The non-story so far
A quick update on how mainstream media coverage of our poll is going.
NEWSPAPERS
Daily Record: Tiny paragraph on Monday, Joan McAlpine column on Tuesday.
Sunday Mail: Nothing we know of.
Scottish Sun: Nothing we know of.
Scottish Daily Mail: Heavily-spun page 4 article on Tuesday.
Scottish Mail On Sunday: Small joke piece.
Sunday Post: Nothing we know of.
The Scotsman: Nothing we know of.
Scotland on Sunday: Nothing we know of.
The Herald: Nothing we know of.
The Sunday Herald: Nothing we know of.
Scottish Daily Express: Nothing we know of.
The Courier: Nothing we know of.
The Press & Journal: Nothing we know of.
Evening Times: Nothing we know of.
The Guardian: Nothing we know of.
The Observer: Nothing we know of.
The Independent: Nothing we know of.
The Telegraph: Nothing we know of.
The Times: Nothing we know of.
ONLINE MAGAZINE SITES
Holyrood Magazine: Nothing we know of.
The Spectator: Dismissive passing mention, Tuesday.
New Statesman: Nothing we know of.
TELEVISION
Scotland Tonight: Nothing we know of.
Newsnight Scotland: Nothing we know of.
Reporting Scotland: Nothing we know of.
RADIO
Good Morning Scotland: 12-minute piece on 17 August.
Call Kaye: Nothing we know of.
BBC: Two tweets from James Cook.
It is, we think you’ll agree, a little bit less reporting than usually happens with a new opinion poll, let alone an interestingly grassroots-funded and -commissioned one. Do let us know if you’ve spotted anything else, and we’ll add it to the list.
They don’t like it up ’em!
Amazing! How did they manage to make the Invisible Man into a series?
Don’t expect anything fae the Courier.
Every 2nd letter is anti SNP/yes. They have one columnist in particular who is awful (forget her name but it’s a Scandinavinan sounding surname) Jenny someone.
Faltdubh
That is the wife of Alan Cochrane.
Maybe a waste of time, but I have now e-mailed c4newspopup@itn.co.uk twice on possible story for their 23Aug’13 Edinburgh visit.
Gave Rev Stu’s bullets, Prof Curtice quote regarding unique crowdfunding. Suggested a good story over respondents views on poor media and why people felt the need to do this research and debate online.
Andrew Nicholl of the Sun claimed on twitter the poll it was based on 10% having familiarity with Bella Caledonia and WoS so wasn’t a true cross section.
Faltdubh: Jenny Hjul. You’re the second person today to tell me the Courier is hostile. So I’m a little worried about what they’re going to print tomorrow about Lonely Better Together Lady, who has issued a complaint about our coverage of her world tour last week.
(Or more precisely, the comments on it.)
They asked me for a quote and I gave them one pointing out that nobody had said anything racist or anti-English about her whatsoever (that being the basis of her objection), so we’ll see what’s in print.
“Andrew Nicholl of the Sun claimed on twitter the poll it was based on 10% having familiarity with Bella Caledonia and WoS so wasn’t a true cross section.”
How odd.
Headless chickens,
cooped up in yUK
lookin’ roon,
wha’s gi’en up
been herded yet?
Nae us,
we’ll nae be first
we’re feart o’ excrement
frae London!
Rock & Roll
Roll & Rock!
Cheers, Marcia and Rev. That’s the name and well I did notice her wording of ”Nats” ”Nationalists” etc and that well adds it up now!
Rev, what story was that with BT lonely lady? I’ll need to go look.
The Courier is at my work and I always turn the opinion/editorial/letters page and nearly every 2nd letter is anti Indy or Salmond/SNP. Sometimes you’ll get two on the bounce.
Their political team also regularly pretend to be wanting to up the game for both sides, yet of course have a wee dig at Yes near the end.
Absolutely amazing!
NAH! only joking, NOTHING any of the MSM/BBC etc do seriously surprises any one any more. 😆
Is it possible for the yellow streak of cowardice running down the back of the MSM/BBC to get any wider?
