UNIONISTS are apoplectic with rage over a now-deleted STV video.
The clip, which was shared on Twitter, prompted some critics to compare the broadcaster to state media in North Korea.
The outrageous content? Children praising Nicola Sturgeon.
The video showed a variety of youngsters saying parts of the following message: “The children of Scotland would like to say thank you to Nicola, our First Minister of Scotland.
“We are so grateful thank you for always keeping us safe, working so hard, for being strong for us.
“Thank you for caring for every individual life and for always thinking about the children of Scotland. Thank you.”
However, the video didn’t exactly earn rave review from Unionists.
“Couldn’t believe what I just watched,” wrote one impressed viewer. “My opinion was it was politically motivated. How this made onto my screen without it being stopped is beyond belief. There are once again serious questions to be asked about the impartiality of STV.”
Another wrote: “Just not clear what the thought process was. At all.
“It really is akin to North Korea, where uncritical praise of the Dear Leader looks like this.”
The post, which was shown only on social media, was deleted after two hours.
STV commented: “This particular video was not part of a story, had no context around it and did not meet our high standards for impartiality, so we deleted it and are reviewing how this happened.”
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The broadcaster's head of news Steven Ladurantaye explained the decision after scathing criticism from Labour's Ian Murray and former MP Paul Sweeney.
"We tend to post content on our social feeds that link to stories on the STV news website. This particular video was not part of a story, had no context around it and did not meet our high standards for impartiality, so we deleted it and are reviewing how this happened."
In a now-deleted post, he gave further details, as well as hinting at the overwhelming popularity of Scotland’s Unionist leaders.
“Good social media posts require context,” Ladurantaye tweeted. “This one doesn't have any – we are going to remove it.
“Maybe we'll repost it if a similar video pops up praising Jackson Carlaw and Richard Leonard.”
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