect the interests of Scottish audiences.
Mind the democracy gap
In an age of disinformation, Scotland needs public service broadcasting more than ever. We also pay for it. But there is no transparency and accountability for Scots over what we receive or don’t receive.
Ofcom has proved itself unable or unwilling to look after the interests of Scotland’s people. STV was allowed to move resources away from local reporting in the North-East to yet another bland radio station which does not serve its public interest obligation. The BBC is pushing through cuts that disproportionately impact Scotland.
The UK broadcasting system is not serving Scotland. It is in fact stacked against Scotland, clearly discriminating against any story that seems to support more powers for Scotland or eventual independence. Most of the time either consciously or unconsciously, they serve a BritNat agenda.
At Believe in Scotland, we are arguing that it is time for Scotland to have power over broadcasting regulation. That is not because we see devolution as an alternative to independence. Far from it, we want Scotland to be able to tell its own story and build the confidence we need to move to independence.