By stewartb
The iWeekend’s front page is reproduced prominently in the Scotland section of the BBC News website today. One has to magnify the picture on the web page to read the text immediately below the headline which notes: ‘… with Scotrail performing better than most’.
This appearance of the I’s front page on the BBC site provides yet another ‘noteworthy’ example of editorial choices by the BBC in Scotland!
On TuS on December 20 there was a post with this headline: ‘Too positive to be newsworthy? Scotland’s train cancellations found to be lowest of any country or region in Great Britain’. It referred to new analysis of train cancellations across the countries and regions of Great Britain. The post highlighted the finding that overall rail services in Scotland during 2024 had lower rates of train cancellation than any other country or region.
The findings for rail service cancellations in England appeared in the England section of the BBC News website. However, the TuS post noted that notwithstanding the ‘interest’ taken in Scotrail by BBC Scotland, there was no mention of the story on the Scotland page of the BBC News website. Too positive?
Today, December 21, a news story about train cancellations now does appear on the BBC website’s Scotland page. However, it does so ONLY within the site’s regular reproduction of current newspaper front pages. Note the BBC’s choice of introductory headline to this newspaper feature: ‘Scotland’s papers: 800 trains a day cancelled and cosmetics fears’. What does a casual reader of BBC’s coverage of news relevant to Scotland take from that headline I wonder?
Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cre7xq3p4j0o
The I’s front page is the first one profiled on the BBC News website’s Scotland section. This is the I’s headline: ‘UK’s worst rail firms cancelling 800 trains a day, ahead of getaway turmoil and storms’.
The BBC has opted to position the I’s front page above those of The Herald, The Scotsman, the Daily Record, the Scottish Daily Mail and The Times, Scotland. Why?
Why the prominence given to this train cancellation story in the I Weekend when the BBC News website has otherwise chosen to ignore the release of train cancellation figures for Scotland. Recall that it did so even though the BBC made much of the findings from the same source, albeit only for England? And why did the BBC choose to introduce as relevant to Scotland the I’s front-page with this headline of its own: ‘Scotland’s papers: 800 trains a day cancelled and cosmetics fears’?
Surely this has not been crafted to imply a big number of train cancellations of relevance to readers and rail users in Scotland?
If the I’s frontage story merits the profile given it today by the BBC on its Scotland web page – and the story of train cancellations merited a full article on the BBC News website’s England section yesterday (plus coverage on Radio 4’s Today programme) – why does Scotrail performing better than its peers NOT merit the attention of BBC Scotland?
Worse than facing a charge of bias by omission, surely the BBC wasn’t seeking to frame and amplify a newspaper’s front page story in a way that implied something negative about Scotland’s rail services? Or is too much exposure to BBC Scotland causing one to be overly suspicious?
Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
This from the Guardian online.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/dec/21/just-2-of-busiest-trains-on-key-london-to-manchester-line-run-on-time
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BBC Scotland the english propaganda unit used to lie to Scotlands people.
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There can be no question as to why BBC Scotland featured this particular front page, it’s a plain as the elongating nose on James Cook’s ‘impartial’ face…
Does anybody have an exact count on how many times an “i” front page has been featured by HMS James Cook, I’d guess max 3 per month ? What are the odds every single one bears the seal of approval from Damn Jackie’s giant asspidistra, and a stampy footprint from Sarwar, fresh from his latest ‘asshole of the year award’ from the Herald.
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Owen Jones’s expose of the BBC’s framing of the destruction of Gaza and the killing of tens of thousands of innocent Palestinians shows just how corrupt the BBC is, with certain high placed individuals setting the tone and deciding what is acceptable presentation and language. This bias runs right through BBC News networks and its framing of politics and events.
An independent Scotland will need to create a new national broadcaster monitoring and regulated by a truly independent body with teeth.
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“Owen Jones’s expose of the BBC’s framing of the destruction of Gaza and the killing of tens of thousands of innocent Palestinians shows just how corrupt the BBC is”
Indeed.