One thing is for sure, the manufacturers of Mebendazole and Piperazine must be rubbing their hands with glee over the level of cowardice currently on show. Their share price must be rocketing as a result of the massive increase in sales of the worm treatments Mebendazole and Piperazine being bought by the MSM/BBC. 😆
Poll also mentioned in today’s Scottish Daily Mail Comment.
http://tinyurl.com/l9x2vfq
…what story was that with BT lonely lady?
This one:
http://wingsoverscotland.com/together-on-tour/
The Courier needs to be careful. It knows that Dundee, Perthshire and Angus (or ‘Courier Country’ as it likes to call it) is Yes heartland.
PS My head’s no right the night, probably that disaster of a U21 team scoreline. I ken exactly what lonely BT woman is, haha and mucho fun it was 😉 and still going round a few e-mails to pals.
Wee write up in all media Scotland
http://www.allmediascotland.com/broadcasting/52900/almost-50-per-cent-of-survey-respondents-say-media-wont-influence-referendum-voting-intentions/
Scanned the comments of publications, other web and facebook, twitter etc sites, I see a lot of coverage – the tide is turning.
A retired journalist who worked for DCT tells me that the Courier’s circulation in Dundee is smaller than in Fife.
OT STV Scotland tonight discussing referendum now
There are strange things afoot….
http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/252253/Scots-referendum-yes-10-times-more-likely-to-succeed
and
http://www.scotsman.com/what-s-on/theatre-comedy-dance/comedian-pete-cain-s-take-on-scottish-independence-1-2976368
OT STV Scotland tonight discussing referendum now, related to uncommitted voters
“Andrew Nicholl of the Sun claimed on twitter the poll it was based on 10% having familiarity with Bella Caledonia and WoS so wasn’t a true cross section.”
How odd.
No, not really. Just worried that such websites are reaching more people than the Sun.
Not in the print editions but sure as hell is in the btl comments. Get it out there!
Thanks for the link, Gordon,
Last week, it also emerged that Scottish ministers favour two separate questions on the ballot paper, the first on independence and the second on full fiscal autonomy.
http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/252253/Scots-referendum-yes-10-times-more-likely-to-succeed
If they’re so sure we’ll vote NO, why are their arses are biting lumps oot their troosers?
Note to self – check the bloody date before getting all excited!!!
There was a wee mention in the Courier via the “Opinions” Readers Letters dated 8th August.
It was only a passing remark in response to comments. Jock stated that the Poll had “leading questions” and that PanelBase refused to release it on their Website because it would be “too embarrassing”. Embarrassing to whom, I don’t know. My comment to that was “As if the No’s polls weren’t.”
Used to buy the Courier on a regular basis, but after all biased reporting I stopped buying it and only read the “online” version.
…. and it most definitely is “hostile”. There is nothing else I can actually say about it.
Note to self – check the bloody date before getting all excited!!!
History hasn’t changed since that article (on referenda success rate for indy).
At least not that I’m aware of.
😉
The Courier is busy – it handles so many calls from Jenny Marra’s hotline there isn’t time for much else.
I am now coming to the belief that in and around Dundee, nothing actually happens unless Ms Marra is involved.
I reckon that the Lonely Better Together lady would do well not to complain too much.
After all she did tell someone who asked her questions and then disputed her answers to “fuck off”.
Bad and bad enough if she was a volunteer, but given that she is a Labour councillor, utterly appalling behaviour.
Note to self – check the bloody date before getting all excited!!!
It is still relevant today, Gordon.
Note to self – check Gordon’s dates before responding. 😀
YOH,
Just before I finish my shift, this is OT, I just heard on the radio that the tories and libdems took a £500,000 legacy that had been left for the country, and decided to split it between themselves as a POLITICAL DONATION, is this true if so can we get them charged as thieving bastards.
The Glasgow meeting on Friday goes ahead, but…this is a wee bit embarrassing…it doesn’t look likely that we’ll be sitting around a table in a corner discussing creative methods of highlighting our concerns.
Unfortunately, it’s unlikely that we’ll be able to secure a space big enough for a sit-down meeting to be viable. We’re looking at upwards of 20 turning-up, so it’s more likely to be a, erm, what’s that word again?
Oh aye, a party.
