A job half done
A picture’s been doing the rounds on the nationalist social networks today, to a mixture of merriment and a nagging sense of injustice. It’s a retraction by the Herald of some wildly-inaccurate figures it published a couple of weeks ago about the alleged threat posed by independence to jobs at Faslane Naval Base, which we highlighted at the time. Here’s the picture. (Click for the full-size version.)
As we say, some pro-independence types have been gloating at the Herald having to apologise at all, while others have bemoaned the correction being buried in a corner of an obscure inside page when the original was a front-page lead story. But there’s something much more worrying about it than that.
Because if you go to the online version of the story – something which is, of course, extremely easy to amend, though proper practice is to also include a footnote pointing out the changes – it still has the wrong figures on it. The headline, which the Herald’s correction describes as “misleadingly presented in quotation marks”, is STILL misleadingly presented in quotation marks. The wildly incorrect assertion that the base supports 19,000 jobs is still there. The story appears to be identical to the original.
(Click here for a screen-capture showing today’s date and the current version.)
The Herald’s correction does not, so far as we can ascertain, appear anywhere on the paper’s website. Anyone searching online for Trident stories in future may well come upon the article, with nothing to let them know that it’s completely wrong. We’ll be dropping the Press Complaints Commission a line in the morning to see if they consider that to be in line with their Editors’ Code Of Practice.
No more buying the Herald.
No more Herald.
No more lies.
Well spotted, no doubt you will inform readers of the Press Complaints Commission reply, if you get one!
You’re doing a tremendous job Stu. The work you are putting into the struggle is appreciated.
I’ll mint a medal for you after 2014.
Seriously.
I’m with Juteman. This is superb stuff from a professional. Thank you.
Didn’t the MoD quote the figure of 547 jobs (or thereby)?
I only chuck a few quid in Stus’ direction infrequently. I hope others are doing the same.
Sorry to be O/T
Here’s the Douglas Fraser interview with Blair Jenkins which has just gone up on the BBC Scotland website:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-21083788
After Stu’s sterling work this week, and prompted by his sheer professionalism in digging all this stuff out, I’ve just done the couple of quid a month thing. Jeez – you cannot even buy a crappy late for that.
>> I’ve just done the couple of quid a month thing
Yup. me too. Might even be able to lob an extra donation Stu’s way now and then 😉
The link to Blair Jenkins interview appears not to be working. I wonder why that is?
It’s definitely there. Try this:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news
then click on ‘Scotland’
It’s the third item “”Yes chief praises small economies”
Here’s another link
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-21088109
The page is there ok, and the url looks correct.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-21083788
Navigate manually.
gerry p
Thanks, both are working fine.
First post, been lurking awhile but my old Mac just couldn’t cope with these modern websites and blogs. e mailled the rev on a few occasions.
Working fine now with the new Mac.
Ace stuff Rev, and impressed by the quality of comments.
gerry p
@Tris
There was a FOI request in 2009 for that number but a more recent request in September put the jobs directly attributable to trident at faslane at… 521!
They have actually managed to even decrease their Scottish defence footprint there!
http://newsnetscotland.com/index.php/scottish-news/6138-baillie-trident-jobs-claim-challenged-by-official-mod-figures
Just watched the Blair Jenkins interview:
Blair very professional as ever and Douglas very balanced and fair.
Well done both!
There was quite a lot of ‘whitabootery’ but hopefully the questions will be more uplifting in the future once this aspect has been dealt with.
With regards to the Herald nonsense, I’ll bet that they are kicking themselves that they didn’t originally say that every job in Scotland would be lost and then just followed it up with a wee pretendy Lance Armstrong apology.
>> I’ve just done the couple of quid a month thing
Me also – support well deserved
OT
Eleanor Bradford`s you know I`m working from a Labour script, right? NHS investigations on Reporting Scotland are seriously beyond the realms of impartial.
Interesting Yesitis. [off the article topic, but following on from your point].
I noticed that (whilst the situation sounds far from ideal) Elanor Bradford’s reporting of the timescales suggested that it took 15 weeks for anything to happen, rather than that the treatment had happened within the target, but that the patient had then had to wait 15 weeks for the follow-up radiorgaphy. On the ten o’clock news Friday evening she clearly misreported the story, but kept herself right by saying that the Scottish Government said “Our cancer waiting times standards cover first treatments for cancer, and always have done.
“Some patients might need supplementary treatment – that’s ‘supplementary’ treatment to give the ‘primary’ treatment the best chance of working. [this second sentence was missed from the news at ten report]
“Decisions on when to start these follow-up treatments are taken by doctors and are covered by clinical guidelines. This treatment will be different for individual patients’ clinical conditions.”
