The world's most-read Scottish politics website

Wings Over Scotland


Archive for the ‘media’


Burning bridge extinguished 2

Posted on May 21, 2018 by

I came by a little snippet of games-magazine history this week – via an unlikely route that needn't concern us here – and I just thought I'd share it for the historical record.

Atari ST Review was a magazine published by EMAP  in 1992 and 1993, when after just 12 issues it was suddenly sold to Europress, leading to this editorial column in a suspiciously large typeface:

But alert readers might have noticed (from the slightly off alignment of the red border) that the column actually took the form of a hastily-applied sticker. Because that wasn't the editor's original leader.

Read the rest of this entry →

Counting with the Daily Mail 57

Posted on May 21, 2018 by

After 27 unbroken pages of royal wedding “news” (following on from a full 46 in its Sunday edition), the Scottish Daily Mail finally gets down to reporting other stuff today.

“Union support rising”, eh? Do we have any numbers on that?

Read the rest of this entry →

The debut 198

Posted on May 20, 2018 by

To the best of our recollection, today’s Sunday Politics Scotland was the first time a representative from this site has ever been invited onto a BBC Scotland TV show to discuss the affairs of the day since Wings was founded back in 2011. So we thought we better capture it for posterity in case it’s another seven years until the next one.

The bits that didn’t make it to air are below.

Read the rest of this entry →

The Ballad Of The Chief Reporter 103

Posted on May 18, 2018 by

Well, the timing of this is rather unfortunate.

If only someone had said something, eh?

Read the rest of this entry →

The most popular policy in the world 84

Posted on May 16, 2018 by

Just before we (thankfully) stop talking about this insanity entirely, one last thing.

This month, just for fun and a bit of a change, we’ve commissioned a Panelbase poll NOT of voters in Scotland, but our neighbours to the south. English folk are always complaining that in a world of UK devolution nobody speaks for them and them alone – Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own Parliaments, but not England.

So we polled 1020 English people (and we do mean English – we restricted responses to people who were both resident in England and were born there) about all kinds of things. Many were related to England’s relationship with Scotland and the rest of the UK, but while we were there we figured we might as well ask some other stuff too.

And as the UK parliament hotly debates Leveson 2 and press freedom in general, it seemed a pertinent time to re-ask a question which in polling invariably unites people of every colour, creed, class and persuasion across the entire UK, and which might be the only political policy anywhere in the UK which comes even close to matching the mass popularity of Scotland’s now-repealed Offensive Behaviour (Football) Act.

It’s this one:

English people love the Queen, but not as much as they love this idea. Men, women, young, old, rich, poor, Tory, Labour, homeowner, tenant, worker, student, it makes no difference. Overwhelming majorities of every single demographic support putting an end to the ridiculous situation that newspapers can get away with blaring an untrue story all over the front page (and pages 2, 3, 4 and 5) in gigantic screaming type, and then print the correction in a microscopic corner of page 23 two months later.

It’s just about the only thing that totally unites Remain and Leave voters – our poll found identical responses (79% for, 5% against) among those who want Brexit and those who want to stay in the EU.

It’s simple, practical and costs nothing. We can’t for the life of us work out why nobody is prepared to offer it to the nation. If any party wants to actually win the next election, we’d suggest sticking it on the front of the manifesto and preparing for a landslide.

David Leask: a correction 113

Posted on May 16, 2018 by

It has come to our attention that the Newsquest journalist David Leask spent all day yesterday issuing a long series of angry and rather insulting tweets asserting that this website had misidentified the nature of his employment in a number of articles.

Naturally, we wish to eradicate any uncertainty or possible errors.

Read the rest of this entry →

The Angry Man 408

Posted on May 14, 2018 by

So it seems our article of earlier today rattled the Herald’s cage but good. Scottish political Twitter has been an absolute logjam of incandescent Herald Group hacks all afternoon, making all manner of wild accusations and threats. At the head of the fury, of course, was Chief Reporter And Witchfinder General Mr David Leask.