No names, pack-drill, agendas, speeches, or other annoying stuff – just bring yer best ideas and enough for a few jars. Message me for details, and PLEASE don’t re-post details here. (We wouldn’t want Rev getting blamed for anything else, would we?)
ian@stevenston4.fsnet.co.uk
If I hadn’t copped a shift on Friday I would have been there in gusto!
O/T? Is that right? Not used to this thinking for myself lark.
Been watching this stuff for a while.
It seems to me: vote for the south of UK’s opinion of what you want to do or vote for your opinion of what you want to do!
@ianbrotherhood
Wish I could join you, but I’ll be on holiday. Will be there in “spirit” though 🙂
I just heard on the radio that the tories and libdems took a £500,000 legacy that had been left for the country, and decided to split it between themselves as a POLITICAL DONATION
It was left to whoever was in government, not ‘the country’. Do you really imagine that political parties would – or even could – ignore probate and appropriate money? Openly?
Contrast the media’s treatment of this scientifically conducted opinion poll with that given to the much manipulated and spun Glasgow University ballot on independence where only 1 in 12 bothered to cast their vote.
The Union’s carnival barkers where out in force hailing this as a near terminal blow to the independence movement. Compare that to the reality and to the reverse spin that might easily have been brought to bear had the pro-Indy movement owned the bullhorn.
http://www.weourselves.com/category/scottish-news/
The media in general and the BBC in particular represent THE primary threat to the goal of achieving independence. Were it not for the Fourth Estate’s collusion it is likely the NO campaign would already be dead in the water.
The primary focus in the run-up to the referendum should be to inculcate a robust simple narrative of the corrupting influence of media bias on the electoral process and the threat that poses to to our democracy.
First order of business in achieving that should be demands for a public inquiry into BBC bias and the possible diversion and misuse of public monies to prosecute a personal and corporate political agenda in direct violation of its charter.
The goal is not actually to hold such an inquiry, but to bring to the very center of the debmediate MSM’s collusion with the Unionist establishment to deny voters relevant facts essential to the formulation of an informed opinion.
@Turnip-ghost-
If you want updated as to what happens (and poss follow-up meets) please e-mail me (address at 11.17, above) and you’ll be on the list.
For the NNS-averse:
http://newsnetscotland.com/index.php/scottish-news/7857-new-report-says-independence-would-mean-substantial-savings-on-defence
A small victory. But every one counts!
http://www.allmediascotland.com/broadcasting/52900/almost-50-per-cent-of-survey-respondents-say-media-wont-influence-referendum-voting-intentions/
@ianbrotherhood: I was just moaning about that report on Twitter. I’m with Georges “Tiger” Clemenceau: War is too important to be left to the generals. And the same goes for defence policy.
Lee’s ruminations, ju
st like those by Stuart Crawford and Richard Marsh, and indeed the SNP’s policy on defence, would shut down any meaningful debate on defence by placing the responsibility for decisions which by right should belong to the first elected parliament of an elected Scotland in the hands of the rUK government, whoever negotiated for Scotland and their two sets of civil servants.
Apart from anything else, the report is just a retired Irish officer who wishes the Dail had funded a bigger and better Irish Defence Force playing at fantasy armies. It’s not even internally consistent. On page 5 Lee says “Neither NATO nor the EU need more armoured brigades”. That’s true. In fact, you could make a whole list of things NATO and the EU don’t need any more of: armoured brigades, frigates, second-rate combat aircraft and mine-sweepers would be near the top of the list. All of those, with the exception of the frigates, are explicitly called out by Lee as things that his hypothetical SDF would need on pages 7 & 8. Yes, even a bloody armoured brigade turns up in his fantasy SDF.
If there is a stitch up and the parliament finds itself presented with a fait accompli – one defence force, ready made, just add cash – the only and only chance to think seriously about defence will be gone. But Westminster will be happy. There’s a mini-me rUK armed forces in Scotland, a trusty ally ready to join in the next bad idea. And the Americans will probably be pleased enough as well. Trebles all round!
Davie @12:20
But it will – if we as WoS challenge it to report the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. We, all the people are the jury, not the MSM mouthpiece of populist yUK who fail as guardians of the guards who sudsusidise them with ‘insider’ information, corrupting everthing including intellect.
