tag:theconversation.com,2011:/uk/topics/bbc-scotland-10070/articlesBBC Scotland – The Conversation2019-03-07T11:19:53Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1127902019-03-07T11:19:53Z2019-03-07T11:19:53ZBBC Scotland’s new channel: a fresh start that reflects a devolved UK<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/262430/original/file-20190306-100781-4bcez8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=227%2C0%2C5661%2C2163&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/view-river-clyde-sunrise-glasgow-scotland-788509798">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>We live in an ever-expanding TV universe with new channels appearing regularly. Still, it might seem surprising that the BBC, with all its <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-45810822">financial problems</a>, has launched with much fanfare a <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/1hx87NrNp3Y45hF2NyQDhFs/welcome-to-your-brand-new-television-channel-bbc-scotland">new digital channel</a> in Scotland. So, given the tight budgets and a relatively small populace, why Scotland, why now – and is it any good?</p>
<p>In 1999, Scotland and Wales joined the (<a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/northern-ireland-talks-latest-updates-stormont-power-sharing-deal-what-deal-look-sinn-fein-dup-deal-a8711691.html">currently suspended</a>) Stormont government in Northern Ireland to create two more devolved nations within the UK. These three bodies have different financial and legislative responsibilities (<a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/devolution-of-powers-to-scotland-wales-and-northern-ireland">devolved matters</a>) while significant powers – reserved matters – remain at Westminster, in areas such as defence, trade, immigration, the constitution and broadcasting.</p>
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<h2>The lie of the land</h2>
<p>But the principal public service broadcasters do not really reflect this current UK constitutional set up. <a href="https://www.itv.com/">ITV</a> has long since abandoned a regional-based model in favour of a centralised one, and even <a href="https://www.stv.tv/info/about">Scottish Television</a> (STV) is frequently <a href="https://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/under-fire-stv-chief-rules-out-sell-off-to-itv-1-4750865">rumoured</a> to be about to surrender its autonomy.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.channel4.com/">Channel 4</a>, despite obligations to source a significant proportion of its output beyond the south-east of England, was always firmly rooted in the London media landscape. However, its recent <a href="https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/channel-4-announces-leeds-will-home-new-hq/1497708">announcement</a> that its new HQ will be in Leeds with two new regional creative hubs in Bristol and Glasgow, indicate the channel’s commitment to fulfilling its <a href="https://www.channel4.com/corporate/about-4/4-all-uk">4 All the UK</a> strategy. But the case of the BBC is more complicated.</p>
<p>The establishment of <a href="https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/history-of-s4c-2117714">S4C in Wales in 1982</a> – initially a non-BBC service, but one which the Corporation is now obliged to finance – was followed in 2008 by the creation of <a href="https://www.bbc.com/alba">BBC Alba</a>, a Gaelic language service similar in scope and ambition, if not so well funded. And now there is a new BBC Scotland channel. </p>
<p>Its origins are worth exploring. In 1998 BBC Scotland planned to use the 6-7pm slot on BBC1 for an opt-out news programme covering Scottish, UK and international news along the lines of its successful radio programme <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0074hf7">Good Morning Scotland</a>, which goes out at the same time as <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qj9z">Radio 4’s Today</a> programme.</p>
<p>The plan was enthusiastically supported north of the border but was derailed by the then director-general John Birt with the support of leading Labour politicians, ostensibly on the grounds that the BBC would be <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/232121.stm">getting ahead of constitutional change</a>. Some of those involved seemed to believe such a programme would precipitate Scottish independence, eccentric as that view might seem.</p>
<p>When the first SNP government was elected at Holyrood it set up a broadcasting commission which in 2008 <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/08_09_08_broacasting.pdf">recommended</a> the establishment of a new non-BBC channel budgeted at between £50m and £75m per year. All the political parties supported the idea but the Scottish parliament offered no money towards the cost and the proposal withered on the vine. </p>
<p>Dissatisfaction with the status quo continued, and much ire was directed at the BBC on the grounds that it spent far less of the licence fee raised north of the border in Scotland than it should. In response, the current director-general, Tony Hall, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-39042666">announced</a> in 2017 that the Corporation would launch a new channel with an annual budget of £32m:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>We know that viewers in Scotland love BBC television, but we also know that they want us to better reflect their lives and better reflect modern Scotland… The best way of achieving that is a dedicated channel for Scotland. It’s a channel that will be bold, creative and ambitious, with a brand-new Scotland-edited international news programme at its heart.</p>
</blockquote>
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<h2>So how is it doing?</h2>
<p>The new channel has been <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/feb/22/bbc-to-launch-scottish-tv-channel-with-hour-long-news-programme">generally welcomed</a> and not merely by independent production companies ever hungry for work. But there has been continuing concern about resources. As to the likely audience size, both <a href="https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0016/115270/BBC-scotland-statement.pdf,">Ofcom</a> (the telecoms regulator) and BBC Scotland itself have indicated that a share of around 2% of the Scottish TV audience would be acceptable. Even allowing for the range of channels and online subscription services now available, and mindful of young people’s <a href="https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0020/102755/adults-media-use-attitudes-2017.pdf*">reluctance</a> to watch television in the same way their parents did, this seems a very modest ambition.</p>
<p>So what is the verdict on the first week? It’s not a surprise to see what might be called softer, (and cheaper) documentaries – an Asian wedding, Scottish punk rock and aspiring young dancers. However, the impressive old-school documentary <a href="https://naepasaran.com/">Nae Pasaran</a>, about the refusal of Scots Rolls Royce workers to service jet engines for the Chilean Pinochet dictatorship in 1974, shone on opening night.</p>
