THE director of the Scottish Newspaper Society, John McLellan, reflects on a study of various national newspapers – by academic, David Patrick – on their coverage of the Scots independence referendum.
McLellan, a former editor of The Scotsman, was writing in sister title, the Edinburgh Evening News, here.
He comments: “The research will do little to convince those people who believe the vote was rigged and the whole thing has been a monstrous Westminster conspiracy, but the level-headed majority must at least accept that the big Scottish dailies did not set out to deliberately skew the issues and a proper analysis of their content showed that attempts to be even-handed were more than just token.”
He was referring to work by Patrick, here, and noted in allmediascotland.com, here.
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ONE of the main websites covering the indyref has announced what it describes as a ‘media buycott’, and is seeking donations to make it happen.
Says Bella Caledonia (here): “We are committed to delivering fresh content that has a good gender balance and a commitment to new young writers at it’s very heart from the start. We are also committed to continuing to address difficult cultural and identity issues, as well as creating a space for voices that are not often heard in the traditional media.”
The Drum media and marketing magazine begins its report (here) of the initiative: “Scottish politics site, Bella Caledonia, has announced plans to launch a ‘buycott’ – a request for readers in Scotland disillusioned with the Scottish mainstream media to redirect licence fee or newspaper subscription payments into funding Scotland’s alternative media scene.”
allmediascotland noted the plan, here.
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A STRATEGIC communications manager is being sought by the Care Inspectorate, as advertised here on allmediascotland.com and repeated on twitter.com/allmediajobs.
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BRIAN Wilson writes in his Scotsman column, on Saturday: “The second warning of where Scotland has been heading [under the Scottish National Party] was contained in the unseemly scenes at [the First Minister’s residence in Edinburgh] Bute House when dissident journalists – the ones [FM, Alex] Salmond doesn’t like – were excluded from his resignation press conference. If journalists present were aware of this and if any NUJ solidarity still exists, they should all have got up and walked out.”
Read more, here.
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A ‘MEDIA hub’ has been identified among plans reported of the think tank, Common Weal.
Begins Tom Gordon in yesterday’s Sunday Herald (here): “The Common Weal think tank has unveiled plans for a string of cafe bars and a new media hub to meet the public appetite for progressive politics seen in the referendum, and channel it into further grass-roots campaigning.”
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AND Tom Gordon – in a report of a pro-Scots independence rally in Edinburgh on Saturday – quotes a couple of attendees talking about the media.
He writes: “Sporting a ‘One of the 45′ T-shirt, Norrie Stewart, 56, said the referendum had caused widespread distrust of the media. ‘The genie’s out of the bottle. People now question everything – everything they see in the papers and on television. That’s not going to go away.’
“Next to him, Stuart McHardy, 67, a former presenter on BBC Radio Scotland, was scathing about his old employer, calling it a ‘state broadcaster’ issuing ‘black propaganda’.”
Read more, here.
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DAVID Lewis, of design and digital marketing agency, LEWIS Creative Consultants, is the subject of the weekly SME Focus interview, in today’s Herald.
Read more, here.
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THE Drum media and marketing magazine was reporting on Saturday that that evening’s edition of the ITV show, X Factor, was going to include an advert for the Daily Record newspaper.
Says The Drum: “The ‘Record of the Moment’ campaign, created by [the Edinburgh-based creative agency] The Union, was designed to convey how the Daily Record communicates with readers 24 hours a day through its print product and digital services.”
Read more, here.
Watch, here:
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SAYS the standfirst in an article on theguardian.com, headed, ‘The Guardian readers’ editor on Scottish independence coverage': “By the end of the process the Guardian had deployed 14 journalists on the campaign trail but it was an editorial that drew most criticism – not the reporting”.
Read more, here.
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IF you missed the documentary last night – broadcast on BBC One Scotland – about a 100 years of The Sunday Post newspaper, you can catch up with it, here, on the BBC iPlayer.
And to watch the 1911 – yes, 1911 – documentary about the paper’s publishers, DC Thomson, that was referred to during the programme, click here.
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BEGINS The Herald today: “A new online course [here] which aims to introduce people to journalism begins today at Strathclyde University.”
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