THE MSP and Daily Record columnist, Joan McAlpine, has submitted a motion to the Scottish Parliament praising an upcoming series about Scottish Nationalism on BBC Radio Scotland.
The MSP is commending The Cause, being hosted by Billy Kay.
In a SNP media release, McAlpine – who, among other things, is a former columnist on The Scotsman, deputy editor of The Herald and editor of the Sunday Times Scotland – is quoted, as saying: “I want to congratulate BBC Radio Scotland for commissioning this series from one of our finest broadcasters and cultural historians.
“It will tell some of Scotland’s forgotten and untold stories – and it is so crucial for people to know these events and understand an important strand of political thought which helped shape the country we live in today.
“As you would expect from Billy Kay, the series digs deep and examines national identity through song and verse and looks at the experiences of the masses instead of just the elites.
“It is really important that Scotland’s stories, such as this, are told intelligently, given the recent [broadcasting regulators] Ofcom Communications Market Report that showed another sharp decline in the money spent on English language TV programmes for audiences in Scotland.
“While Radio Scotland should be congratulated for commissioning the series, I very much hope commissioning editors in television consider making similarly intelligent programmes exploring the rich diversity of Scottish life, culture and history. Billy’s series happened to be about Scottish nationalism but there is a wide variety of stories from our past and present which would benefit from television treatment.”
The series begins a week today.
