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The Great Disdain Robbery

Posted on December 18, 2013 by

We bought the digital edition of the Herald today on the promise of a 20-page “Scotland Decides” pullout, and were most disgruntled to find out we’d been swindled – you get the Sport supplement with the electronic version of the paper, answering every question you could imagine about the Rangers AGM, but not the referendum one.

That meant all the content we’d paid good money for was locked behind the Herald’s online paywall, where it’s a complete chore to access from mobile devices like the iPad we’d downloaded the digital edition to, because evidently the paper holds its techno-customers in lower esteem than news-stand purchasers.

So to save anyone else the same irritation, we’ve dug out all the articles we can find from the pullout and archived them for easy access. We don’t like doing this sort of thing wholesale, but if you’re going to steal our cash on false pretences then sod you.

The secret battle for your vote: inside the campaign HQs

“The over-riding feeling when leaving the offices of YesScotland is a positive one, and that of leaving Better Together is one of anxiety.”

Nicola Sturgeon: ‘As things stand right now, it is the only plan for the future of Scotland’

“At moments like this you are glad you’re not in a televised debate with her.”

Alistair Carmichael: ‘If we leave it to politicians, it will become a pretty pointless exercise’

“If the No camp is to maintain its momentum in the court of public opinion, then the Secretary of State will have to up his game to avoid becoming a human punch-bag.”

Defence of the realm: how Scotland will protect itself is suddenly on the frontline of debate

“One central problem is there is no immediate place for Trident to go. Creating a home for it in Wales or England risks running into local opposition and potentially costing billions of pounds.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has already warned the price of any such move would be ‘enormous’, while Lord West, the former First Sea Lord, has even suggested it could trigger unilateral disarmament for the rest of the UK.”

Yes campaign struggling to attract women voters

“The polling was conducted before the publication of the SNP’s White Paper in independence, which included a headline-grabbing pledge to provide near-full-time free childcare by 2024 – a move seen as reaching out to women voters.”

The brilliant or bad may win the day

“The No side have spent much of this year emphasising the alleged uncertainties of independence, not least in a regular series of UK government White Papers on the implications and consequences of independence. Dubbed ‘Project Fear’ by the nationalist camp, the effort has evidently cut little ice with the public.”

Alexander warning on £1.6bn ‘black hole’ in spending sums

“BLACK HOLE BLACK HOLE BLACK HOLE BLACK HOLE BLACK HOLE.”

The rest of the articles don’t appear to be on the Herald website, but after a bit of hunting and a lot of messing around with an unco-operative app, we’ve managed to get the entire supplement downloaded as a PDF, so if you don’t mind reading stuff in that format we’ve uploaded the whole thing here.

scotlanddecides

Sort yourselves out, Herald digital team.

(And while we’re about it, stop sticking the Sport section in the middle of the digital edition of the Sunday Herald as well. We’re bloody sick of being interrupted in the middle of a column and suddenly made to scroll past 32 pages about bloody cycling.)

55 to “The Great Disdain Robbery”

  1. Training Day says:

    Eh.. what is this ‘momentum’ in the No camp of which Michael Settle speaks?  Not a big fan of polls but does not every recent one show movement away from the No camp?
     
    More insidious crap from the Herald.

    Reply
  2. Extreme0 says:

    Could be worse. Could be over 40 pages of Golf

    Reply
  3. Ian Brotherhood says:

    From the first linked article:
     
    Over the next few months we will be introducing more targets and rewards,” says Mr Murray. “Obama pushed that. If you reach these targets of reaching the swing votes, you will get rewards. A reward could be that a local group gets a visit from Alistair Darling.”
     
    Big wow.

    Reply
  4. Wee folding bike says:

    Heck I ride a bike every day but I’d never heard of Mr Wiggins till he won in France. 
     
    The Herald is trivial to circumvent. On Safari you can use private browsing, on Chrome you can go incognito. 

    Reply
    • Rev. Stuart Campbell says:

      “on Chrome you can go incognito.”

      I didn’t know about that, and it’s very handy, so cheers! But it’s bugger-all use on iPad, which is what I was moaning about. (Unless iPad Chrome supports it, which I’m about to go and check…)

      Reply
  5. sneddon says:

    Thanks for that Rev.  Rob Shorthouse seems to be even more delusional than McDougall.  Not running a negative campaign? None so blind as those without eyes I suppose.

    Reply
  6. Illy says:

    So it’s not just “vote yes to get Trident off the Clyde”, it’s “vote yes to get the UK to get rid of it’s nukes completely”?
     
