This morning BBC Scotland, at 6:30am, report:

Currently three out of five people with a group of cancers characterised as ‘less survivable die within a year of diagnosis. New analysis shows the average one-year for survival rate for this group of cancers, which includes lung, liver and brain cancer, is just 39% in Scotland. The overall cancer survival rates across the country show 71% are still alive after 12 months.

I don’t know about you but I took that contrasting 39% in Scotland and 71% across the country to mean that the UK survival rate was 71% and the Scottish survival rate was only 39%. I feel sure that’s the message many will get from a very short comment.

In contrast, STV write:

Survival rates for these forms of the disease – lung, liver, brain, oesophagus, pancreas and stomach cancer – are in contrast with the overall cancer survival rate in Scotland, with almost three quarters (71%) of patients still alive 12 months after diagnosis.

^{https://news.stv.tv/scotland/three-out-of-five-scots-diagnosed-with-less-survivable-cancers-die-within-a-year}

Note the lack of the ‘across the country’ phrase?

They will, I’m sure, deny any attempt to fake the news for political purposes but inserting ‘across the country’ is redundant unless you have a reason.

Notably, the Daily Mail today seems to be saying that the equivalent figure for less survivable cancers in England is 42%, just better but not statistically significantly better.

BBC Scotland just couldn’t resist trying to fool us with the satisfyingly shocking 71% ‘across the country’.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/health/diseases-and-conditions/study-reveals-6-least-survivable-cancers-sufferers-die-in-a-year/ar-AA1xcCl0#:~:text=The%20new%20analysis%20found%2058%20per%20cent%20of,all%20cancers%2C%20on%20average%2C%20won%27t%20survive%20a%20year.