<p>Some of this kind of programming, interesting as it is, may well be over extended in order to fill the schedule and meet the Ofcom quota of 75% “original material” in peak time. There was also some (tried and tested) comedy, but there will not be much drama – the costliest form of television – and reshowing a much-loved classic such as John Byrne’s <a href="https://www.dramaonlinelibrary.com/plays/tutti-frutti-iid-19925">Tutti Frutti</a>, may only serve to emphasise that fact.</p>
<p>The nightly news programme, The Nine, has played to <a href="https://www.scotsman.com/news/opinion/new-bbc-scotland-channel-must-beware-parochialism-john-mclellan-1-4882043">mixed reviews</a> and does have the look and feel of a breakfast show. However after a first edition which scarcely mentioned the world beyond Scotland, things have improved, with more foreign reports from recently hired journalists and existing BBC staffers. But there hasn’t been too much UK news – Brexit apart – never mind news from the other constituent parts of the UK, including England. </p>
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<p>But 9pm is a difficult slot, given the offerings from the other main channels and although that could be an advantage with breaking stories, 10pm is probably the better slot – and perhaps that is where the programme may end up, despite the obvious competition. But an hour is a very long stretch to fill – much better to have a shorter 30-minute bulletin, followed by a current affairs magazine. </p>
<p>There are plenty of BBC critics who have been <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/scottish-independence/11095752/Scottish-independence-Nationalists-demand-Nick-Robinson-sacking-in-vocal-anti-BBC-protest.html">hostile</a> to the Corporation ever since the 2014 independence referendum, in which, they believed, the BBC’s news coverage was biased against home rule. Such people are deeply unsympathetic to the new channel. For many others however, it is a worthwhile development, if only stage one of what may be a long but necessary journey.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/112790/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Hutchison does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Its first new channel since 2003, does this Scottish offering reflect a genuine BBC commitment to 21st century ‘nations and regions’?David Hutchison, Honorary Professor in Media Policy, Glasgow Caledonian UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/849222017-09-29T14:29:12Z2017-09-29T14:29:12ZSpain’s disregard for Catalan press freedom is setting a dangerous precedent<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/188184/original/file-20170929-21094-1ke7rej.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Protest in Barcelona against the Spanish government on September 21. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/barcelona-catalonia-spain-september-21-2017-720040666?src=fceMukMuLGKltsCRE06sow-1-42">Riderfoot</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the run-up to the <a href="https://theconversation.com/catalonias-independence-referendum-how-the-disputed-vote-led-to-crackdown-82277">Catalan independence referendum</a> on October 1 – ahead of the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/oct/01/dozens-injured-as-riot-police-storm-catalan-ref-polling-stations">police attacks on voters</a> on the day – the lines between protecting the Spanish constitution and curtailing freedom of expression became increasingly blurred. More than 140 websites promoting the referendum <a href="https://comunicacio21.cat/noticies-comunicacio21/123896-la-guardia-civil-bloqueja-144-webs-pro-referendum">have been</a> closed by the Spanish government in recent weeks. </p>
<p>Reports have been rife of tensions between police and journalists – <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-spain-politics-catalonia-tax/from-new-tax-office-catalonia-hopes-to-grab-billions-from-madrid-idUSKCN1BW10A">including raids</a> on newspaper offices, broad threats of legal consequences, and an <a href="http://www.sindicatperiodistes.cat/content/m%C3%A9s-de-300-assistents-la-concentraci%C3%B3-en-defensa-de-la-llibertat-dinformaci%C3%B3">organised protest</a> by journalists against harassment. All this in parallel with <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/sep/27/europe-must-act-to-protect-rights-and-freedoms-of-catalans">the other hostilities</a> from Madrid: threats to arrest Catalan mayors, interference with civic budgets, mass police deployment and now the violence on the day itself. How do these attempts to control communication compare to other referendums – and how concerned should we be?</p>
<p>Ahead of the independence referendums in Scotland <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/events/scotland-decides/results">in 2014</a> and Quebec <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-29077213">in 1980 and 1995</a>, there were certainly accusations of media bias. In Scotland pro-independence activists <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-29196912">gathered</a> outside BBC Scotland a couple of days before the vote to protest against alleged institutional bias in favour of the union with England. Meanwhile, independence campaigners were <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/scottish-independence/11102194/Threats-intimidation-and-abuse-the-dark-side-of-the-Yes-campaign-exposed.html">continually accused</a> of being abusive on social media. </p>
<p>In Quebec’s second referendum, the French-speaking public broadcaster <a href="http://reporter-archive.mcgill.ca/Rep/r3113/media.html">was accused</a> of favouring the pro-independence vote and a parliamentary commission investigated possible bias. But for all the political conflict in these referendums, freedom of expression was never called into question – neither in the actions of the authorities nor <a href="http://news.sky.com/story/catalonia-the-messy-reality-of-the-referendum-spain-wants-shut-down-11057965">by putting up</a> potential legal obstacles to a referendum taking place. </p>
<p>To be sure, there has also been a row about media bias in Catalonia. This has been magnified by the fact that only the pro-independence side is campaigning – the referendum is not recognised by those opposed to independence and is regarded as illegitimate by Madrid. </p>
<p>Media outlets sympathetic to independence look more partisan because they only have one campaign to cover, while unionist outlets positioned against the referendum – which are roughly comparable in number – fall equally foul because they report the situation as a political dispute and not as a campaign at all. This reporting goes way beyond presenting two political options for Catalans. The unionist media talk openly about “the pro-independence offensive”, while the pro-referendum media focus on the “state challenge to Catalonia”.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/188183/original/file-20170929-21094-3z49gq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/188183/original/file-20170929-21094-3z49gq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=583&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/188183/original/file-20170929-21094-3z49gq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=583&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/188183/original/file-20170929-21094-3z49gq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=583&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/188183/original/file-20170929-21094-3z49gq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=733&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/188183/original/file-20170929-21094-3z49gq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=733&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/188183/original/file-20170929-21094-3z49gq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=733&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Monica Terribas.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mònica_Terribas_2017.jpg">Wikimedia</a></span>