    See how much of an advantage an independant Scotland is to the rUK?  We can show a way out of the mess you’re all in!  But we can only do that if we can be different.
     
     
    I still think we should ask the locals in Cumbria, Northumberland, Newcastle and County Durham if they’d like to come with us when we go independant.

    Reply
  7. big_al says:

    Excellent work with the pdf but where’s the sports section?
     
    😉

    Reply
  8. Wee folding bike says:

    On iPad Chrome tap the wee horizontal lines button at the right and select new incognito tab. 

    Reply
    • Rev. Stuart Campbell says:

      “On iPad Chrome tap the wee horizontal lines button at the right and select new incognito tab. “

      So I see. Excellent! Ta!

      Reply
  9. Doonfooter says:

    Wee Folding Bike – thanks for the Safari private browsing tip for circumnavigating the Herald website. I’ll be cancelling my web subscription today!!

    Reply
  10. Doug Daniel says:

    WOAH WOAH WOAH!!! Hold on a second here.
     
    The PDF version is very useful indeed, mainly for the “Key Figures” sections that are missing from the online version of Lucy Adams’ article. I see a certain Jim Gallagher is there as a “Director of Research” for the No campaign. Now I know fine that Jim Gallagher is a unionist, so any time I’ve seen him mentioned in the media (or given space to write an article, in some cases), I know better than to take him too seriously. But I’ve never seen him described as a “Director of Research” for the No campaign before.
     
    That’s a pretty fucking important piece of information that’s been missing from every article or media piece that’s ever used him or anything he’s done.

    Reply
  11. MajorBloodnok says:

    Why do they keep on with the lie that it is the Nationalist side that called BT “Project Fear”?

    Reply
  12. Wee folding bike says:

    You need to cancel Private every few articles and then turn it on again. iOS 7 makes it easier as you don’t need to use settings to turn it on/off you can stay in the browser and toggle it. 

    Reply
  13. Wee folding bike says:

    Ummmmm… circumvent and circumnavigate are not the same thing. I do one, Mark Beaumont  does the other. 

    Reply
  14. bannock hussler says:

    Re Illy’s comment
    I’ve a feeling that whereas previously those nearest over the border would have fought hard against Scotland having more power than they themselves would have in the Union, it is now changed days, and they are much more likely to see the sense in the Yes campaign, and support it. From their perspective, they’d be living next door to a thriving and dynamic economy, and not simply stuck at the other end of a country entirely based on the self-interest of a backward-facing and rapacious London elite. The map goes top to bottom as well as the wrong way round.

    Reply
  15. Muscleguy says:

    Just a note that Firefox offers private browsing as well. Third option down from the File menu on the desktop version.

    Reply
  16. Vronsky says:

    My late brother-in-law was a US businessman.  Once, walking through an airport, he bought a newspaper, flipped through the back pages, then threw it in a bin.  ‘They’re doing OK’ he said to me.  ‘Wot?’  ‘They’ve got plenty of advertising, so they’re doing OK’ he explained. 
     
    I bought a Herald the other day (relax, I’ve been to confession) and noted that by that test they are doing very badly indeed.  In general, it was pretty content-free.  I wonder how they’re kept afloat – is someone bank-rolling them just to stagger through to the referendum?

    Reply
  17. David Martin says:

    The first thing I read was Mr McWhirter’s lie about Scotland being prevented from using the pound. He should know better than to conflate use of the pound with a currency union.

    Reply
  18. msean says:

    “focused on the last few weeks”Is that when we get an announcement of the end of the bedroom tax?Just wondering anyway,do the homeless get to vote or do they need a permanent address in order to be registered?

    Reply
  19. Illy says:

    Didn’t Firefox do private browsing first?

    Reply
  20. msean says:

    llly, re cumbria,northumberland etc,it’s been before mentioned/done in history before,under kings Alexander 2nd,David 1st Robert the Bruce in some way or other.

    Reply
  21. Bill McLean says:

    Vronsky – of course you have come to the correct conclusion. Don’t buy any of the papers, don’t post, don’t write to them – let them and their unionist poster friends exist in a vacuum. Still working on the better half to ditch the TV licence!

