BBC Scotland's news output and the problem with ‘narrowcasting’

This is pretty much what we see in Scotland. The mainstream media, led by BBC Scotland news, (if that is not an oxymoron) is trying its best to draw attention away from Johnson and his bevy of bunglers by focusing on the missteps of the Scottish Government.

Of course, it is perfectly fair for governments to be called to account. It is said that ­politicians are like nappies and need to be changed ­frequently for the same reasons. But that is not to say that all offences are equal.

Poor judgment – of which we are all guilty from time to time – is definitely not the same as corruption. And government lapses are not to be compared to an unbridled lust for power and unconcealed avarice. There is no moral equivalence between blunders and rapacity.

READ MORE: Scotland is clear: Broadcasting should be controlled by Holyrood, not Westminster

Yet, Scots are exposed to a daily litany of Scottish problems and invited to treat these the same as the gross abuses taking place at ­Westminster. This approach does a disservice to all. It demeans the consumers of such “news”, while distracting attention away from major criminality elsewhere.

Indeed, some Unionist columnists have made a career of writing the same column over and over with precisely this message. We all know Westminster is very bad, they say, BUT did you know that Scots are not very good? One would hope even the most indulgent editors must now be getting sick of this baloney. If not, one ­suspects their readers are.

This nonsense gains in stridency, if not in ­clarity or substance, when an election looms. Hacks are sent to all quarters to report on real, or mostly commonly imagined or ­manufactured, grievances. Witness the last few weeks of ­reporting in Scotland. Hysterical may be an apt description of the more recent coverage. ­Mistakes are made and ought to be reported. But when the coverage on one theme is wall-to-wall and incessant, this raises questions.

BBC Scotland's political editor Glenn Campbell

Chief among these hysterics is BBC Scotland News or (BSN) for short. Steered by failures and rejects from elsewhere in the BBC and given carte blanche, their “go-to” position is to accentuate problems and diminish virtues. The result is that many fine Scottish achievements struggle for coverage, while negative stories abound.

Here’s a classic example of imbalanced BBC coverage. At the BSN, mistakes however trivial are swiftly and loudly attributed to SNP ministers (not, you will note, Scottish Government ministers) while south of the Border horrendous mistakes are dealt with very differently.

According to The Times last week: “Childbirth is not safe for women in England” and the BBC tells us ministers will take “officials” to task. No mention of the responsible Tory ministers being taken to task by the Beeb.

Why do some fine BSN reporters put up with this malicious slant? Where is their pride in broadcasting integrity? Keeping up with ­mortgage payments is one answer, of course. But when the best sees the worst being ­promoted, they get the message. At BSN, being mediocre works.

Remember the golden rule. First-rate people promote first-rate people; second-rate people promote third-rate people; third-rate people ­promote fourth-rate people. Then there is BSN.

To be fair, it’s not all BSN’s fault. Lousy managers working without proper oversight often end up where they are; and doing what they do.

Successive Scottish governments have ­operated for years in this toxic environment, without effective action. And I ask why?

In October last year pollster, James Kelly at Scot goes Pop, released a Panelbase poll that asked ordinary Scots a simple but hugely important question: “Which Parliament do you think should have law-making power over Scottish broadcasting?” The clear response, with don’t knows excluded, was: The Scots Parliament – 75%. The UK parliament – 25%.

This is dramatic. Scarcely one in four Scots agree that Westminster control of broadcasting in Scotland should continue. BSN is being run for a minority. A very odd definition of public broadcasting. It looks more like narrowcasting.

So, a Scottish Parliament insisting broadcasting in Scotland have integrity and meet public needs, ought to be pushing against an open door. Worse, if the present broadcasting rules remain, it will make a mockery of any future referendum.

In the end, like so much else, it comes down to a simple question: where does sovereignty rest in this country, with Westminster or the Scottish people?

This week’s guest on the TNT Show is Sara Salyers . Join us at 7pm on Wednesday. We’ll be talking about a Scottish Constitution