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<p>For example, anti-referendum activists and others <a href="http://www.elnacional.cat/ca/politica/concentracio-ultra-terribas-catalunya-radio_195705_102.html">gathered outside</a> the Catalan Public Radio Station on September 27 chanting against pro-referendum editorial lines and carrying threatening signs against prominent news anchor Mònica Terribas, whom they regard as one of the key culprits. At pro-referendum events, meanwhile, activists <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.es/2017/09/22/lo-que-le-hicieron-a-una-reportera-de-lasexta-en-barcelona-tras-boicotear-su-directo_a_23219325/">have carried</a> signs saying that the generally unionist Spanish media does not represent them. </p>
<h2>Media neutering</h2>
<p>The activities of the Spanish authorities have taken things to a whole different level, however. Earlier in September, Spanish police <a href="http://www.ara.cat/en/Spanish-HQ-several-Catalan-newspapers_0_1870613118.html">visited or wrote to</a> a number of Catalan news organisations which had aired the <a href="http://www.lavanguardia.com/politica/20170904/431057749241/emitido-tv3-primer-anuncio-oficial-referendum.html">official referendum campaign advertisement</a> to give them a letter from the Catalan Superior Court of Justice. The letter, which also went to all Catalan public institutions, did not forbid the adverts or declare them illegal, or even say explicitly that it was illegal to inform people about the referendum. </p>
<p>Instead it warned of possible criminal consequences from helping to bring the referendum about, without specifying what types of actions could fall into that category. The problem with such loose warnings has been the censorship that has come about: the daily newspaper <a href="http://www.ara.cat/media/Als-nostres-lectors_0_1866413587.html">Ara</a> decided not to publish any more campaign adverts, for example. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/188185/original/file-20170929-23041-1s9iwcw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/188185/original/file-20170929-23041-1s9iwcw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/188185/original/file-20170929-23041-1s9iwcw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=918&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/188185/original/file-20170929-23041-1s9iwcw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=918&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/188185/original/file-20170929-23041-1s9iwcw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=918&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/188185/original/file-20170929-23041-1s9iwcw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1154&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/188185/original/file-20170929-23041-1s9iwcw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1154&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/188185/original/file-20170929-23041-1s9iwcw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1154&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Omnium Cultural.</span>
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</figure>
<p>The Network of Local Television (La Xarxa de Comunicació Local) <a href="https://comunicacio21.cat/noticies-comunicacio21/123807-la-direccio-de-la-xarxa-ordena-no-entrevistar-alcaldes-fins-a-l-1-o">told its journalists</a> not to ask politicians questions about the referendum until the day after it had taken place. Acting on similar fears, Spanish public mail company Correos <a href="http://www.elnacional.cat/es/politica/omnium-correos-revista-referendum_191976_102.html">stopped distributing</a> the news magazine Omnium Cultural to its subscribers because it contained pro-referendum advertising. </p>
<p>Of the 144 websites that have been blocked, most belong to cultural and political associations campaigning for an independence vote. Fourteen individuals <a href="http://www.catalannews.com/society-science/item/14-people-summoned-to-court-for-duplicating-referendum-website">have been</a> called before a judge for copying the codes of some of the sites in question. </p>
<p>The Spanish military police association, the Guardia Civil, meanwhile, <a href="http://www.catalannews.com/society-science/item/guardia-civil-officers-sue-catalan-public-radio-news-anchor">is suing</a> Mònica Terribas. It accuses the news anchor of endangering police operations by asking listeners to report on anti-referendum raids by the forces. In all, media observer media.cat <a href="https://twitter.com/GrupBarnils/status/913715948774940672">has reported</a> than 64 situations where freedom of expression has been affected or disrupted in relation to the referendum. </p>
<p>Faced with such accusations, the Spanish government <a href="http://www.rtve.es/noticias/20170928/gobierno-dice-no-pretende-limitar-libertad-expresion-1-sino-evitar-acto-ilegal/1623620.shtml">has said</a> it does not want to restrict freedom of expression in Catalonia. Its actions, it says, are aimed at guaranteeing the order against a referendum which was <a href="http://time.com/4933069/catalonia-independence-vote-spain-suspended/">laid down by</a> the Spanish constitutional court a few weeks ago. </p>
<p>But even before the outbreak of referendum day violence, Spain already found itself in territory for which it is hard to find comparisons in the West. Article 10 of the <a href="http://www.echr.coe.int/Documents/Convention_ENG.pdf">European Convention on Human Rights</a>, to which Spain is of course a signatory, lays down the principle of freedom of expression quite clearly. It talks about the right of people to “receive and impart information and ideas without interference by public authority and regardless of frontiers”. </p>
