The Scottish media this week has started to rather resemble Argentina under General Galtieri’s military junta – everywhere you look are the ghosts of the disappeared.
Here’s Daniel Sanderson in the Times in January this year, complaining that too few university students come from poor backgrounds and therefore the SNP are bad:
So he’d be chuffed if that situation improved, right?
In case you don’t know, Alan Roden is the former Scottish Daily Mail politics editor who’s now Scottish Labour’s director of communications. We haven’t edited this pic in any way, those genuinely are two consecutive tweets he posted yesterday.
Earlier today we reported on the mysterious failure of the Herald to notice that its front page lead story about supposedly poor ScotRail punctuality figures made a number of serious errors with regard to the facts, most notably confusing the excellent figures for last month with a 12-month rolling average which was significantly worse.
But as we read the rest of the papers, we noticed the oddest thing.
Today’s edition of The Times contains a textbook example of a phenomenon that we highlight regularly: how newspapers gradually unpick their own dishonest headlines to grudgingly admit a truth which is often the polar opposite of the initial claim.
The BBC’s Reporting Scotland is, in our view, directly responsible for at least 80% of Yes supporters’ belief that the UK’s state broadcaster is biased against independence. Almost all of the worst examples of unbalanced or downright dishonest coverage over the last five years come from the flagship teatime bulletin.
Broadly speaking, the psychological phenomenon known as the Pollyanna Principle is a tendency to neurotically see the most positive possible view of a situation. It’s not generally widely found in newspapers – for whom bad news as a rule sells much better than good news – but for some reason the Scottish press makes a uniform exception when it comes to military shipbuilding.
This, for example, is today’s Herald:
Now, in itself that headline is – unusually – true, so far as it goes. But it only takes until the first sentence of the article text before things start to fall apart.
Deep in the summer news desert, the papers today are struggling for material again. The Sunday Herald has a shock-horror front-page exposé about some photos from an Orange Lodge party that turn out to be from 2010 and 2013, while the Scottish Mail On Sunday reaches all the way back to 1940 to fill a couple of pages.
Yoon Scum on The Last Thing They’ll Expect: “Brexit causes you a MAJOR problem with your campaign They promised instant wealth and total freedom as the Eu would…” May 9, 06:24
Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on All Or Nothing: “Tentative translation of the Marquis of Montrose quatrain: He either fears his fate too much, Or his deserts are small,…” May 8, 23:10
Confused on All Or Nothing: “hail mia, full of grace, the lord is with thee … jesus was “antisemitic” : Ye are of YOUR FATHER…” May 8, 22:52
Lorn on The Last Thing They’ll Expect: “I think, Mia, the traditional Scottish Unionist vote and UKReform do not a double act make. They are coming from…” May 8, 22:51
Lorn on The Last Thing They’ll Expect: “Neither, Hatey. It doesn’t have to be above 48% before a campaign starts. Calling the bluff of both Holyrood and…” May 8, 22:45
Lorn on The Last Thing They’ll Expect: “Your tedious nonsense might apply to some nationalists, but, for the majority, we are very well aware that independence will…” May 8, 22:39
Hatey McHateface on All Or Nothing: “Understood. I’m gonna assume that “wanking on and on” is an order of magnitude more serious than “wanging on” ” May 8, 22:17
Rev. Stuart Campbell on All Or Nothing: “Y’know, I’m not sure you were ever voting Yes, mate.” May 8, 21:50
Rev. Stuart Campbell on All Or Nothing: “Fucksake, what do I have to DO to stop you people fucking wanking on and on about Israel and Palestine?…” May 8, 21:49
Hatey McHateface on All Or Nothing: “Woo, check out the big guts on Mia. She’s standing by her words. There’s your route to Indy right there.…” May 8, 21:39
Mia on All Or Nothing: ““The problem is the number of plants [in Hollyrood] working for the USA’s deep state and for the rogue state…” May 8, 21:06
Mia on The Last Thing They’ll Expect: “I am actually very surprised the Green vote remains that stubbornly high after their many cock ups with the return…” May 8, 20:58
Hatey McHateface on All Or Nothing: “Aw, quick everybody, look at Mia. If frantic virtue signalling could give you wings, she’d have enough lift to carry…” May 8, 20:53
Mia on All Or Nothing: ““It’s people like you that stopped me voting YES” Yes to what? It is trolls like you and Hatey what…” May 8, 20:50
Vivian O’Blivion on The Last Thing They’ll Expect: “RefUK friendly polling outfit Find Out Now have the Faragists on a thirteen percentage point lead! Westminster voting intention, field…” May 8, 20:26
Yoon Scum on All Or Nothing: “Mia It’s people like you that stopped me voting YES And I use the term “people” in it’s loosest meaning” May 8, 20:16
Mia on All Or Nothing: ““an openly unashamed antisemite” If, according to you, the new meaning of the word “antisemite” is to feel sick at,…” May 8, 19:58
100%Yes on The Last Thing They’ll Expect: “He keeps having a go at Alba Party. Bitter nice as a drink, it must be hell for someone who’s…” May 8, 19:58
Yoon Scum on The Last Thing They’ll Expect: “The biggest tell that a NAT isn’t very bright is they cannot give one single reason to stay in the…” May 8, 19:52
Hatey McHateface on All Or Nothing: “Like I said, Mia, you’re an openly unashamed antisemite. Whether it’s you blaming your perceived wrongs in Scotland’s governance on…” May 8, 19:47
Mia on All Or Nothing: ““days of 2014, that antisemitism w…” zzzzzz!! Antisemitism. The good old magic (but by now devoid of meaning) word that…” May 8, 19:23
Hatey McHateface on The Last Thing They’ll Expect: “You just beat me to it, YS. I was wondering if Rev Stu is lying to us, or if supporting…” May 8, 19:21
Hatey McHateface on All Or Nothing: “Yeah, yeah, yeah, sara, but who cares about that? Don’t we really need racist, sectarian, twisted bigots if we are…” May 8, 19:12
Mia on All Or Nothing: ““Happily there will be true independence fighters to vote for” I am counting on that, Sarah, but, If am not…” May 8, 19:09
Owen Mullions on The Last Thing They’ll Expect: “His blog these days has nothing to do with independence, just a constant diatribe against Alba (no wonder they got…” May 8, 19:06
Hatey McHateface on All Or Nothing: “Mia blaming Scotland’s situation on Da Dews again. Who ever thought, back in the heady days of 2014, that antisemitism…” May 8, 19:02
Xaracen on All Or Nothing: “Excellent summary! The fact of Westminster insisting on its own sovereignty only verifies that the concept of sovereignty is a…” May 8, 18:56
Yoon Scum on The Last Thing They’ll Expect: “YEP that has been the plan in 2019 there was a vote on keeping the UK in the common market…” May 8, 18:55
Yoon Scum on The Last Thing They’ll Expect: “If each event I was told was going to have a massive boost for indy actually did have a massive…” May 8, 18:53
Yoon Scum on The Last Thing They’ll Expect: “Most moon howlers and NATs think that support for indy is well over 70% many think it is 90% So…” May 8, 18:51