On 19 December he wrote an article entitled:
“The BBC’s Civil War Over Gaza”
The article is about “the BBC’s coverage of Israel’s unrelenting assault on Gaza by British journalist Owen Jones” .
Where “His report is based on interviews with 13 journalists and other BBC staffers who offer remarkable insights into how senior figures within the BBC’s news operation skewed stories in favour of Israel’s narratives and repeatedly dismissed objections registered by scores of staffers who, throughout the past 14 months, demanded that the network uphold its commitment to impartiality and fairness”
Though I would argue the BBC never tries to “uphold it’s (supposed) commitment to impartiality and fairness” as far as the News in Scotland is concerned.
Perhaps it is also well past the time, as in long overdue, when some actual non partisan Journalist investigated BBC Scotland news coverage, and spoke to some of their staff and then reported on the skewed stories in favour of both the UK and also currently the Labour party in their news operation within BBC Scotland .
Also perhaps they too, BBC Scotland news teams, could also be issued with a demand from the “Network” that they should try and “uphold the BBC’s supposed (but is it really) commitment to impartiality and fairness” .
It seems that the BBC’s “Corrections & Clarifications’ page is not working as far as educating BBC Scotland news teams on how they should be doing their job properly, impartially and also professionally as a supposed news provider, as we often see that their so called “errors” that they make are all disproportionally disadvantaging mostly, as in always, only the SNP as opposed to other political parties in Scotland.
It then looks more like a vendetta against the SNP by a British TV media corporation as opposed to what they falsely promote as being “the (political) news where we are”.
The BBC , that’s something else independence supporters have always been right about all along , both since and also during the 2014 Independence campaign in Scotland.
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Just UK state propaganda through and through from an organisation that pretends to be a news broadcaster.
Don’t watch them or listen to them and certainly don’t ever pay them anything and encourage others to do the same.
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Sadly lots of people do watch and beleive every word…otherwise the Brit/Eng state wouldn’t deploy such wall to wall propaganda in Scotland.
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I complained to the BBC as soon as I saw the headline and looked at the item. They’ll probably just ignore my complaint.
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Apart from yet another clear betrayal by the BBC Scot I just wonder what impact this has on the many public service employees continually brow-beaten by this disgusting organisation. It is bad enough that joe public never gets to hear any positive news I can only imagine the feelings of those who take pride in delivering a first class service whether it is on the Railway, NHS, Police, Fire service and many many others to be told you are crap.
Ther only thing that keeps me sane is that hopefully when we become Independent these people will get some form of retribution.
Robbo
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It’s BBC England operating in Scotland. As with so many areas in the media, you don’t see BBC England, or ETV, (re STV which is HQ’d in England)…same re political ‘parties’…no English Labour, English tories, etc…makes you think eh.
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What they never say is how Network Rail cancelled services due to infrastructure issues.
Sent from Outlook for iOShttps://aka.ms/o0ukef
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Yep and what people don’t realise is that the EngGov controls the rail network in Scotland ,same with electricity supply, etc, the EngGov can disrupt/switch off those services in Scotland at will, which is quite frankly really worrying.
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To improve rail times throughout Britain, there should be investment in the North of England and Scotland. Not wasting £Billions on HS2. Journey times in the North and Scotland take twice as long because of historical lack of investment. If train times were improved it would improve connectivity and the economy. There would be less needs for flights.
The trains are cancelled in the North of England the most. No connectivity between the major cities. HS2 a total waste of monies with no business case.
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English gov ain’t going to ‘onvest’ a penny in the N of Eng and let’s keep Scotrail in Scotland’s hands, so obviously EngGov are not going to chuck money at that!
North of Eng can I am sure do their own bidding in demanding better services.
Scotland’s on a more positive track on every level and in areas devolved, (powers allowed by the EngGov!) and yes HS2 is a big massive CON.
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Historical lack of investment in railways in Scotland. Journey times take twice as long. No electrification. HS2 a total waste of money. Cutting journey times in Scotland would cut journey times in the UK.
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