<p>Yet little or nothing has been said by the international community in this regard. The situation is troubling to say the least. If there are no consequences, particularly in light of the latest developments on the ground, it will set a dangerous precedent.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/84922/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mariola Tarrega does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>When you put together the efforts of the Spanish authorities to curb media coverage of the Catalan referendum, you have a deeply worrying picture.Mariola Tarrega, Teaching fellow, University of StirlingLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/712922017-01-16T12:43:43Z2017-01-16T12:43:43ZScottish media is in dire straits – it’s why alternatives like Bella Caledonia are vital<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/152666/original/image-20170113-11183-1hify2f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Caledonia in question.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://bellacaledonia.org.uk">Bella Caledonia</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>As the Scottish independence movement contemplates a possible <a href="http://www.scotsman.com/news/hard-brexit-could-see-indyref2-vote-held-in-2018-say-greens-1-4337949">second referendum</a>, it has been rocked by news that an online magazine that established a significant voice in the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/events/scotland-decides/results">first vote</a> could close.</p>
<p><a href="http://bellacaledonia.org.uk">Bella Caledonia</a> is arguably the most prominent among a number of online comment sites and blogs that provide a counterbalance to a unionist-inclined press in Scotland. But now Mike Small, its editor and co-founder, has indicated the task of running the site full-time is beyond present resources. The board has <a href="http://www.scotsman.com/news/bella-caledonia-board-vote-to-keep-site-running-1-4336807">said</a> it intends to carry on, but the publication’s future is far from clear.</p>
<p>Bella Caledonia offers sharp online commentary and analysis from a perspective that is pro-independence but not chest-thumping. Scotland has few of these alternative platforms and it can hardly afford to lose any – especially with a second referendum threatening to raise as many questions about fair coverage <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/greenslade/2014/apr/25/scottish-independence-newspapers">as last time</a>. </p>
<p>Scotland’s political and cultural development has been characterised by a disparity between its restored awareness of itself since devolution and the decline of the media. Its externally owned newspapers have been stripped of resource. Despite strong indigenous radio provision led by BBC Radio Scotland, the nation’s TV offering is locked into a pattern largely unchanged since the 1950s. </p>
<p>Scotland gets television largely scheduled from London from the leading <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcone/programmes/schedules/scotland">BBC</a> and <a href="http://player.stv.tv/tvguide/">STV</a> services, with a slender offering of its own products, often at unfriendly times. There is the invaluable exception of Gaelic service <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/alba">BBC Alba</a>, but it can only do so much. </p>
<h2>The need for balance</h2>
<p>New online media is therefore particularly important in Scotland. <a href="http://www.thenational.scot/comment/14855413.Bella_Caledonia__borne_of_a_desire_for_a_pro_indy_voice/">Started</a> in 2007, Bella Caledonia’s readers have not necessarily been in agreement about its direction on independence or the ruling SNP. But along with the likes of <a href="https://weegingerdug.wordpress.com">Wee Ginger Dug</a>, <a href="http://wingsoverscotland.com">Wings Over Scotland</a>, <a href="http://scotgoespop.blogspot.co.uk">Scot Goes Pop!</a> and <a href="http://www.arcofprosperity.org">Arc of Prosperity</a>, it offers an online alternative to a press that largely remains overwhelmingly in favour of the British union – even though 45% of Scots <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/events/scotland-decides/results">voted</a> in favour of independence in 2014 and <a href="http://www.scotsman.com/news/support-for-scottish-independence-lowest-since-2014-referendum-1-4304686">opinion polls</a> are in similar territory today. </p>
<p>From a field of 18 daily and 12 Sunday titles widely available in Scotland, only the <a href="http://theherald.newspaperdirect.com/epaper/viewer.aspx">Sunday Herald</a>, <a href="http://www.thenational.scot">The National</a> and a <a href="http://www.scotsman.com/news/opinion/lesley-riddoch-creeping-centralisation-is-threatening-local-democracy-in-scotland-1-4302697">few</a> <a href="http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/authors/joan-mcalpine/">columnists</a> elsewhere are pro-independence. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/152668/original/image-20170113-11172-qllua5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/152668/original/image-20170113-11172-qllua5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/152668/original/image-20170113-11172-qllua5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=342&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/152668/original/image-20170113-11172-qllua5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=342&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/152668/original/image-20170113-11172-qllua5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=342&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/152668/original/image-20170113-11172-qllua5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=430&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/152668/original/image-20170113-11172-qllua5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=430&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/152668/original/image-20170113-11172-qllua5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=430&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Scotland’s fourth estate.</span>
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<p>The financial challenges driving print newspapers online exist in Scotland too, of course. Bella Caledonia has relied on donations, but the battle for any kind of financial contribution is heavily contested and online news and opinion consumption increasingly fragments the consumer base – Scotland’s is perilously small in the first place. Opinion and news aggregation, which comprise much internet provision, are cheaper than news reporting, which if intended seriously is costly – hence it remains the domain of big media. </p>
<p>Bella Caledonia has generally tried to pay contributors – no mean feat in the current climate. It can shift more towards contributors donating content for free, but there still needs to be an adequate human resource to create this kind of product – even altruistic online producers need to live. </p>
<p>Crowdfunding is generally better at one-off initiatives or launches than sustained support. If, <a href="http://bellacaledonia.org.uk/2017/01/08/bella-caledonia-2007-2017/">as appears</a>, the threat to Bella Caledonia has been the burden of commitment on its editor, that only mirrors the predicament of many sparsely resourced websites which provide a voice both in Scotland and in many other countries. </p>
<h2>The Brexit experience</h2>
<p>Successful online alternatives to mainstream media’s news and opinion appear more important than ever in light of Brexit. London newspapers have their own economic challenges but we’ve recently learned that those of us who wrote off the political power of the press did so prematurely: it’s inconceivable that the vote last June 23 could have been swung toward an EU exit without the massed ranks of the right-wing press. </p>
