STRIKE action at BBC Scotland, a ‘step back in time’ for the Edinburgh Evening News and a new host for a radio programme showcasing new, underground and under-the-radar’ music from Scotland.
It was a busy time for allmediascotland.com five years ago, when – unlike today’s editorial approach of curating what’s out there in time for a Noon Briefing – it was doing its best, on modest resources, to seek out originated content.
And five years ago, a busy media news agenda was dominated, by among other things, strike action at BBC Scotland by members of the National Union of Journalists.
It was about pension plans at the Corporation and the strike action included, among others things, BBC Scotland’s flagship news programme, Reporting Scotland, being reduced to five minutes in duration, instead of its usual 30.
Meanwhile, the Edinburgh Evening News was taking a ‘step back in time’ by resurrecting its much-loved Spot the Ball competition – requiring readers to guess where the (digitally-removed) ball might have been in a photograph from a Hibernian versus Hearts football match.
Read more, here.
Elsewhere, media website, holdthefrontpage.co.uk, was reporting that John Fleet – who had worked for both The Scotsman and the Scottish Daily Express and was, back then, managing editor of Nassau-based daily, The Tribune – was being “honoured by the Southern Newspaper Publishers Association for [his paper’s] commentary articles defending a government bill to outlaw marital rape”.
Read more, here.
Closer to home, Scots rugby international-turned-broadcaster, John Beattie, was being handed a lunchtime news show at BBC Radio Scotland, as part of what allmediascotland.com at the time described as ‘slight daytime rescheduling at the station’.
Read more, here.
And it was being revealed that late musician, John Martyn, might have instead pursued a career as a journalist. According to a book about him, then just out, it was claimed Martyn had been unsuccessful following a job interview at The Herald.
Read more, here.
Elsewhere, the Sunday Herald’s Michael Grant and the Scottish Daily Mail’s Rob Robertson, had teamed up to produce a book together, ‘The Management: Scotland’s Great Football Bosses’.
Read more, here.
And the NUJ was urging women to wear red, in support of calls to eliminate pay differences between men and women.
Read more, here.
Moving on, Stirling University graduate, Ally McCrae, was being named the new host of a BBC Radio 1 programme showcasing new, unsigned, underground and ‘under-the-radar’ music from Scotland.
Read more, here.
And among several other stories being reported five years ago on allmediascotland.com, friends were mourning the loss Edinburgh Evening News sub-editor, Andrew Midgley, who had died suddenly at the age of 45.
Read more, here.
And Glasgow-headquartered 3×1 Public Relations was being hailed as that year’s top PR consultancy in Scotland.
Read more, here.
In Edinburgh, meanwhile, it was being claimed that a target set by the BBC – that programmes made in Scotland would comprise 8.6 per cent of its UK-wide, network spend in six years’ time – was set to be reached several years early.
Read more, here.
Finally, John Collins was suggesting in an allmediascotland op ed that, perhaps, the BBC World Service should – on DAB alone – carry commercials.
Read more, here.
Happy reading!