So rather than reporting the facts, this makes it sound like the Scottish Government are trying to wriggle out of it.
The thing that got me though was the now blatant desperation of the bbc to do down the Scottish Government [SNP], in that it was the first time that I have EVER on such a bulletin seen the reporter’s email address appear on the screen to see if they can flush out some more dirt. Don’t get me wrong, a decent bit of investigative journalism by bbc Scotland is well overdue. But the agenda is pretty obvious and certainly biased. I can only assume that Jackie Bailley must have had her phone switched off.
Just an idea here. If rather than paying my tv license, I sent a cheque for the value to the Procurator Fiscal, could any action be taken against me for non-payment of my license?
Sorry Rev
I’ve chucked some time and cash on a couple of sites in the past, as well as SNP – but cash now going to “Yes” campaign.
frazzledazzle77 says
On Radio Jockland about 17:30 Elanor Bradford specifically asked that anyone who had to wait longer than the “SNP” pledged waiting times contact her.
A supposed “journalist” moonilighting as a Labour researcher?
Haven’t finished watching it yet, but it’s very clear that at last Blair Jenkins (OBE) and hence the YES campaign are distancing themselves from SNP policies, and opening up and therefore taking control of the Independence debate. I guess they’ve read criticisms from senior figures, but perhaps also they’ve been reading some of the comments in this blog and others, and comments in the Herald and even the Scotsman and Guardian.
They must continue with this, and even advance some alternatives. For instance, if asked about tuition fees Blair should maybe say something like: “it may well be the policy of a future Scottish Government to maintain free tuition fees, but on the other hand a political party could put in its manifesto that students should be charged £30,000 a year plus graduate endowment fees of £50,000. And seek to gain election on that manifesto.”. And leave it at that.
The corollary is that over the next perhaps 3 months or so, the SNP should go fairly quiet about their policies for an Independent Scotland – no matter what flak they get from the NO campaign – so that increasingly the YES campaign is seen as the “official” source of questions and answers on Independence itself, which enables such as the SNP to implement its policies if elected.
I think this is absolutely vital, and that Blair Jenkins less definitive, but still very confident and articulate, style of answering questions is a huge, gigantic, enormous advance for the YES campaign.
Independence enables choices, not a strangled UK sheep track.
Independence empowers choice, not an overgrown UK sheep rut.
Mmm, there’s a slogan hidden away there somewhere 🙂
Ah, Jenkins says “not being a politician I don’t have to pretend to have the answers to every question, but I can go away and get the deatiled answers to these questions that have written in”.
That again is precisely what I want to hear – engagement, and even on a one to one basis where possible. As in “Never mind what it means to Scotland, what does it mean to me?”.
Mmm “bringing in high value jobs into Scotland, currently based in London”.
YES YES YES My kids and their potential kids thank you.
Y’know something the opposition have become exceptional at is hiding or blurring the good things the SG have done. They’ve become past masters at doing Scotland down period and offering themselves up as the only solution. Our task as posters has become a job in damage limitation and contradiction on a daily basis. One thing I think we could and probably should start doing is getting ourselves up to date in every positive news story.
We’ve become well used to seeing things like the new Orkney wave generation scheme appearing as two or three paras in the back of beyond pages to avoid any kind of acclaim. We’ve grown angry over the media and political handling of the introduction of bills intended to make Scotland a better place to live. Other morale builders such as the building of the world’s largest offshore windfarm, the attraction of overseas investment, our standing on the world scale of education, the opening of the new engineering apprenticeship programme in Leith, the FMs positive business delegations to the Gulf, China and America. Even the Ryder cup and its probable windfall coming to Scotland. Everything and anything that could possibly lift public confidence in Scotland as a case of ‘hey did you hear the latest?’ Make sure people know who is responsible for the good things happening and how much more we are capable of.
We put a lot of faith in independence minded sites like the Rev’s to find what’s wrong with the opposition and expose the lies and hypocrisy. I say we go on the offensive and make sure that if its an independence minded businessman bringing jobs or the SG showing yet another example of how it could and should be done, then we get loud about it. We give that business/politician/scientist/university the credit they are due on the networks, we promote positive feedback for those who promote Scotland.
Not sure if I’ve articulated that very well, but my point is there are good things happening out there and they are finding it hard to surface through the muck of media and political spin. Anyhoo, back to my sausage piece. 🙂
Macart
Its maybe something that the YES Scotland people could highlight more on their website.
Of course, the SNP could have a similar section on theirs.