    Reply
  22. Dinnatouch says:

    I originally took out a sub for the Herald’s iPhone app, but cancelled it in favour of plain online access. The app is pointless, especially since it doesn’t give you access to the comments at the end of articles 

    Reply
    • Rev. Stuart Campbell says:

      “I originally took out a sub for the Herald’s iPhone app, but cancelled it in favour of plain online access. The app is pointless”

      Yeah, their app’s bloody awful. If I subscribe to a newspaper via a mobile device, what I want is the paper on my screen, as if I was looking at the real thing. Anything else, piss off. (I’m looking at you, The Guardian, with your ridiculously over-designed, incomprehensible mess of an app.)

      Reply
  23. Off topic here
    How do yae get in touch with WoS in order tae draw attention tae something. I have just had to leave a possible story of interest concerning our good friend Anas Sarwar on WoS F.B page. I hope its useful.

    Reply
  24. kendomacaroonbar says:

    @Dances with Haggis,
     
    erm… there’s a contact button at the top of this page ?

    Reply
  25. Chic McGregor says:

    “Project Fear” was a term coined by themselves.  Bit of a history rewrite there,

    Reply
  26. Memphisto says:

    And so does Internet Explorer, it in the menu under “Tools” or “Safety” and it’s called InPrivate browsing
     
    In Opera it’s called “New Private Window” under the main menu

    Reply
  27. muttley79 says:

    Dubbed ‘Project Fear’ by the nationalist camp, the effort has evidently cut little ice with the public.”
     
    The media are lying blatantly every time they say this.  It was in the Herald’s own Sunday paper about the No campaign calling themselves Project Fear. 

    Reply
  28. Michael says:

    Yes finding it difficult to attract women voters is the same as No finding it difficult to attract men. But when did we last read that?

    Reply
  29. muttley79 says:

    Incidentally I see Yes Scotland are over their target for the fundraising.

    Reply
  30. Bugger (the Panda) says:

    @Vronsky
    I posted this on Information Retrieval thread wrt Dinwoodie

    The Herald, in those days was owned by Scottish Television.
    Today the Herald is owned by Newsquest which in turn is owned by Gannet Publishing, which a US corporation. The group publishes, amongst others, USA Today and owns a number of television franchises.Gannet Publishing is headquartered in Tyson’s Corner, Virginia and their neighbour is the CIA.
    I wonder if that could help to explain Robin Dinwoodie’s change of mantle.

    Reply
    • Rev. Stuart Campbell says:

      “I wonder if that could help to explain Robin Dinwoodie’s change of mantle.”

      I think we all need to calm down a LOT about this insinuation that Robbie Dinwoodie is now some sort of Unionist stooge. I’ve seen no evidence for it.

      Reply
  31. gordoz says:

    After Ricky Burns comments
    Rob Shorthouse = dickhead in his hometown

    Reply
  32. Jingly Jangly says:

    Herald Headlines state new poll, I cant read details as I only have explorer and cant suss out how to get in without them knowing its me, (I don’t want to delete all my cookies)
    Anybody got any details?

    Reply
  33. Andy-B says:

    My My My imagine a Scottish tabloid not living up to expectaions, unthinkable.
     
    On the subject of flawed tabloids the Daily (drivel) Record goes on the attack again today, with no other than the ultimate minion of journalism, David Clegg, who in all honesty, must have purchased the book book, “Journalism for Dummies” with regards to parity on the SNP Government and independence.
     
    Clegg leads of with NHS plunged into crisis (For the dramatic effect of course) in a two page spread which is almost devoted to covertly blaming the SNP for the failing  of the NHS in certain areas.
     
    Of course its left to a Dr Neil Dewhurst to explain that under funding is the REAL cause of misgivings amongst the NHS Boards, no mention is made by Clegg of the percentage of patients that are cared for within the alloted time, which of course has DRAMATICALLY risen under this SNP Government.
     
    Clegg then shifts his sights to the FM Alex Salmond with a two four inch piece on page two, regarding the FM’s expenditure during the Ryder Cup, which in parliamentary terms of cash spending is peanuts, when you consider David Cameron took 130 retinue with him tp China on a crony capitalism adventure.
     
    Finally the Daily (drivel) Record fires a parting shot, in its Record View, which of course is just an anonymous, journalist or should I say literate person as journalism rarely comes into it, who on this occasion tries desperately to link the problems of the NHS in Scotland to the independnece debate, of course, he, she or whoever penned the article fails miserably a trait common to this Trinity Mirror Group gossip rag.

