IAN Small can fulminate until he is blue in the face, and seems frequently so to do, about selective reporting of the Ofcom report on the declining state of his employer and all similar criticism, but, unless he is as blind and prejudiced as that employer, he must admit that BBC programming in Scotland is clearly not impartial.
The other day I heard a female presenter on Good Morning Scotland interview a SNP minister on the subject of nursery school provision – in particular, wages in the private and voluntary sector.
The minister displayed astonishing forbearance in the face of hostile hectoring from a woman who seemed, as she has on many previous occasions, incapable of understanding English. She continually asked questions then cut across the replies before the minister had finished her response, very obviously because she was not getting an answer which fulfilled her own political expectation.
It seemed that she would have been absolutely delighted to hear a confession of corrupt incompetence and would not let go until she achieved that outcome.
Many years ago, in my then capacity as a trade union branch secretary, I was interviewed by a BBC television reporter. Young as I was, he looked like a schoolboy to me and had, very obviously, no idea what my members did for a living. I did my best to answer his sometimes extremely stupid questions and, as it became clear to me that I should be both completely overawed by my few minutes of television fame and provide him with the scandalous misinformation he was seeking, I became bored and terminated the interview, I must admit, rather impolitely.
My boss, who was standing to one side waiting for his turn at stardom, looked at the reporter, shook his head and suggested that it was time the TV crew left.
I thought little of it, did not watch the news on which they had been at pains to tell me I would be making an appearance, and forgot all about it. Several weeks later I was in a friend’s house and was shown a recording of my five minutes of fame. I was, at first, fascinated only by the fact that I had not been aware that my voice was so deep, then I realised that I was providing the answers which I had given but the sense was altered by the fact that the reporter was asking different questions!
Had my boss not been present and aware of this deception, the interview could have seriously damaged my career prospects.
My union, and my employer, were of the opinion that complaint was futile and I let the matter go, but I have not forgotten and it would be very wise of that reporter, who still works in television, to avoid me in the future.
It seems that, as far as Lord Reith’s project to homogenise the culture and language of the denizens of the vast suburbs of the City State of Greater London goes, the only thing that has changed is the addition of political compliance to the agenda.
Les Hunter
Lanark
MR Johnson says he intends to leave the EU and call a General Election the day after. David Cameron left power after the result of the EU referendum did not go the way he would like, leaving an unelected Prime Minister to pick up this pieces of his folly. Now it looks like our Boris may be doing the same.
The truly democratic thing to do would be to call an election before we jump off a cliff, not after, but the Prime Minister’s view of democracy is ruled by personal ambition, not what is good for the country.
Pete Rowberry
Diuns
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel