Professor John Robertson OBA
The University of the Highlands and Islands campus in Lerwick, Shetland, offers a wide range of education and training courses which can help young islanders to climb out of disadvantaged circumstances but travel, even within the islands, can be too costly for them.
The Scottish Government has introduced free ferry travel to enhance the existing free bus passes for under 22s to support students and apprentices. It’s as great thing and the Shetland Times has written:
The Scottish government said the new scheme would apply to residents of Shetland, Orkney and the Western Isles, who are aged under 22, from Tuesday, They will be able to travel as foot passengers in their council area by showing their Young Scot or National Entitlement Card.
The plans were initially set out in the Islands Connectivity Plan last year and form a key commitment in the transport budget for 2025/26 The Scottish government it was part of a long-term strategy to ensure ferry services are “affordable and sustainable” for years to come.
It is also hoped to help tackle child poverty and grow the economy by providing young people with free access to education.
Opposition politicians have criticised the scheme, arguing that ‘most of our kids want to go to the mainland.’ Maybe they do but you can’t commute daily from Orkney, Shetland or the Western Isles to the universities and larger colleges on the mainland, in Aberdeen, Inverness or Glasgow. To do that their kids would need to move there in term time and use the free bus passes there.
Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
” Opposition politicians have criticised the scheme, arguing that ‘most of our kids want to go to the mainland.’ ” begs the question how many of the opposition DON’T live on the mainland, yet hold title to properties ON the mainland…
It’s the sort of obtuse argument we’ve come to expect from these professional moaning minnies in opposition – Rather than praise progress in relieving the financial burden on parents of school-kids and students on the islands in a tiny corner of ‘black-hole’ Britain, they would rather stir the shite believing it’s ‘just politics’, or in James Cook’s case ‘impartial reporting’…. FFS
LikeLiked by 1 person
Prompted by the fascinating topic of ‘in James Cook’s case ‘impartial reporting’ and that of others of a similar ilk in the mainstream media that supposedly serve Scotland!
Here are some insights on journalism just published by the US-based Framelab, ‘.. a newsletter about politics, language and your brain’. Founded by Dr. George Lakoff and Gil Duran, it’s been publishing since 2017.
For background, its stated goal: ‘is to help our readers understand how political language works, and to illuminate the key frames in our political discourse – ideological structures that are often hiding in plain sight. We also analyze and deconstruct propaganda tactics which, unfortunately, are accelerating in the digital age.’
Its latest article has this title: ‘How Framing Distorts Journalism and Empowers Authoritarians’. It’s focused on ‘the invisible power of framing and metaphor in shaping how we understand politics—and how journalism often gets it wrong’.
Although concerned with US politics and the Trump presidency, the following remarks seem to hit the mark domestically. The Framelab piece discusses:
Pithily, it offers this viewpoint on the practice of journalism: ‘If your definition of objectivity doesn’t also apply to the metaphors and frames you’re using, then you’re not being objective at all.’
And it suggests: ‘The most dangerous framing is the subconscious kind—when journalists just repeat the language of power without questioning it.’ I wonder if this really is ‘the MOST dangerous’ in a Scotland context?
Where does ‘power’ influencing Scotland’s future presently lie? Arguably, with those institutions, journalists and elected politicians that support the Union.
In Scotland’s mainstream media environment, are its ‘most dangerous’ negative frames – plus the avoidance of providing context, the avoidance of giving perspective, omission of positives – attributable to sub-conscious acts of journalists or to something else entirely?
Source: https://www.theframelab.org/how-framing-distorts-journalism-and-empowers-authoritarians/?ref=lakoff-and-duran-framelab-newsletter
LikeLiked by 1 person