    Reply
  34. Arbroath 1320 says:

    I see Newsnet Scotland have an article covering the magnificence or otherwise of the great Danny Alexander’s wisdom about Scotland’s potential “black hole” or not as the case may be. 😆
     
    link to newsnetscotland.com

    Reply
  35. Harry Shanks says:

    @ Jingly Jangly re: Explorer
     
    Tools>>>>Private browsing
    Or open a new tab and at bottom of window click “Start InPrivate Browsing”

    Reply
  36. Training Day says:

    @Muttley
     
    Aye, and Yes Scotland owes the Rev a deal of thanks for saving them from a media disaster – not that the media will print the fact they made the target.
     
    But you ken what I mean.  Failure to meet the target would have been all over the MSM. 

    Reply
  37. Patrick Roden says:

    The latest polls I have read had a 5% swing from No.
     
    3% to Yes and 2% from No.
     
    Of these 3% were women.
     
    So more women than men are moving towards a ‘Yes’ vote, and the BT campaign have lost 2% from ‘No’ while ‘Yes’ has gained 3%
     
    The herald are telling so many lies in these articles, it’s difficult to know where to begin.

    Reply
  38. Albert Herring says:

    @Jingly Jangly
     
    Or just delete the Herald cookies.

    Reply
    • Wee folding bike says:

      I’ve not found a way to delete individual cookies on an iPad. 

      Reply
      • Rev. Stuart Campbell says:

        “I’ve not found a way to delete individual cookies on an iPad.”

        It can be done – it’s buried somewhere in Settings, but it’s very very unfriendly.

  39. Illy says:

    Do you not have filesystem acess on an iPad?

    Reply
  40. Chic McGregor says:

    “I see Newsnet Scotland have an article covering the magnificence or otherwise of the great Danny Alexander’s wisdom about Scotland’s potential “black hole” or not as the case may be. ”
     
    Meant to post a vid in response to someone’s vid a post or two back but forgot.
     


    Reply
  41. Wee folding bike says:

    iPads hide their file system. Individual apps have access to their files and some things have the option of being opened in something else. For example if I launch Pages I get access to all my Pages files. I don’t have access to them outwith Pages. On the other hand Pages has access to my photos so I can add them to a document. 

    Reply
  42. Cindie aka CR says:

    Thanks Rev for the links and PDF

    Reply
  43. Boorach says:

    @ msean
     
    As many folk on here will be sick of hearing I live in a van and therefore am of no fixed abode but am on the electoral roll. Nobody is disenfranchised by not having a postal address or roof over their heads 
     
    It may involve some effort by the individual concerned as not all Registrars can do the necessary. I have to travel to Dingwall each year to renew my registration but it’s well worth the effort.
     
    The council’s local service point will point folk in the right direction. 🙂

    Reply
  44. Andy says:

    They could not pay me to take the herald or Scotsman

    Reply
  45. Ericmac says:

    Just a note…  a significant number of comments that were marginally critical of Magnus’s article never saw light of day.  Just noticed because I commented on the thread.  Zilch.  

    Reply
  46. Ericmac says:

    @boorach we exchanged emails a few years ago… and you sent me a picture of your van and invited me in for a cuppa.  I lost your details (laptop stolen) 

    Just a quick hello again from me.  Glad to hear you are still fighting the good fight.  

    Reply
  47. Boorach says:

    @ Ericmac
     
    Apologies Eric, I could tell you lots about the 50’s/60’s but.. ! However, you and any other Yesser passing through Tain would be made welcome any time and the kettle’s quite close to hand!
     
    bill_urquhart@hotmail.com

    Reply
  48. dadsarmy says:

    It’s Herald policy not to allow criticism of its headlines and authors (and editorial policy). The way to do it is indirect, though at times, once a few comments have been posted, they seem to be a bit more lax. Just disagree with the headline in its substance, not to disagree with it being written. I’ve observed a lot over the months and seen comments disappear, and at times have remembered them enough to know why. Some also are for legal reasons. Robbie is no Unionist. Not even sure about Marcus to be honest, I think they just play a balanced role, and government, whatever party, is always in need of more to keep it straight.
     
    In fairness headlines have to attract attention. You don’t get readers with “price of mince goes up 1p a kilo”. You do get readers with “meat off the menu for poor families”. Of the two articles about the politician polls, the one with the more aggressive headline got about 5 times more posts and up votes.
     
    In my genuine opinion Unionist posters generally are getting rattled as they’ve no real material to post supplied by the NO campaign directly or indirectly, and I think even some of them are realising they’re talking 1p mince, and then make a meal of it. Which means we’re winning by staying calm and carrying on.

    Reply


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