Unfamiliar with the Scottish media? God, how we wish THAT was true.

Leask issued a long (long) stream of invective on Twitter, while hiding behind a block that means we can’t post any responses to it that any of his Twitter followers will see. So for the record, we suppose we’ll have to address them here.

Read the rest of this entry →

The new world champion of irony 172

Posted on May 14, 2018 by

Take a bow, Angela Haggerty of the Sunday Herald:

Read the rest of this entry →

Only Bad In Scotland 344

Posted on May 10, 2018 by

Following the Scottish media’s week-long frenzy of stories about the “scandal” of baby boxes – in which it was revealed to the astonishment of the nation that cardboard is flammable and incapable of stopping an armoured assault from a tank division or a zombie plague – we were a little startled to note that the Guardian (which has now run THREE stories about how terrible it is to give babies nice free stuff) didn’t always have such a downer on the project.

Apparently (and as recently as this February) baby boxes are “great innovations” and “hugely popular” – so long as the SNP aren’t involved, of course, at which point they turn into grotesque deathtraps.

And it got us wondering: what else is only terrible when it happens in Scotland?

Read the rest of this entry →

Lower than the lowest low 248

Posted on May 09, 2018 by

We must admit, we didn’t think this would be beaten so soon.

But there you go. Just goes to show you how little we know about the sick, despicable, sewer-dredging shitfestival that is the Scottish media, and how badly even we’ve been overestimating their humanity all these years.

“Scandal”.

It says “scandal”.

To hell with every last one of these worthless sacks of parasitic filth. And their horses.

The same difference 182

Posted on May 08, 2018 by

This one won’t take long. This is the front page lead on today’s Herald:

It’s a trope beloved of Unionists (and was a particular favourite of the paper’s departed columnist David Torrance) – how dare Scotland imagine that it’s special? – and the Herald bangs the drum extra-hard this morning, with Anas Sarwar given lots of room to talk Scotland down while insisting that he’s not talking Scotland down, claiming that the idea of Scotland being “less intolerant than our neighbours” is a myth.

So let’s just check the facts.

Read the rest of this entry →

In vino non-veritas 214

Posted on May 07, 2018 by

The Scottish Sunday Express yesterday had a shock-horror exposé about a “HUGE loophole” in the Scottish Government’s minimum-pricing legislation for alcohol.

We thought we’d give it a quick once-over. You’re in for a HUGE shock, readers.

Read the rest of this entry →

  • About

    Wings Over Scotland is a (mainly) Scottish political media digest and monitor, which also offers its own commentary. (More)

