The Talking-up Scotland fund raiser closing on Friday, primarily to enable the recruitment of some research assistance, in order to take pressure off me [74 in June and tiring] and hopefully to further improve the blog, has made a good start. To contribute, only if you can (!) go to: Talking-up Scotland - a Politics crowdfunding project in Ayr by Professor John Robertson
By Brenda Robb
From Ian Dunt in February 2025:
The public is in desperate need of accurate journalism which cuts through the screaming. We need reporters who can refute what’s being said, or interrogate it, or at least put it in context. Instead, journalists – opponents and supporters alike – have become Trump’s handmaidens. They help spread the shit. They hoover it in, churn it up, and spew it out again, wider than before, until everything is covered in it. And then eventually you face a deadly choice: Do you turn it off and risk becoming passive? Or do you keep paying attention and risk going insane?
iandunt.substack.com/p/journalism-is-collapsing-in-the-middle
From Scotland Yes in Pictures, later that month:
With virtually all the money in public and commercial broadcasting managed outside Scotland, it is left to grass roots organisations to try to fill the gap. With little funding they must use the internet to deliver their content. For TV this includes Broadcasting Scotland. For podcasting and radio streaming of Scottish current affairs, factual, and entertainment a range of small-scale national broadcasters exist including Indy Live Radio; Independence Live; Harvest Moon Radio; and Caledon Media.
substack.com/home/post/p-157317568?source=queue
Both these articles interested me as I wonder how on earth we can amplify alternative voices, encourage independent voices to speak out and support them to do this. With the TuS fundraiser due to end today (having raised a fair bit but not reached the target), and other worthy causes out there also looking for our support (eg For Scot Indy alone we have fundraisers at ScotgoesPop, Bella Caledonia, Broadcasting Scotland and no doubt many others) is there anything we can do to make sure we don’t lose them?
I don’t know about you but I am stretched to the max, supporting 5 or 6 causes regularly with a modest monthly fee out of my state pension dependent income. I’m not complaining about this as not only do I want to support the causes but I also think the work individuals are putting in deserves to be rewarded and valued. But, and it’s a big but, it is impossible to support everything – we could give up the BBC licence fee and distribute that among other groups but I still value some of what the BBC offers and am not convinced a free for all commercial model is the answer
So what can we do? Is there any way some individual causes can combine forces and work in teams to reduce overall costs? Could more groups use the “buy me a coffee” option to allow access for individual articles and does this actually bring in much funding? There won’t be any shortage of funding for Trump supporting, right leaning journalism any time soon and of course Twitter is also now on the dark side with Facebook and others not far behind. They have the money and the reach to get into the heads of far more folk than the left or even centre can muster – I see now dissenting voices like Carole Cadwalladar are not having their contracts renewed despite the Guardian supposedly being a leftish publication.
Bylinetimes, Bluesky, The GoodLaw Project, Substack, Democracy for Sale etc are generous in allowing open access to most of what they publish although like the individual bloggers mentioned before they do seek support if folk can afford it. Hopefully enough of us are choosing to back different causes so that all are getting something and of course we can also support them by responding to articles, joining in debates and sharing posts on different platforms. It is tough going I’m sure but, given the state of mainstream journalism now bought up by wealthy individuals seeking to influence opinion in their favour, maybe our grassroots provision has at least honesty and integrity to bring to the table?
Can anyone out there think of a better solution?
Support Scots Independent, Scotland’s oldest pro-independence newspaper [98!] and host of the OBA (Oliver Brown Award) at: https://scotsindependent.scot/FWShop/shop/
The Oliver Brown Award for advancing the cause of Scotland’s self respect, previously awarded to Dr Philippa Whitford, Alex Salmond and Sean Connery: https://scotsindependent.scot/?page_id=116
About Oliver Brown, the first Scottish National Party candidate to save his deposit in a Parliamentary election: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Bro
Talking-up Scotland 
Well Ian Dunt himself has a tendency to be one who is also seen as being very much partisan and economical with the truth, as in he has always supported and favoured the Labour party, and also he has frequently indulged in producing inaccurate political reports that bear little resemblance to “truth”.
