The loss of normal Newsnight last night, and the complete absence of anything relevant to Scotland in the entire The World at One program on Radio 4 yesterday lunchtime has got me thinking about the news in Scotland.
The Times newspaper in Scotland has dedicated coverage to Scotland, with pages that the rest of the UK simply don’t see. Yet this regional coverage is not available on their website, while the UK stuff is. And of course, there will be other stories which Scotland does not get because there has to be room for the Scottish pages.
It has all become a bit messy. I like a UK, and indeed a worldwide perspective on things, yet like to know what is happening in Scotland too. I would like to think that those living outside Scotland would be intested in what is going on in Scotland. Perhaps there is a bit of ‘having ones cake and eating it’ about this, but it needs sorting out, and I am not sure whether a ‘Scottish 6′ (campaign for a Scottish 6 o’clock news) will improve things. Probably not – we already have Reporting Scotland on the BBC which does OK, and the early evening mix of national news at 6 and regional to follow works as it is.
I like Newsnight, and I tolerate Newsnight Scotland – tolerate, because the program is too rushed, the technical presentation is typical BBC Scotland (not as good as it should be) and the presenters don’t exactly set the heather alight. I also resent being deprived of the last Newsnight story every night.
The BBC were taken to task recently for not covering important regional stories in the National News. I agree with this, and the organisation will have to get smarter about how it handles stories from around the UK.
Would you like some of our news from over on this side of the pond? I sure hope Obama is being good over there this week! If he isn’t dressing nice please let his pastor Jeremiah Wright know about it!
http://xrl.us/nphe8
May I ask! Would people in Scotland vote for a man running for president that allowed his children listen to Rev. Jeremiah Wright taking God’s name in vain their entire young life?