From Media Nations Scotland 2023: STV is the most-used source for news about Scotland Looking at the individual sources that people in Scotland use to access news about their own nation, a third of people (33%) use STV through programmes such as STV News, making it the most-used individual news source about Scotland for people in Scotland. About a quarter (26%) say they use BBC One, but when looking at BBC One and the BBC Scotland channel together, this rises to 34% across programmes such as Reporting Scotland and The Nine. chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0031/265378/scotland-report-2023.pdf I’d rate STV News staff 100% less po-faced … Continue reading STV News surges ahead to be 27% more popular than BBC Reporting Scotland

Local BBC radio stations are in green in the above table. BBC Radio Scotland do not make the top three. Radio Clyde is more popular. This is welcome news for any who have had the stomach to listen to Kaye Adams, John Beattie or Good Mourning Scotland. Keep listening to Clyde if only to do BBC Scotland down. Continue reading Radio Scotland not even in the top three in Scotland

Readers will know that the supposed failure of the SNP Government to invest in new ferries, despite the highest subsidies in the known world, is behind the supposed unreliability of the current stock, average age 22 and among the youngest fleets in the world. Interestingly, and very nearby, Ireland. How is their economy doing? Could they afford newer ferries than Scotland? IRELAND’S economy is on a “solid growth path” while Scotland’s potential is being “hampered” in the Union, according to a senior MP. Figures released on Monday show Ireland with 5.5% worth of GDP growth in 2023 and 5% in 2024, while the UK … Continue reading The aging ferry myth – Ireland has twice the GDP growth but is still using 7 of CalMac’s 50 year-old ferries

In April: A FORMER UK Government minister has said that the Scottish Government should no longer be permitted to use British Embassies or receive any diplomatic status on international visits. Lord Frost, who briefly served as the UK’s chief Brexit negotiator and now sits as a life peer in the House of Lords, urged the Foreign Secretary James Cleverly to go further in his attempts to freeze Scotland out of international diplomacy. On Friday, Cleverly stated his intention to ensure that all meetings between SNP ministers and overseas governments would now have to go through the UK Government and be attended by its own officials. … Continue reading Scottish Government bypasses UK to sign energy deal in France

Try searching for ‘Scotland aging ferries‘ and you’ll find several Scottish media reports with headlines repeating the simplistic association of cancellations with aging vessels and, at least by implication if not direct accusation, an SNP Government failure to invest in more new ones. Try just searching for ‘aging ferries‘ and 7 of the 9 first hits are about Scottish ferries. You’ll have seen in earlier posts that CalMac ferries are, on average, newer (22) than those in Norway (26), Australia (24) and Canada (35!): https://www.transport.gov.scot/publication/strategic-framework-of-options-for-the-chfs-network-project-neptune/benchmarking/ Now, thanks to fellow twitterer (X man now?), Jamie Whiteford @Seumasabhein, I can include Greek … Continue reading Age discrimination! 45 year-old former CalMac ferry is still sailing!

In the Guardian today: Transparency campaigners have called for thinktanks to be more open about their funding sources, after it emerged that some of Britain’s most influential ones received more than $1m (£787,000) from from donations in the US in 2021. They include the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), regarded as an inspiration for policies adopted by the Liz Truss government, and Policy Exchange – a conservative thinktank used as a platform by ministers to trail new measures and which recently incubated hardline immigration plans. The IEA’s US wing, American Friends of the Institute of Economic Affairs (AFIEA), has accepted $118,000 since … Continue reading Reporting Scotland’s favourite think-tank is funded by Trump-supporting US billionaire

I’ve worried for some time about referring to corporate journalism about ferries, driven only by the profit motive and in a free market of enterprising use of language and information, using the metaphor of a channel ferry sinking in 1987, with the loss of 193 lives. Too soon? You’ll tell me. The temptation has been too great this time after today’s Herald story: CalMac chief warning over state of ageing ferry fleet He didn’t ‘warn’ of course but then you knew that already. He ‘admitted’ to staff, we read further down. He didn’t. He ‘reported’ increased maintenance costs and ‘issues’ … Continue reading EXCLUSIVE – ‘Herald of Free Enterprise’ sinks to new low in ferry journalism

Taking a break from ferries, care home closures, school sewage leaks and SNP ‘corruption’, BBC Scotland cover a topic they’re had on file for 33 days after the day it might actually have been ‘the news’: When an Irish judge blocked a man’s extradition [1 July 2023] to Scotland on humanitarian grounds, it raised questions about the state of Scotland’s prisons. Judge Mr Justice Paul McDermott said Richard Sharples faced being locked up for 22 hours a day in less than three metres (10ft) of space. Mr Sharples, 24, is wanted in Scotland in connection with a firearms offence and … Continue reading Today’s Scot Gov ‘failure’ drip-feed based on a month-old event is….prisons!

From BBC Scotland 2 hours ago: Corran ferry ‘may not return before end of August‘ The main vessel for the Corran ferry crossing is unlikely to be ready to return to service before the end of August, Highland Council has said. The MV Corran left for maintenance work last October, but a problem was discovered with its propulsion system. Highland Council, which runs the ferry service in Lochaber, had previously expected the boat to be back by the middle of the month. It has blamed “capacity constraints” for the new delay. The relief vessel, MV Maid of Glencoul, will continue … Continue reading This is not a CalMac ferry and there is a replacement ferry

From the Scottish Government today: In 2013-14 when my government began its concerted programme of work on addressing the lack of women’s representation on public boards, the percentage of women Non-Executive board members of Regulated boards was 36%, at 31 December 2014. This has increased to an overall figure of 52% in 2020-21, as of 30 April 2021. Where listed public authorities gave information, they reported that 102 appointments of Non-Executive members were made during the period covered by their reports. Of these, 93 appointments, or 91% of appointments were of women. Regulated Boards – 48 Boards (68%) met the … Continue reading SNP legislation success: 52% of Non-Executive board members of Regulated boards and 91% of new appointments now women