Once it dawns on them a’ their yUK stuff is part of a wake, what have they got to look forward to …. but transformed into a win-win of indy = sovereignty + reunion = interdependence of bottom-up optimal autonomy all round in the new confederal Briton’s Union from the geographic British Isles, based on:
1 People’s sovereignty as fundamental basis of own self-governance in our societies nation states.
2 Intra + inter governance body = renamed/tailored British-Irish Council + Secretariat as per present membership – then + Sco & rUK vice yUK – from geographic British Isles [ie incl Ireland grouping] iaw Belfast and Edinburgh agreements to resolve ppls problems – politics – NBing totality of our relationships of societies in communities of families, friends & fellow folk in family of friendly societies as nations and their states. All in our mutual interests of optimal autonomy all round for, of and by our ends, means and ways.
3 So, as BIC is ideal forum for negotiation – incl its own in transformation to BC – from the top-down yUK still imposition of Norse 1066 start to 1800 zenith as UK of GB & I, that owns us subjects sans our own sovereignty, into our own owned from bottom-up nation states – in then our lands with our own self-determined self-governance – in the new, contemporary, confederal BU with BC as our plenary forum.
Christain Wright @ 11:33pm
Agree all bar not Unionists but Unitarists the foe to isolate from support of devolution’s divide to rule Unitary yUK.
Devo = dependence, as only responsibility delegated, not authority + resources too, as is real not faux de-centralisation. rUK councils gathering strength to fight back to get, given yUK National Debt dumped on them by pruned & thinned out Whitehall & Wastemidden. Pickles in a pickle if they take concerted action via new Unlock Democracy sponsored Sustainable Communities Bill now in force as law they didn’t see coming from successor org to Charter 88 [formed one year afore Berlin Wall fell].
Indy + [re]union = interdependence of ppl = societies = own self-determined self-governance as a reflection of same – not that of increasingly fractional, factional minority ConLabLibselfservative parties who each have not had > than 25% of total electorate vote in yUKs for years and < 20% in 2005 + 2010 GE’s. Hence we got coalition, as we will again in 2014/2015 whichever they cut and run for again. M’band key if radical – ie fundamental.
All Unitarists are doing now are overplaying their ‘get to save the union + face, but not this one’ hand. They need to be eviscerated as extremist separatists of us.
How? Compare yUK with Germany since WW Parts 2 thro’ Cold Part 3 and now Secure Energy Part 4. It was US led NATO + EU + crucially German Ostpolitik keeping them fed that brought former USSR down and led to their re-unification of Germany and influx of former Warsaw Pact members in eastern Europe into EU, albeit not Yugoslavia as one too, but in slaughtered bits. This kos of Abrahamic mix leftover as detritus from AustroHungarian and Ottoman Empire spillover where clashed in the Balkans: ie there was no political will in EU corridors of unaccountable to bringing Muslims into; witness treatment of Turkey.
And what did we get since 1945, but a series of disastrous Con @ Lab political economies run by fcuking amateurs investing elsewhere as here in cheap labour!! Witness IMF > Black Wednesday > Big Bang > Big Boom > Big Bust > Big Bailout > Big Depreciation > Big Recession massaging figures ‘technically’ so not Big Depression it is for all but those who have excess in much more than enough > Big Bankcorrupt Britain, as it already is if totality of all debts taken into account having been stolen from our children’s children by politricksians and banksters who thot Adam Smith’s hidden hand of providence was for their predatory trousering as the wankers they are and need to be imprisoned.
Read the Bank of International Settlements – the central banks banker – BIS Report 300 issued in Spring 2010 and weep, especially at their proffered solutions, disastrously adopted and adapted by yUK as other idiot govs & not up to job oppositions. Find out what the yUK part of the problem didn’t admit to being responsible for and still have not fully as yUK’s GoD & official opposition, self-selected thro’ their FPTP seats for revolving door misgovernment and maladministration.
It’s the buyer’s of yUK’s National Debt who select yUK governments as their unpopular front for the City’s finagling financiers born of Big Bang, not any of you
End of Big Rant. What next? Coming up! We are evolution not revolution. We are normal, ken; yUK is abnormal, bent to thuggery & buggery as mafiosi running the Big Bummer of confidence in their self-protection racket! No, not fcuking like or likely. Bring us – we, all the people in our isles – on!