    Stats: 6,726 Posts, 1,215,019 Comments

  • Recent Posts

  • Archives

  • Categories

  • Tags

  • Recent Comments

    • MaryB on The Gender Of Mountains: “Thanks for that, Sarah.Apr 3, 12:16
    • Xaracen on The Long Future: “As for the “principle of respect for the territorial integrity of states”, that can only apply to unitary states. For…Apr 3, 11:48
    • sarah on The Gender Of Mountains: “Scotland Act 1998 clause 7 (2) Sub-paragraph (1) does NOT reserve – (a) observing and implementing international obligations, obligations under…Apr 3, 11:30
    • Xaracen on The Long Future: “Ah, so it’s not an important matter of principle at all, then. It’s just a shoddy excuse to keep certain…Apr 3, 11:28
    • Mark Beggan on The Gender Of Mountains: ““A gutless pro Trump British yoon Nazi appeaser” as opposed to an aborted pro Faggot inbred Lefty jizz stain.Apr 3, 10:24
    • Aidan on The Gender Of Mountains: “@Mary – you’re right, but the UNCRC was successfully challenged in the Supreme Court on the basis that it extended…Apr 3, 10:04
    • Sven on The Gender Of Mountains: “Iain More @ 08.15. I suspect that this will be in retaliation for the 82% Tariff which the Islands impose…Apr 3, 09:49
    • Southernbystander on The Gender Of Mountains: “Is there not a serious problem of throwing the baby out with the bath water with this endless invocation of…Apr 3, 09:44
    • MaryB on The Gender Of Mountains: “Aidan @ 6.23am Why don’t you Google UN Human Rights and ICCPR? The UK adopted the overall Human Rights Act,…Apr 3, 09:36
    • Iain More on The Gender Of Mountains: “Ok we get that you are a gutless pro Trump Brit Yoon NAZI appeaser. Thanks for letting is know.Apr 3, 09:22
    • Hatey McHateface on The Gender Of Mountains: “Why is this a gift for Scottish Indy, Iain? Is iScotland going to stand up to President Trump and the…Apr 3, 08:48
    • Iain More on The Gender Of Mountains: “41% Tariffs on Falkland Islands. What did they do to piss off Fuhrer Trump? I had no idea that the…Apr 3, 08:15
    • Aidan on The Gender Of Mountains: “Another cunning plan based on a whole heap of made up legal arguments which no court, anywhere, is going to…Apr 3, 06:23
    • Hatey McHateface on The Sacrifice: “@Zimba Regarding moral inconsistencies. I believe a meaningful debate between fair-minded individuals acting in good faith first needs some kind…Apr 2, 21:17
    • sarah on The Gender Of Mountains: “IMPORTANT: Leah Gunn Barrett attended the Public Petitions Committee at Holyrood today in order to see what would happen to…Apr 2, 19:40
    • agent x on The Gender Of Mountains: “Caroline Lucas says: “He helped transform the fortunes of the Scottish Green party – taking the party into government for…Apr 2, 18:13
    • Porty on The Long Future: “Have a wee look at her post and highlights of committee meeting today at Holyrood today, she’s a fighter, well…Apr 2, 18:08
    • Porty on The Long Future: “So the game’s a bogey, so we call it a day?Apr 2, 18:04
    • Porty on The Long Future: “So the game’s a bogey, so we call it a day?Apr 2, 18:00
    • Porty on The Long Future: “Soz, double post…Apr 2, 17:41
    • Aidan on The Long Future: “@Xaracen – to understand why the geographic separation requirement is so important you have to look back at the context…Apr 2, 17:31
    • Porty on The Long Future: “Was & still am a follower of the Rev, but starting to question myself why, isn’t it about time he…Apr 2, 17:27
    • Porty on The Long Future: “Was & still am a follower of the Rev, but starting to question myself why, isn’t it about time he…Apr 2, 17:27
    • twathater on The Gender Of Mountains: “Another piece of evidence to EXPOSE the continued ongoing lunacy that we must find some way to address https://open.substack.com/pub/iainmacwhirter/p/trans-cat-msp-cleared-of-non-crime?r=5catlo&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=emailApr 2, 16:38
    • Zimba on The Sacrifice: “First off, apologies for essentially posting the same (or similar) comment twice. I’m not a frequent poster here (or anywhere…Apr 2, 15:59
    • Zimba on The Long Future: “This is not a portrait of what Scotland’s politicians alone have become. The malaise is sadly European generally and is…Apr 2, 15:21
    • Mark Beggan on The Gender Of Mountains: “Is Greer related to Chapman. Strange shaped head sneering mouth with studs for teeth and eyes that sit suspiciously in…Apr 2, 14:35
    • Mark Beggan on The Gender Of Mountains: “The Teletubbies have to say bye bye Dipsy. Dipsy likes bouncing on his bottom. But now Dipsy has a sore…Apr 2, 13:45
    • Hatey McHateface on The Sacrifice: “Ah, Zimba, always good to hear from the kind of poster who believes that any number of dead men, women,…Apr 2, 13:17
    • Zimba on The Sacrifice: “Good job, Hatey, our kindly bombs and bullets can help them learn to see their own moral failings before it’s…Apr 2, 12:14
  • A tall tale



↑ Top