<p>As we begin 2017, they are still engaged in persuading their readerships that Brexit has somehow already led to the sunlit uplands of British economic sovereignty even before it has happened. One of the ramifications of the debate about “post-truth politics” is how it implicates the media. Seldom has even the historically partisan London press seemed less like an apparatus of a liberal democracy. And covering the Brexit issue is <a href="http://www.referendumanalysis.eu/eu-referendum-analysis-2016/section-4/bending-over-backwards-the-bbc-and-the-brexit-campaign/">no doubt</a> making the BBC very, very nervous when it relies on the patronage of a government currently executing it.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/152669/original/image-20170113-11183-16y3q7s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/152669/original/image-20170113-11183-16y3q7s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/152669/original/image-20170113-11183-16y3q7s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=648&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/152669/original/image-20170113-11183-16y3q7s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=648&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/152669/original/image-20170113-11183-16y3q7s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=648&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/152669/original/image-20170113-11183-16y3q7s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=814&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/152669/original/image-20170113-11183-16y3q7s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=814&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/152669/original/image-20170113-11183-16y3q7s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=814&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">What future?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/peretzpup/2064220076/in/photolist-49pEHj-gJMieT-c3AtbC-8zxBbK-5s776U-8uVTVn-eXD4NM-aMHkrp-PoQ8y-akFreF-7UBZP3-6bY1MU-6TaV83-99g5BN-i7FLwi-5y9Nap-5LDsTX-5Earra-8p4t2K-phbmfo-7HDtnB-nqecf5-d1ALk9-74sfwS-aqGMcU-54Bf5a-edPwvd-CfroA-xeqsY-7NhXVb-s8XUoi-9Hp9kP-6xUHQ1-4qocJt-avbVa7-4zdpE2-edPwvu-c2FDE1-6ptFGL-edPwtu-cSxsEf-edHRVe-2P5QvV-7RgtFh-9sbpR5-251gi4-5a3ibr-4u1YS8-c8r87w-edPwu7">Eugene Peretz</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
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<p>As at so many important moments, Scotland languishes on the media fringes, with no adequate platforms for national dialogue – and it is about to be dragged out of Europe <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-36599102">against its will</a>. Compared to Ireland and also Catalonia, the mismatch between a strong national culture and its media provision is striking and dismal. </p>
<p>There is little hope that the traditional media will in future answer the democratic needs of the Scottish nation better than now. With indigenous titles like The Scotsman, The Herald and Daily Record <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-35652564">all in</a> grave circulation <a href="http://www.holdthefrontpage.co.uk/2016/news/abcs-sunday-newspapers-experience-drops-of-more-than-one-fifth/">difficulties</a>, some parts are more likely to disappear altogether – a sign that it’s not an easy time for publications of any colour to gain a foothold.</p>
<p>One of the unanswered mysteries of the Scottish soul is why this doesn’t appear to be of more urgent concern to the political classes. As with the tired questions of inadequate Scottish TV provision and the failing Scottish press, so also here at the still early phase of media pluralism online: the matter of the Scottish fourth estate deserves more attention on the nation’s cultural, political and economic agenda.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/71292/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Neil Blain does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>As a second independence referendum beckons, a counterweight to the unionist-leaning press is hugely important to the Yes side.Neil Blain, Professor Emeritus of Communications, University of StirlingLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/468242015-08-28T14:03:29Z2015-08-28T14:03:29ZScottish TV channel a non-starter if BBC expected to stump up<p>Whenever Scottish broadcasting is discussed, several issues often collide, and they’ve been colliding again in the responses to Nicola Sturgeon’s <a href="http://www.allmediascotland.com/broadcasting/107294/in-my-opinion-nicola-sturgeon-alternative-mactaggart-lecture/">Alternative MacTaggart lecture</a> to the Edinburgh International Television Festival. </p>
<p>The first minister’s call for a dedicated Scottish television channel is not new; it was first floated by the <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/08_09_08_broacasting.pdf">Scottish Broadcasting Commission</a> in 2008 and received a broad welcome at the Scottish parliament. Inevitably some commentators always interpret this proposal as an SNP wheeze, but a wide constituency inside and outside the Scottish parliament has acknowledged that a new digital channel would fill a large gap in Scottish broadcasting provision. </p>
<p>There is no TV channel in Scotland which has autonomy over editing and commissioning (with the exception of Gaelic channel BBC Alba). Scotland has opt-out TV only, ducking out of network schedules on occasion, generally not at moments of peak viewing. This makes Scotland an exception in Europe, where regions with a strong identity of their own usually have at least one indigenous TV channel. </p>
<p>Therefore it’s not especially controversial to suggest that the lack of such a channel should be addressed, particularly at a time of political assertiveness in Scottish society. It’s not just the democratic needs of Scottish civil society at stake either: this absence makes it all the more difficult for an independent production sector to flourish, with negative effects on investment and infrastructure in the economy.</p>
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<p>Sturgeon, who also called for a second English-language radio station, has nevertheless <a href="http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/df4b7800-4cbf-11e5-a089-1a3e2cd1819b.html#axzz3k6jnNa2t">been accused</a> of wanting to control broadcasting – or of waging a vendetta against the BBC. Yet the idea that the BBC should be in some way accountable to Holyrood as well as to Westminster is, after all, only consistent with the democratic functioning of the Scottish nation. The BBC’s Scottish provision could be scrutinised by a Holyrood committee, for instance. To equate this with SNP diktat, in a parliament with the protection of proportional representation, is facile. </p>