In fact he gave his partisan opinion on the Gaza vote in the HOC where Starmer and Hoyle stitched up the SNP, but where Ian Dunt wrote , in Feb 2024 , an article in Substack that was entitled:
“Commons chaos: These partisan halfwits have shamed us all”.
Dunt wrote in the article that “The basics of it are tiresome and archaic. The SNP put down an opposition day motion which was designed to hurt Labour” and he also stated that on the eventual decided Gaza vote (by Labour) in the HOC ” More importantly, the Speaker made the right decision”. No he did not as he, the speaker, was coerced by Starmer .
Indeed when Dunt read a tweet by BBC’s Nick watt which stated that:
“Senior Labour figures tell me @CommonsSpeaker was left in no doubt that Labour would bring him down after the general election unless he called Labour’s Gaza amendment”
Then Dunt tweeted in response to this “If this is true Labour should be as embarrassed by their behaviour as the SNP or Tories”…..
Sorry Ian why the H should other parties be embarrassed by what was only an atrocious action by the Labour party and endorsed by the HOC’s Speaker , that was , as an action, instigated and implemented by Keir Starmer ?
Currently Ian Dunt is now becoming less enthralled with Labour, based on some of their bad decisions as the new UK government, as formerly he was way too deluded and biased into thinking that Labour would be far better than the Tories and also far different to them.
As to us in Scotland getting any accuracy in relation to information, truth or news being promoted and spread around Scotland in regards to politics.
Well ‘Led by Donkeys’ is a campaign group in England , who were established in 2018 as an anti-Brexit group , but who then branched out to campaign against not just Brexit but also against the Tory party and also against Nigel Farage’s many pseudo political parties.
Now they, as a campaign group, have also said that the new Labour government are “Fair game too” for any justified criticism from them, as a group, going forward.
So why not then have similar campaigns from a similar group in Scotland, which obviously would need funding.
Led By Donkeys are mobile and so they go to many areas in England to get their message across to different voters. They also have billboards placed in different areas in England to convey a message that proves the lies, obvious failures and blatant hypocrisy that certain politicians and political parties make to the public just to get them elected as politicians.
Then there was also (and still is) the great campaign conducted by Steve Bray the anti-Brexit campaigner, who managed to always be strategically right behind someone being interviewed by the media, usually a politician. Where he , Bray, held up a placard with his written “truth” message relating to Brexit to try to get his message, or rather the “truth” about Brexit, across to viewers (voters) watching the news report .
Of course what we really need in Scotland is some unity in the YES movement against pro UK political parties and their pro UK client media.
As that would strengthen our cause and our independence message if we, as a YES movement, could all unite and not , as is currently happening, be so fractured and so very divided thus providing an argument to pro UK politicians to use against our independence movement and our justified and legitimate cause.
If I won the lottery then I would be very strategic and ensure that my money would be used in the most effective way to get the truth out to all voters, because the media in Scotland are determined that they will always do the opposite . (as will all of the opposition parties to the SNP).
Social media does help to communicate our message and it also helps to promote our strong arguments that support the viability of Scottish independence .
However we , Scotland, are up against what is a hugely dominant combined force of UK aka British (English) establishment , who will not easily or willingly relinquish their tight grip on Scotland (our resources that is) or their UK control of Scotland , and so they will also never stop communicating their constant Pro UK propaganda (lies) to Scotland. (which, as propaganda, they mostly communicate via their pro UK client media).
Once we get a majority of voters in Scotland rejecting them and their obvious British propaganda (and lies) then that is when we will finally win our independence.
So other than what I have suggested, as in very little, I’m open to all good ideas to see more progress being made on independence from where we currently stand now.
First step, vote SNP in 2026 to win , and so for them, the SNP, to then still be our Scottish government.
Liz S
LikeLiked by 2 people
Apologies Brenda, I meant to add to my above comment that I thought this was a great post by you and is, as a message, one that is badly needed.
Yes we do need to ensure that we do not lose the valuable resources via online independent blogs such as TUS, so our, and also others, support is invaluable to stop that happening.
However I think that we also need other campaigns too , in order to reach those voters in Scotland who do not visit sites like TUS or do not use social media as a source of news and information. That would take funding too.
Liz S
LikeLiked by 4 people