Is that all there is? TV election coverage in Scotland

 
  

Just watched the ten o'clock news on BBC1 as well as part of Newsnight and The Daily Politics election special.  I have already made my views clear on the decision to exclude the SNP from the televised leaders' debates. But there are so many other subtle ways in way the great juggernaut that is the BBC completely fails to address the election effectively in Scotland.  The BBC has gone to considerable lengths to sex-up its political coverage in recent years. This is commendable and important. The national public service broadcaster has a duty to engage people who feel disenfranchised. It now offers political coverage that is more populist, visual and funny. It makes special efforts to reach out to marginalised groups, such as the First Time Voters Question Time. Even the decision to hire Nick Robinson as a political editor is important. He is quirky, funny and not at all stuffy. I wouldn't go so far as to call him a celebrity, but he resembles a skinny Eric Morecambe which is surely a large part of his appeal. He is on our screens a great deal. Very little of that time will be spent discussing Scotland and none of it will be spent addressing Scots themselves. Similarly, The Daily Politics, presented by the entertaining Scot Andrew  Neil, attempts to look at political issues from a witty and irreverent perspective. Again, it is geared to the UK. When it turns its attention to Scotland it will be like reporting on a foreign country. Not to mention Andrew's rather unusual perspective on his country of birth. All the efforts to reach first time voters - the BBC website has a glamour model talking them through the issues -  ignore the Scottish perspective. I haven't caught up with Newsround yet, but I very much doubt that the kids will have learned much about the Calman Commission v full fiscal autonomy or whether the river Clyde is the best place to store weapons of mass destruction. 

Of course there will be BBC Scotland's own output, but they just dont have the cash to cover these niche areas properly. There will be little added value. We will not feature on Newround's innovative attempts to target teenagers. And we will not have our own programme educating schoolkids. 

When we do get national coverage, it is a box ticking exercise. Tonight, Brian Taylor, the BBC's Scottish political editor had less than 2 minutes on the national news followed by his counterparts in Wales and Northern Island. It was like some bizarre show at the Edinburgh festival that squeezes the Star Wars Trilogy into half an hour - with no props. The Scottish/Welsh/Irish editors had clearly been briefed to "explain" their patches to the rest of the UK. So Taylor was left to give a kindergarten class on how there was now a parliament in Edinburgh which had control of health and education. The chap in Northern Ireland broke the news that the Ulster Unionists had entered into a pact with the UK Conservatives. This alliance and its implications have been a central talking point for ages in Northern Ireland. So this revealation will not come as much of a suprise to voters there. The BBC will claim the time given to the nations and regions on their flagship news programmes fulfills their commitment to voters and parties in those areas. But the tone and content is determined by the need to communicate with folk outwith those areas. And the really innovative shows, which cost a lot of money to make, don't address Scotland at all. We are left with our own teams, offering very old fashioned talking heads coverage - because that's all we can afford.  Most unsatisfactory. 

Comments

[Hamish Scott]

Joan, well put. I'm not nitpicking with the following comment, just trying to make an additional point: "because that's all we can afford". We can afford far more, the amount raised annually by the licence fee in Scotland is roughly the same as the annual budget of RTE in the Republic of Ireland. The difference in provision should embarass any self-respecting Scot - which admittedly rules out Scottish unionists and therefore those in charge of suppressing Scottish nationhood in the field of broadcasting.

[Takhisis1]

I think it is the saddest day for democracy when to get an unbiased view of what goes on one must rely on blogs and not the main stream media. Also, one must note that the minute that STV started showing teeth, they were pulled out by giving their news service to more of the unionist supporters in the Scottish Media

[Newsnet Scotland]

Good piece as usual from one of the two bravest journalists in Scotland right now - the other being Kenneth Roy.

Mr Roy of course generously allows Newsnet Scotland (us) to use his articles - who knows, perhaps Joan might donate a blog piece or two over the coming weeks - our online editor hails from the same neck of the woods as Joan albeit a less 'attractive' part (upper Larkfield).

Visit us at http://newsnetscotland.com

Good luck all.

[cynicalHighlander]

The BBC lost its way a long time ago with its reality make over shows showing that they were chasing viewing numbers rather than keeping honesty and standards to the fore.

http://newsnetscotland.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=93:the-bbc-a-licence-to-kill-free-speech

[Kirk Elder, Senior Citizen From Peebles]

I understand the nationalist sentiments behimd your argument, but I struggle to see how an abundance of Mr Nick Robinson could be mistaken for a good thing. Also, I am far from convinced that the jumping fellow in your photograph is Mr Eric Morecambe.

[Alibi]

I disagree with Allan Christie's comment. Kirsty Wark "lovely"? No, can't concur.

The rest of your post is spot on, however...

[Davie Park]

It will ever be thus. We must always be made acutely aware that anything of any importance happens elsewhere. It's such a great contributer to our children's positive self image.

[Allan Christie]

Absolutely Joan, the BBC coverage of the election from a Scottish perspective is laughable yet appalling. Any coverage on Scottish issues usually consists of Nat bashing from lovely people such as Glen Campbell and our own very lovely Kirsty Wark but even that will be confined to some obscure slot on the BBC.

I think if people in Scotland want to keep up with election events in Scotland then they should turn to blogs such as you own and other Scottish blogs. They offer a great deal more info and fact than our own appalling biased Labour media.

What is certain is that the SNP and Scottish issues will struggle to make it onto the BBC but the Scottish news papers ie Scotsman/Herald will have plenty of negative lies churning out every day against the SNP.