<p>It’s a real pity if a serious debate about the media needs of Scottish civil society gets dragged (further) into the tribal dimensions of party politics, let alone the <a href="http://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/top-stories/alex-salmond-brands-nick-robinson-a-disgrace-1-3866814">unhelpful spat</a> between Alex Salmond and Nick Robinson over coverage of the referendum. At a time when the Scottish press, Sunday Herald excepted, <a href="http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/sunday-herald-only-weekly-title-audited-abc-grow-print-sale-first-half-2015">continues to face</a> bad news on the circulation front, and London-produced newspapers maintain their large presence in the Scottish market, achieving better Scottish TV provision is yet more important. </p>
<h2>Money too tight to mention</h2>
<p>The next problem, though, has to do with resource, with no obvious case for suggesting that any of the funding for Sturgeon’s proposals could come from commercial opt-out channel STV. This comes amid growing difficulty for the BBC, currently from the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-33556009">Green Paper</a> on its future at UK level. It’s one thing to argue the need for a new Scottish channel, something else to ask the BBC maybe to help pay for it, and a quite different matter again to ask it to run it. </p>
<p>That’s three different things. And if you were looking at the least feasible option, it’s the third one. By the time such a channel might emerge, we can’t be sure even how the BBC will be funded UK-wide. MSPs don’t seem disposed to discussing funding from other sources. (And do we want the BBC to run it? Will that prove a distinctive Scottish alternative?) So Sturgeon’s suggestion could be the equivalent of leaving discussion about a new Scottish channel in its natural habitat thus far – the long grass. </p>
<p>A pity, too, that three other themes in the first minister’s lecture have received less attention, including her remarks on the sexist treatment of female politicians and sportswomen on TV. A perspective from someone with Nicola Sturgeon’s experience is an antidote to <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/aug/09/megyn-kelly-donald-trump-winner-republican-debate">recent meditations</a> on women and TV from a US presidential candidate by the name of Trump. </p>
<p>Her thoughts on the importance of maintaining the strengths of traditional news media are also welcome. As she recognises, social media can transform the fact-checking process by making it possible for untrue statements to be instantly rebutted, though this cuts both ways: facts can be obscured as easily as they can be clarified. But to affirm the need for properly resourced journalism in traditional broadcasting and print is very important, not least in the present fragile situation for the Scottish media. </p>
<p>Closely related is the subject of political impartiality in the media. Nicola Sturgeon’s rejection of the idea of “institutional bias” in the BBC against the Yes camp during the referendum is helpful, in the sense that if there exist deficiencies in media representation, it’s better to complain about actual rather than imagined problems. </p>
<p>But despite interesting questions to ponder in these other themes from the Alternative MacTaggart, it’s the proposals about the BBC which will occupy centre stage. With the <a href="http://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/top-stories/scottish-parliament-election-poll-snp-support-surges-1-3796655">2016 Scottish parliamentary elections</a> on the horizon, and the UK debate over the Green Paper well under way, they’re likely to stay there for a while.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/46824/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Neil Blain does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The Scottish first minister’s speech may have been strong on vision, but there were no signs of innovative thinking on how new Scottish services would be funded at a time of BBC cutbacks.Neil Blain, Professor Emeritus of Communications, University of StirlingLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/317592014-09-16T15:06:47Z2014-09-16T15:06:47ZMedia bias and the Scottish referendum: BBC gets the blame as usual<p>As voting day looms for the Scottish referendum to determine independence, accusations of media bias by the BBC in favour of the union are coming thick and fast.</p>
<p>Within the space of a few days, Alex Salmond, the first minister of Scotland, accused Newsnight’s political editor <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/scottish-independence/11097713/Alex-Salmond-in-second-BBC-bias-row.html">Allegra Stratton</a> of being on the side of the Better Together campaign, and Nick Robinson, the BBC’s political editor, of “<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/sep/15/alex-salmond-bbc-protest-nick-robinson">heckling</a>” him by demanding an answer to his questions at a press conference.</p>
<p>Salmond’s latest accusations started when it emerged that the government had apparently <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/scottish-independence/11089702/Alex-Salmond-goes-to-war-with-BBC-over-RBS-leak.html">briefed Robinson early</a> about the Royal Bank of Scotland’s plan to <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-29185319">move its headquarters to England</a> in the event of a Yes vote.</p>
<p>In an <a href="http://www.heraldscotland.com/politics/referendum-news/is-the-bbcs-coverage-biased-yes-absolutely-dont-get-me-wrong-i-like-these-f.25322002">interview in the Sunday Herald</a>, Salmond said of the BBC: “I like these folk, but they don’t realise they’re biased. It is the unconscious bias which is the most extraordinary thing of all.” He added: “I’m not really laying this charge at BBC Scotland. I just think the metropolitan BBC has found this whole thing extraordinarily difficult, to separate from their own view of the world from their view of reporting Scotland.”</p>
<p>The upshot was that on September 14, campaigners for independence launched a <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-29196912">demonstration outside BBC headquarters in Glasgow</a> to protest the alleged bias in its coverage. </p>
<p>This is hardly the first time independence campaign supporters have accused the BBC of bias – after UKIP’s David Coburn won his party’s first ever Scottish seat in the European Parliament, Salmond complained that the BBC had “<a href="http://www.scotsman.com/news/david-torrance-ukip-catch-snp-by-surprise-1-3422484">beamed UKIP into Scottish homes</a>” with its coverage.</p>
<h2>Just the messenger?</h2>
<p>These incidents are not necessarily indicative of a deep, systemic institutional bias; after all, if handed Robinson’s RBS scoop, no sensible journalist would choose to suppress it. But the story easily chimes with the notion that the BBC is part of a politicised and manipulative establishment, machinating with the banks and the treasury to influence the vote in the union’s favour. </p>
<p>Doubtless some machination was afoot – the Treasury is a major shareholder in RBS and is not neutral in the independence debate – but the BBC’s Robinson was merely the messenger.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, a recent systematic content analysis of the BBC’s flagship radio news and current affairs programme Good Morning Scotland, <a href="http://issuu.com/creative_futur/docs/robertson2014goodmorningscotland/1">conducted by Professor John Robertson</a> of the University of West Scotland, claimed to detect a pro-union bias in the programme’s coverage. </p>