Keith, frae Fife & Yorkshire & nae feartie.
A gift for the MSM
http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://widescreen.dpiq.org/wallpapers/21/White_Feather_Widescreen.jpg&imgrefurl=http://widescreen.dpiq.org/21__White_Feather_Widescreen.htm&h=1200&w=1920&sz=452&tbnid=9jvy17CUm3QuDM:&tbnh=90&tbnw=144&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dwhite%2Bfeather%26tbm%3Disch%26tbo%3Du&zoom=1&q=white+feather&usg=__IaFWf6TxuOfypB35udg6u3BBQV8=&docid=QszifQDPC5uq5M&hl=en&sa=X&ei=YfwKUpvgEIbG0QXUooDYCw&sqi=2&ved=0CDoQ9QEwAQ&dur=244
Would it be worth moving on to another topic now? At the same time raising the funds to do another crowd funded survey (either using the same supplier or another) in two months. Then see what happens – and keep doing it every few months. If the British/Scottish MSM choose to ignore the future polls too it will be proof to be able to share with the voters that their media is being less than truthful about what people think.
I always wondered why Westminster reserved the power to oversee broadcasting – it’s so obvious now.
Just an idea – how about a crowd sourced challenge to the ECHR on the TV licence fee in Scotland. We are forced to pay this tax and criminalised if we don’t. However, we get very little in return from any of the broadcasters. This makes it an unfair tax.
Even if the challenge fails, it will be great fun collecting the evidence to present to court.
I’m in for a tenner.
The Courier became a rag a year or two ago, about the time they changed to tabloid format and increased the price. I grew up with it as the family paper, used to read it quite regularly (much more than any other paper), and used to regard it as the last decent paper left in Scotland (it’s always been a Tory paper, but still managed to retain a reasonable sense of balance). I do check their website (just because it’s local, not worth it otherwise), and read a physical copy sometimes when there’s a copy available in the pub.
They had an interview with Ian Hudghton recently, in which he explained that Scotland has little impact in EU decisions because it is so often being kept in the cold. Except it was spun as something along the lines of “Ian Hudghton admits to having little impact in EU decisions despite being paid a gazillion pounds.” Was a sizeable article too, but spun so much it could have dried clothes. It wasn’t online so far as I could see, and I would have bought a copy to scan the article if it hadn’t been at the time yesterday’s paper (a few weeks old now).
If one of their reporters overhear Saint Jenny Marra fart, no doubt it will reported as fantastic news. And I have a theory that they will print any letter whatsoever if it ends with “I hate windmills and the UK is fab.” They have had letters completely based on obvious lies/misunderstandings — really, the letters are nonsense from start to finish — but they’ve never printed a reply to those letters which point out the errors from me or anyone else.
And if that isn’t enough then alongside the Hjul rantings, they also have a fondness for Simon Pia.
Or what about mass civil disobedience, non payment of the license fee?
Or what about mass civil disobedience, non payment of the license fee?
About 84% of the BBC’s funding is from licence fees. Assuming an even spread over the year, that means roughly 6% of their funding comes in licence fees every month. Of that 6%, 0.5% comes from Scotland. How many months of non-payment, accumulating at 0.5% a month, would be required to have any sort of impact? And which would come first:the BBC noticing or independence?
All that disregards the fact that the BBC gets the bulk of their funding in a lump sum from government. So they wouldn’t notice at all. Even if they did, and the government didn’t make up the money from general taxation, all they would do is cut more from news and current affairs and provide an even poorer service. They’re untouchable and unaccountable, unless they offend middle England.
Yes wasn’t that Mr Nate Silver lucky to get a mention when he had a non poll based forecast for the outcome of the Referendum.
Cynics might suggest that because he was forecasting No chance for Independence he was guaranteed wall to wall coverage.
However fortunately we on here are not cynics and we can only think that Mr Silver was lucky to have his haverings picked up by “Scotland’s” meeja..
The great thing about opinion polls is that they are a tool accepted by everyone as a way of taking the temperature of the system on an issue. Panelbase polls are ‘respectable’ in a way that other activities by bloggers aren’t seen as being, and by refusing to report the results it is the establishment that is on the back foot.
