By stewartb – a long read This is to ‘showcase’ BBC Scotland’s journalism. The example is taken from its coverage of CalMac ferry services in which anecdote is used in negative reporting characterised by the absence of context and the absence of perspective. Negativity in the case of ‘ferries’ has only been challenged, balanced or countered with any consistency in one place, on Talking up Scotland. In stark contrast to BBC Scotland  and other mainstream news media that supposedly ‘serve’ Scotland with ALL their resources, only here on TuS have a number of things – simple, reasonable, arguably obvious things … Continue reading What value ‘perspective’? The case of BBC Scotland, the Isle of Mull and ’ferries’!

Anonymous BBC website Home page 09:15am. Currently fifth , not top, story and article is just out today. “Energy prices forecast to rise by 9% in October” Craig Lowrey, principal consultant at the forecaster, said “While we don’t expect a return to the extreme prices of recent years, it’s unlikely that bills will return to what was once considered normal. Without significant intervention, this may well be the new normal“ “Charity National Energy Action said any increases in prices, alongside less support from the government, could stretch some households’ finances “beyond breaking point”. So is it just me or does anyone else recall Labour before the GE being most vocal at the Tory UK government in them , Tories, not intervening … Continue reading BBC hides Labour failure to stop energy price surge this winter

In the Guardian today: Police believe strip-searching children can be effective, but suspicions of misuse remain. There is little dispute that compelling anyone, let alone a child, to expose their intimate body parts against their will to a stranger causes real emotional pain. But police believe strip-searching can be a useful tool. The police believe the use of “plugging”, the secretion of illegal drugs, increased with the growth of the “county lines” phenomenon, which saw children used as mules to move drugs from big cities to smaller towns. Young people have been lured or threatened by drugs gangs who believe police will be reluctant … Continue reading English drug gangs forcing child ‘mules’ to move drugs across Scotland ‘internally concealed’ with horrific health risks

Anonymous The inclusion of two long term haters of all things SNP, Brian Wilson & Susan Dalgetty, in their newspaper speaks volumes as to their agenda as a newspaper. Both of these columnists have former political links connected to the Labour party and so their inclusion, as columnists in The Scotsman, is so very obvious as they often contribute what is expected by this newspaper . Which as contributions mostly consists of both of them highlighting how terrible Scotland is and also how it’s all the SNP’s fault. Does any reader of their newspaper ,who is aware of both Wilson’s & Dalgetty’s … Continue reading The Scotsman will welcome anyone as a columnist

Today in the Vashon Island Beachcomber, Seattle, USA: Washington State Ferries (WSF) has dropped its COVID-era ferry restoration plan and now says full, lasting restoration on all of its routes will likely have to wait until the agency can get its first new ferries — at least 2028. Even though new vessels are projected to begin arriving in 2028, “full, permanent service restoration may be gradual and will remain dependent on vessel availability,” the new WSF plan says. In 2023, Washington State USA, had a GDP of $672 billion1. Scotland’s GDP was $218 billion2, not even a third. Despite that … Continue reading THREE times the wealth but only a fraction of the ferry service

stewartb ‘The Labour Gov has already damaged the University of Edinburgh by cancelling the £800 million the University was expecting for the AI research project.‘ Candidly, it’s worth clarifying I think that the significance of this strictly goes beyond an ‘AI research project’. Labour has cancelled investment in a major piece of computing infrastructure of significance for the UK’s science and technology research and innovation capability and capacity. It was destined for Edinburgh University in large part because the university has been the host of past generations of supercomputers as well as long having one of the world’s best AI research centres. The … Continue reading The significance of this strictly goes beyond an ‘AI research project

Anonymous SKY News had a Edinburgh student , pre the GE, state that he was going to vote for the Labour party in the GE as he wanted to get on the property market as a home owner. Perhaps that said student was being somewhat ungracious and unappreciative of the SNP, as the Scottish government, in them giving him free tuition fees thus more opportunity to gain a better paid job in order to be able to afford a mortgage. As this Scottish student’s debt, post leaving University, would be far less than others within the UK as any student loan that he (perhaps got if … Continue reading Where Labour will control all of the so called British governments