<p>Robertson, who favours independence, conducted his study of the programme’s coverage throughout April 2014, and concluded that while it was “balanced in crude numerical terms,” in every other respect, it was unfair to the Yes campaign and favoured the No side.</p>
<h2>From all sides</h2>
<p>Accusations of political bias at the BBC have a long history. The BBC’s own written archives reveal that from its very earliest days, politicians have been complaining of political bias. </p>
<p>Throughout its history, Conservatives and the <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2641184/DAILY-MAIL-COMMENT-BBC-bias-rise-protest-votes.html">conservative press</a> have regularly complained of left-wing bias; although complaints from the left of unbalanced coverage have been less prominent, surveys conducted by the Independent Television Commission (now subsumed by OFCOM) from 1975-1995 consistently found that the BBC was <a href="http://www.staff.city.ac.uk/p.ayton/Intermedia2001.PDF">seen as biased to the right</a> by significantly more than saw it as biased to the left.</p>
<p><a href="http://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Attitudes_to_television_in_1989.html?id=EWkoAQAAMAAJ&redir_esc=y">Surveys over the years</a> have also shown that voters’ own political affiliations predict their tendency to see the BBC as biased, and specifically, as biased against their view.</p>
<p>Pressure on the BBC has always been particularly high at times of national political crisis. Attacks on its impartiality from conservatives were made during the Suez crisis in 1956, in 1982 during the <a href="http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=YFu1AwAAQBAJ&pg=PT113&lpg=PT113&dq=%22Stateless+Persons+Broadcasting+Corporation%22&source=bl&ots=pwkiflEYYs&sig=XgQih4AF4Z0vAOYFz7sYRQJr4xM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=ZzcYVImdJ-mw7AbilICgDA&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=%22Stateless%20Persons%20Broadcasting%20Corporation%22&f=false">Falklands war</a>, and in 1986, when the US was granted use of British air bases to mount <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/historyofthebbc/resources/bbcandgov/pdf/libya.pdf">bombing raids on Libya</a>. Other challenges were made to the corporation (and to other broadcasters) over news and current affairs programmes about <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/8328247.stm">Northern Ireland</a>, the <a href="http://jou.sagepub.com/content/9/2/123.full.pdf">Iraq War</a> and the <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/media/2008/aug/04/bbc.balkans">Balkans War</a>.</p>
<p>More recently, <a href="http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/assets/files/pdf/our_work/breadth_opinion/content_analysis.pdf">research conducted by Cardiff University</a> and funded by the BBC Trust examined the impartiality of BBC reporting in areas such as regional news, the Israel-Palestine conflict, the Arab Spring, business and science. </p>
<p>This research examined the range of topics and sources featured in BBC broadcast news from both 2007 and 2012 compared to other broadcasters, and also looked at the BBC’s online and broadcast reporting of immigration, the EU and religion. Contrary to expectations of bias made by BBC accusers, <a href="https://theconversation.com/hard-evidence-how-biased-is-the-bbc-17028">the study found</a> that the BBC tends to reproduce “a Conservative, Eurosceptic, pro-business version of the world, not a left-wing, anti-business agenda”.</p>
<h2>No view from nowhere</h2>
<p>Disparities in perceptions of BBC bias fit with psychological research showing that viewers usually register news stories in an incomplete and highly selective fashion, <a href="http://mcs.sagepub.com/content/12/2/231.short">strongly influenced by their prevailing attitudes</a>: different people may view the same broadcasts in very different ways.</p>
<p>Such findings suggest viewer and listener perceptions of bias can be rather self-fulfilling and self-perpetuating. Plainly, subjective perceptions of bias do not prove that the programmes are biased, but nonetheless, even perceived bias is a serious problem for any news organisation (particularly the BBC) that claims to be authoritative and impartial. </p>
<p>And yet, a little-reported finding from Professor Robertson’s study of the BBC’s supposed pro-Union bias was that the number of statements favourable to the Yes campaign (736) significantly outnumbered those favourable to the No campaign (622). There may, of course, be a bias in the reporting of bias.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/31759/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>As voting day looms for the Scottish referendum to determine independence, accusations of media bias by the BBC in favour of the union are coming thick and fast. Within the space of a few days, Alex Salmond…Howard Tumber, Professor of Journalism and Communication, City, University of LondonPeter Ayton, Associate Dean of Research & Deputy Dean, Social Sciences, City, University of LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/258942014-04-24T05:13:34Z2014-04-24T05:13:34ZScotland Decides ’14: what does independence debate mean for the BBC?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/46941/original/yt24jpr4-1398272996.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">BBC Scotland HQ on the banks of the Clyde in Glasgow</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/deedesign/2193612282/in/photolist-4kQQvq-3MT3ED-4mbGZh-3N1eqm-HeeFh-4a8A8j-He5Cp-4a4tMV-Mq1Th-4cRKqu-4cMKs6-HeeF3-7pxNFf-6oMq7X-4mspKJ-dCdd8L-pwJLw-4momn2-pKQPp-bSQ65R-5zdBE3-7mtrUi-56sWFL-5z9jAT-bDVo4E-bDVobw-4msqVs-5Js4yF-He5Cz-LfDg8-2b2A2p-67qoxm-3MTayp-He5Ct-4dZQyd-3y9h2C-6mhHuY-4msr2s-5Js2fi-4mom72-4msr7y-nHZjX-5Js3tM-5Jwkuo-5Jwiuo-5Js41Z-5Js3Hi-5JwhwJ-5Jwhc7-5JwiMN">John Dee</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The union Equity <a href="http://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/arts/news/actors-call-for-scottish-broadcaster-and-the-bbc-1-3383142">is calling for</a> a national Scottish broadcaster to be created regardless of the outcome of the independence referendum in September. Meanwhile, BBC Trust director Jeremy Peat <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-27116556">warned</a> the Scottish parliament’s culture committee that unfettered access to BBC programming wouldn’t necessarily continue in the event of independence. </p>
<p>We asked our independence referendum panel what the future may hold for broadcasting in Scotland. </p>
<hr>
<p><strong>Neil Blain, Professor of Media, University of Stirling</strong></p>
<p>There’s been widespread agreement for a long time in Scotland that broadcasting provision is not adequate. We had the report of the <a href="http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/ArtsCultureSport/arts/Archive/Broadcasting/SBC">Scottish Broadcasting Commission</a> (SBC) in 2008 and then the <a href="http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/ArtsCultureSport/arts/Archive/Broadcasting/sdnpanel">Digital Network Panel</a> in 2011, whose recommendations were both broadly welcomed at Holyrood.</p>