Keep it up – I would suggest a poll every two months, with at least a couple of the questions kept the same. (The credibility ones for a start ? )
If the media keep ignoring the results then that story is worth the money every bit as much as the results themselves. I suggest one question for the next poll specifically addresses the way people see BBC Scotland’s coverage of the referendum.
It might also be worthwhile if someone with the talent to do so put a Youtube mix together of memorable BBC ‘indy’ moments – Davidson’s abuse towards Isobel Fraser, Brewer turning Nicola Sturgeon’s mike down etc.
Whatever else, WOS must remain fair, polite and transparent in its activities. Let pustulent little webrags like ‘AhDinnaeKen’ and bilious Unionist tweeters act as a revolting foil against which the YES side cannot help but shine, but let us never, never descend to their level.
On the WOS poll and the post at the top of the page…
Paraphrasing Animal Farm (which I haven’t read but I think Volvo pinched it for an advert…)
“All polls are equal, but some polls are more equal than others”
The poll results are not great for the No crowd but what is worse, is the media’s total lack of a reaction to the mere existence of the poll itself.
I think we need to avoid becoming a one-trick pony. The poll was a big surprise to a lot of people, and one hell of a coup, but repeating it too soon or too often would turn into a routine yawn. It was quite expensive. Absolutely worth every penny, but I question whether we’d get a similar bang for the buck by repeating it as early as two months from now.
I’m sure there are other new, fresh, innovating and extremely disturbing things we could do if we put our collective minds to it.
The £500,000 legacy was for the Government in power to do with as they saw fit. Giving it to their own Parties, was not likely to be what she meant, otherwise she could have just given it to them directly.
The TV Licence income from Scotland is £350million per year; they would notice it if it were not there.
O/T, today’s Dundee Courier has an article in the print version, but not on-line as far as I can tell, re the lone BT supporter at Dundee’s Baxter Park, headlined:
“Website subjected me to racism, councillor claims.”
Guess whose website she is talking about.
I took a photo of the article.
This legacy thing reminds me of an incident many years ago when an elderly lady left a lot of money in her will to “The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons” (RCVS). That’s the regulatory body for vets in Britain, the veterinary equivalent of the GMC. Everyone has to be registered with them and if you blot your copybook they can strike you off. Why would the lady have left them money?
Well, it starts to make sense when you learn that the veterinary college which is part of the University of London is “The Royal Veterinary College” (RVC). That college has a small animal referral hospital – it’s a bit like St. Thomas’s Hospital, but for animals. A little bit of digging revealed that the lady’s dog had received life-saving treatment there some years previously. So, it looked as if the lady had in effect wanted to give her money to St. Thomas’s Hospital but had ended up willing it to the GMC by mistake. As it were.
The RCVS would doubtless simply have trousered the cash, but for one thing. The then President of the RCVS was none other than Professor Alan Betts, whose day job was as Principal of – you guessed it – the Royal Veterinary College! Now I loathed Alan Betts with a fiery passion (I was a lecturer at the RVC at the time), but he was right about this. He realised the lady had made a mistake in her will, and challenged it on behalf of the RVC. He won.
He was undoubtedly right. That didn’t stop the RCVS people from being absolutely furious with him for betraying them and “stealing” the money. I do smell a similar misunderstanding here, I’m afraid. Does anyone know the exact wording of the will? The Daily Fail claim to have seen it.
Wasn’t there a case where a Scot’s lady left money intended for the Scottish branch of the RSPCA and the UK RSPA grabbed the money?
On topic: the people polled by Panelbase indicated a low percentage awareness of WOS,(7%?) and the media are ignoring the poll. That the BBC and MSM ignore the poll of a national polling company is the groundbreaker.A free press informing the nation without fear or favour? The BBC, what does its Charter say?
So thinking caps on how to take the poll findings to the public. Crowdfund adverts in selected newspapers? STV? Poster campaign?The public need to be informed.
Wasn’t there a case where a Scot’s lady left money intended for the Scottish branch of the RSPCA and the UK RSPA grabbed the money?