Seasick Dave The problem will be that a lot of the undecided voters will not go on to sites like YES Scotland or the S.N.P . The type of good news like Macart is speaking about would be better spread about on sites like Facebook or twitter . It would also be easy for the likes of Sneaky Boy and others who still post in the M.S.M to slip in pieces of good news when they are posting on these sites . I am going to try out Macart,s idea by posting any good news on my Facebook page .
Silverytay
Fair points but I wasn’t being exhaustive.
The YES Scotland people could also include good news with the literature which everyone will be getting.
Incidentally, I broke one of my own rules today and sneaked a look on the Herald.
Lo and behold, Magnus Gardham has written a fair and balanced piece about the SNP!
@Silverytay/Seasick Dave
That’s exactly what I’m talking about. We become the media, we spread the good news stories and we bring people in the street up to speed. If we find anything, we go to our favourite sites and post asap.
O/T Latest scare story over at auntie
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-21085778
Seasick Dave Are you sure you weren’t on the Buckie last night , I will have to look out of my window to see if we have any blue snow . Perhaps , just perhaps Magnus is getting worried about his future . p.s No offence intended with the buckie .
Tattie Bogle
That’s a great picture of the guy! Wasn’t he in a Bond movie?
Glad to see that its Glenn Campbell, protecting us from ourselves again 🙂
Silverytay
I think that Magnus might be seeing the pieces of the jigsaw coming together.
@ Seasick Dave
The funniest part is the last paragraph PMSL
Tattie
They’d better have words with Cameron then! 🙂
Ho, Ho, Ho – Dear old Glenn Campbell has turned up yet another neg-spinner in his jaunt to the Czech Republic. We’ve had an art gallery owner, a puppet maker and now somebody who looks like Chemical Ali of Saddam regime fame giving an answer to no doubt a leading question from dear old Glenn. Between him and Eleanor Bradford advertising for SNP-shock horror stories and the absolute non-reporting of the total embarrassment that was the Section 30 Labour bile-fest you soon get he picture from dear old Auntie Beeb. Truly shocking.
We had to get rid of our Eastern European cleaner last week as she took all day just to Hoover the house.
It turned out that she was a Slovak.
The compliments by Juteman and others about Wings Over Scotland are right on the money. I am always impressed by the number of posts, and the content of them on the articles, which themselves show a very high level of journalism and effort to put together. The way in which the biased MSM especially BBC Scotland are dissected and exposed is always welcome and impressive. Like so many now I rarely visit these MSM web sites, preferring to browse here or Twitter and Facebook. At one time my first port of call would have been Newsnet Scotland, but no more. Their precious moderation policy, and restricted comments have rendered the site stale and boring with very few comments. A great shame. Whoever finally got their hands on the levers there are slowly destroying what was a fine journal. Where else are we seeing that? Well done WOS keep it going, a donation is in order.
Seasick Dave says:
19 January, 2013 at 9:28 am
“We had to get rid of our Eastern European cleaner last week as she took all day just to Hoover the house.
It turned out that she was a Slovak.”
You should Check that for Polemic!
That’s the first time I’ve visited the Herald site in months (curiosity got the better of me). Its got to be a Gardham clone surely. It was almost a balanced article.
Must have been something I ate. Ah’ll get ma coat. 🙂
Gardham still retains a few barbed comments within that piece. He cannot help himself.
@McHaggis
I did say ‘almost’. 🙂
Eleanor Bradford – I’m surprised ‘Mrs Butterfield’ hasn’t appeared yet on her reports as she is the ‘go-to’ for all that is wrong with NHS Scotland. So much so that last time we heard from Mrs Butterfield she was planning to move south of the border because of our dreadful health service.
Who can ever forget Bradford’s classic a few months back when she ‘did some sums’ (direct quote) and worked out that people in Glasgow have more than £1,000 extra spent than those in Manchester. No evidence given on how or where these figures came from or to emphasise that we have a completely independent health service – the report was geared to reinforce the ‘subsidy junkie’ myth.
with the scotsman circulation falling to less than 30, 000
should we not focus more on the dundee courier and the p&j scare stories?
does anyone know what the web hits are for these sites?
Good tae see ye SC. Nah, think they block retrieval of that info on those sites.
TX macart
mmm, where there is a way there is a will
>@<
The Faslane story on the Herald has now been amended, albeit with no reference to the original version.
http://wingsland.podgamer.com/britannia-rules-the-waves/
It also still seems to be wrong. As far as I know, and as far as the correction claims, Baillie claims a TOTAL of 11,000 jobs are at risk indirectly and directly, not an EXTRA 11,000 over and above those directly employed there.