<p>What we have at the moment are opt-out services – both <a href="http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/ArtsCultureSport/arts/Archive/Broadcasting/sdnpanel">STV</a> and <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/scotland/">BBC Scotland</a> opt out of network programming. Scotland is almost unique for an area of its size in Europe with a distinct identity in not having a national broadcaster. </p>
<p>MSPs have been quite good at agreeing that we need to do something about broadcasting provision, but nothing ever happens. Indeed, I have been speaking about the future of Scottish broadcasting for 25 years. I would really like to get to the present.</p>
<p>What was planned before the current debate was a Scottish digital channel. Now what’s planned by the nationalists is a Scottish broadcasting service which would in some way negotiate with the BBC if the result is yes in September. </p>
<p>If you are thinking strategically about the BBC from London, Scotland is just a bagatelle. I don’t think it comprehends Scotland. It is not set up managerially or structurally to do much more than talk about nations and regions policy.</p>
<p>The broadcasting situation in Scotland is unsatisfactory. There’s not enough commissioning. There isn’t enough editorial control. And there isn’t enough expenditure. We contribute much more to the licence fee than comes back in the form of spending on Scottish programming.</p>
<p>The BBC has had since 1920 to try to fix this. There’s been tension between Glasgow and London inside the BBC for at least 90 years. The best predictor of future behaviour is usually past behaviour, I’m afraid.</p>
<p>We don’t have enough Scottish news and current affairs on television. Whenever there’s a news broadcast from London, they refer to the three parties: Labour, the Lib Dems and the Conservatives. Scotland tends to be on the periphery, from politics to weather forecasts.</p>
<p>Sports coverage is an issue. You don’t get nearly as much Scottish football as you used to. We have run down output of Scottish-based arts and factual programming. </p>
<p>I should point out that radio is less problematic. <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/radioscotland">Radio Scotland</a> has been a model for a broadcasting service which is largely Scottish-based in terms of commissioning and editorial control. The problem with television is it’s much more expensive.</p>
<p>The BBC has not responded adequately to constitutional change in Scotland. The root of this is that Scotland wasn’t given oversight of media when the parliament was formed. It’s always seemed bizarre that Holyrood has responsibility for cultural policy but not media.</p>
<p>Had that happened, you might have got a culture where national broadcasters were more responsive to needs in Scotland. Lack of authority over the media is probably one of the reasons that MSPs haven’t acted on their perception of a shortfall in the Scottish offering. I have personally felt quite irritated by this failure to act. I certainly don’t think it has helped the nationalists. I would have expected more fuss from the Scottish government.</p>
<p>You have to ask what happens if the no vote wins. I suspect the debate would revive about how we improve the Scottish broadcasting landscape. If I were part of the Better Together campaign and was thinking of ways of reassuring Scots on what they would get after a no vote, I would certainly offer oversight of Scottish media as part of the deal.</p>
<p><strong>Kirsty Gunn, Professor of Creative Writing, University of Dundee</strong></p>
<p>There used to be a wonderful Sunday evening programme on Radio Scotland called Pipelines. It featured, in authoritative and sensitive detail, <a href="http://www.piobaireachd.co.uk/">piobaireachd</a> and highland bagpipe music and culture. It was witty, informed and up-to-the minute, showcasing an instrument and musical form that, although celebrated around the world, is massively underrated and even derided at home. </p>
<p>Where is “Pipelines” now? Like so many interesting and wildly idiosyncratic aspects of Scottish cultural identity, it seems to have been given up in favour of a sort of one-size-fits all version of Scottishness. </p>
<p>At best this can be interesting enough, though lacking any particularity that would make it interesting and relevant for its own sake. At worst it is a version of what <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/James-Kelman/e/B000APTQW8">Jim Kelman</a>, in <a href="http://nationalcollective.com/2012/08/16/james-kelman-independence-is-not-an-economic-decision-it-concerns-self-respect/">those pieces he wrote</a> about the pixar film Braveheart, might have described as a Disneyfied sort of Scotland. </p>
<p>Certainly I have always loved Radio Scotland - drama, fiction reviews … Less interesting are the current affairs programmes. I always felt they lacked rigour and were too populist and not intellectual enough; too much modelled on a south-of-the border style that never seems authentic. But always there were amazing arts magazine programmes by the likes of <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/archive/writers/12252.shtml">Brian Morton</a> to make up for it. </p>
<p>There are still some very good things happening – the cafe style arts shows; <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaynor_Macfarlane">Gaynor McFarlane’s</a> work in books and drama. But in general I would say the most exciting thing about Salmond’s rally call for a Scottish Broadcasting Service – heavily freighted with SNP agenda and sensibility, that would be split off from the BBC while buying in its expensive programmes – is that it makes us focus on what we love, or have loved, about BBC Scotland and how it might be made to shine. </p>
<p>Our cultural identity is the collection of things that make us who we are – not some version of ourselves based on what the trendsetters decree or the marketing figures that come up from London. </p>
<p>It’s listening to ourselves – the stories we tell, the music we make, the ideas we have, the sciences we are involved with … that might give us back the echo of a culture that is generated by its people, not politicians. </p>
<p>After all, the depth our critical enquiry and the interest in local culture and practices has always been a mark of our culture. Would that it might be again, as demonstrated by a national media with British broadcasting providing the base, as it has done in the past, to show ourselves in all our variety: from piobaireachd to philosophy.</p>
<p><em>The rest of the work by the Scotland Decides ‘14 expert panel can be found</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/topics/scotland-decides-14">here</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/25894/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The union Equity is calling for a national Scottish broadcaster to be created regardless of the outcome of the independence referendum in September. Meanwhile, BBC Trust director Jeremy Peat warned the…Neil Blain, Professor of Communications, Media and Culture, University of StirlingKirsty Gunn, Professor of Creative Writing, University of DundeeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.