Retired professor of media politics, Dr John Robertson, has predicted that the Johnson government will radically reduce funding for the BBC and de-criminalise licence-fee avoidance, with devastating consequences for BBC Scotland News, already the least popular element within the service.
Robertson says that only a radical and bold move can save this champion of the Union and, in particular, its leading characters, Smith, Campbell, Fraser and Summers. Their role in the Bitter Together movement has made them prime targets for removal after independence and, unlike some of the less-tainted junior staff, they would struggle to find a home elsewhere.
In a proposal of the kind of blinding brilliance you get with leading academics such as Robertson or that percentages guy at Strathclyde, Robertson has suggested that ‘the rump’, as he puts it, be moved to the Tory HQ in Edinburgh’s Northumberland Street and merged with the PR unit there, shared by the Tories and their cadet branch, the Lib Dems.
Robertson points out that much of BBC Scotland’s News is already outsourced to the opposition parties. Today’s reports on hoax calls to the Coastguard and on homelessness are typical of this trend now going back to before 2014.
The new unit might be rebranded ‘Scottish Conservative News’, seek additional funding from ‘dark money’ sources and attract Ruth Davidson back to a role as Head of Radio, after her LBC show is axed as the least popular ever in the station’s history.
Asked by us about Scottish Labour’s PR team, the Prof admitted that he had completely forgotten about them but, thinking on his feet, suggested that they might be best to just give up the ghost.
Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
Brilliant John, gave me a good laugh. Then I thought it might not be too far from reality!
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Laugh? What? A leading academic? Moi?
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Great John , not surprised you forgot Labour , no matter , they won’t be around anyway .
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Excellent. Many thanks for a good laugh – more of this please. Nothing like a bit of ridicule for ridiculous situations.
Have you ever thought of changing the blog’s name to “Reporting Scotland Today” or something similar then optimising your search results so that the site appears before the BBC one. Would be very entertaining if you could pull it off.
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Interesting. Beyond my capabilities I suspect. However, some readers tell me to concentrate on the day job and the daft stuff tends to get less readers. So…
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:-))))
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The BBC’s budget is being cut by about 20% through the government’s measure of making the BBC pay for over-75s’ licence fees. Since the new BBC Scotland has effectively been built around the flagship Nine programme, it is safe to assume that news is regarded as a priority here in Scotland, and reporting would be the last area to be affected by BBC budget cuts. That would leave more output, not less, in the hands of professional journalists, who, since the Brownian destruction of the UK’s occupational pensions, hsve to look for their next promotion/new job from the print press. Be careful what you wish for.
Oh, and omission to pay the licence fee is not a criminal offence.
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Omitting to pay the licence fee is not a criminal offence.
The BBC is already losing 20% of its income because the UK Government demands it pay for the over-75s’ licence fees (previously part of government support for older citizens). As the news service is seen as a core function, and it is largely served by journalists seeking to get on in a field where the main options are in the far-right print press, where will cuts be made? 🤔
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“Cadet branch”, a very usable new title for the LibDems.
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