No. Not A case. Dozens and scores of cases. The RSPCA advertises aggressively across Britain, and all these cutesie “Animal Hospital” programmes (which are hooks to get legacy cash) are broadcast in Scotland. Many people don’t know that the RSPCA (thankfully) don’t operate in Scotland at all. The SSPCA not that long ago actually took out paid adverts in the Scottish press saying in words of one syllable “don’t leave your money to the RSPCA!”
They have had millions from Scottish people who didn’t know about the two organisations being completely separate outfits, and they have never given back a penny. Rapacious paramilitary organisation.
Has Bella Caledonia produced an article on it? I went to its site and found no comment whatever on it even though there are other articles dated up to the 13th Aug headlined.
Jenny Marra’s farts smell of perfume; but like all unionist politicians, when she talks the air smells of farts.
As for the Courier: sweet tea and acid drops and the smell of very elderly people.
Remember who is on the editorial team of Bella.
Courier’s article on the Dundee councillor accusing Wings of racism towards her
http://www.thecourier.co.uk/news/local/dundee/councillor-claims-she-faced-anti-english-racism-on-wings-over-scotland-website-1.120400
Hi Stu,
Might be a bit late to comment on this, but my experience of this sort of thing recently in print is that you need to basically write the story for them. Needs to be in the form of a 300-odd word press release with the stats picked up nice and bold. Bit depressing really.
Also needs to be written pretty blandly, making the point but not hammering it home too clearly – even if the stats basically lead you down that route naturally.
You’ve probably tried all this though – apologies if so.
I e-mailed Call Kaye about the poll and about the finding that only 6% thought that the independence issue was getting reasonable media coverage asking them to discuss it. Got no reply.
That list includes virtually every daily newspaper in Scotland, which is remarkable enough, but what is astoundingly impressive is that they all as one have chosen to ignore the Panelbase poll.
These I would imagine are owned by different moguls; Johnston Press, The Barclay Bros, etc, plus Murdoch’s News International, so what gives?
I suspect that the Establisment balance has been knocked totally out of kilter by the Rev’s barefaced cheek and the balloon has gone up big time. So let’s think this over. All separate organisations, all chasing the penny in our pocket, but more importantly perhaps, all worried about alienating the advertisers who keep them afloat, so who’s really pulling the strings I wonder? Who’s coordinating this operation so tightly, their cover’s been flushed and the MSM will never command a respected opinion ever again in Scotland? We already know the BBC is a totally lost cause, so no need to comment on them, but is STV under the same shackledom as the MSM? Looks awfy like it!
@Christian Wright
“The media in general and the BBC in particular represent THE primary threat to the goal of achieving independence. Were it not for the Fourth Estate’s collusion it is likely the NO campaign would already be dead in the water.”
Whilst I agree with this in general, I think it should be borne in mind the particular use/misuse they are making of opinion polls, and why our poll has spooked them so much.
If it goes 50/50 Yes/HeeHaw with 6 months to go, never mind a year to go, HH are stuffed, and they know that.
The ‘normalisation’ of being Yes, the increased confidence, that a 50/50 situation brings is one thing – the other thing is that a Hee Haw lead (whether real or manufactured, in collusion with some of the more crypto-unionist pollsters) gives valuable cover for dirty tricks/black-ops (re which hello MI5 officer who is monitoring this site – or is it, ironically, MI6?) in the coming months.
It will be much more difficult for black-ops to be noticed and/or believed, both here, and importantly internationally, if a Yes victory looks very possible. However if it is accepted, with a year to go, by a critical mass of Scottish people and the rest of the world that a HeeHaw vote looks the most likely outcome, there will be less suspicions, less scrutiny, less belief regarding Yes claims of dirty tricks (which will be attempted, have no doubt about that).
So even if it is 50/50, as our poll has shown that it is very close to being, No need to keep that quiet, unknown to as many people, as possible: hence the godsend to them of Nate Silver’s self-and-book promoting quotes, which were perfect for national and international narrative-fitting headlines.
I got a reply from Channel 4 News at c4newspopup@itn.co.uk.
“Thanks very much for getting in touch. We’ll certainly be touching on the independence debate in our broadcast from Scotland – and thanks for making us aware of the Panelbase poll.”
They asked me for more suggestions which I gladly provided. Although my suggestions were outside the referendum debate they did draw out differences in UK – Scotland policies / approaches.