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A few weeks ago the BBC News was pulled up for not giving a fair reporting of UK wide issues.It was told that it mainly focused on England and hardy gave Scotland and NI,in particular,a mention at all.
I have noticed that the Beeb has now changed their reporting style to adhere to the criticism it received.Now,when reporting on issues,they mention Scotland,NI and Wales (were appropriate) within the report.
However,now they report on "national" stories that are purely English focused.There has become a trend within the report to briefly mention the line "Scotland,Northen Ireland and Wales have different rules",or word to that effect,and then focus straight back onto the English focus "national" story.
This is even more patronising and condesending than the reporting prior to the criticism.They are completely blinker to what true "national" reporting is.They seem to think that if a story is Scottish in content,then it's for the local station to report it to the local audience.Utter tosh and total English arrogance IMHO.
For example.The announcement of the development of Eurpoes biggest wind farm did not even merit a 5 second mention in either the one,six or ten o'clock UK national and international news programmes.It was left for local news to report it.
IMHO,true "national" reporting should be reports of stories through the UK,not English focused stories with a brief mention that the "others" have different rules.
They just don't get it !
mairead
Sadly, that's the way it has always been and always will be, which is why the BBC is now known by many as the EBC
Celtic Indian
I must admit Reporting Scotland is just as bad sometimes.Just seen on Reporting Scotland a story about Scotlands medal hopes in the Olympic Games.
Last I remember,Scotland isn't represented in the Olympic Games.
Sometimes we're as dumb as them.But very rarely !
agentmancuso
mairead wrote:
Sadly, that's the way it has always been and always will be, which is why the BBC is now known by many as the EBC
By 'many' do you mean a tiny handful of identity-obsessives?
Blackleaf
England accounts for 83% of the UK population.
So it makes sense that the vast majority of the news reported by the BBC is English news.
If Scotland made up 83% of the UK population, then the vast amount of news from the BBC would be Scottish news.
The simple truth is that the vast majority of newsworthy stories in the UK take place in England.
Holebender
If 83% of the news was from or about England you might have a point, but the BBC's coverage is far closer to 99%, with well over 50% covering London alone.
This thread was prompted by a BBC internal report.
Blackleaf
Don't exaggerate.
And even if that is true, it's not the BBC's fault. If nothing much happens in Scotland or Wales that merits a place on the national news, then it can't be helped.
Holebender
Idiot.
Blackleaf
The BBC mentions Scotland in this documentary...
From The Times
October 15, 2008
Documentary series to unearth quiet heroes of Scottish history
Robert the Bruce
Shadowy figures from the Dark Ages including Ead, Giric and King Constantine will emerge as Scotland's nation-building heroes when a new series of documentaries is aired across British television from next month.
After two years' preparation, Scotland's History will be broadcast on BBC Scotland and BBC Two. Presented by the archaeologist Neil Oliver, it sets out to demythologise Scottish history and to introduce unfamiliar characters, as well as the well-known William Wallace, Robert the Bruce and Mary, Queen of Scots.
Galgacus, or Calgacus, Caledonian Chief of the tribes of North Britain
“We've all heard of the big names. We had the opportunity here to come afresh. Many Scots are familiar with Columba and Kenneth MacAlpin — who feature in the first episode — but very few will have heard tales of Ead, Giric and Constantine,” said Neil McDonald, creative director of documentaries for BBC Scotland.
This trio were “crucially important figures”, Mr McDonald said. “They have been overlooked because of a tendency, in Scotland, to cluster around the big names. The end result is not nearly as informed a view of history as people deserve. Within the limited resources of a television series, that is what we are trying to address.”
William Wallace
The 9th-century world of Ead and Giric is revealed through a little-known medieval text held in the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris.
Dubbed “Scotland's birth certificate” by Mr Oliver, The Chronicle of the Kings of Alba contains the first documented reference from Scottish sources to a land called “Albaniam”, the Gaelic word for Scotland. Constantine was one of the first rulers of this united territory.
Some academics — such as the late Hugh Trevor-Roper — have bemoaned past accounts of the country's history, insisting that many rested on invented tradition. On the evidence of the first episode, part of which was shown at a private screening in Glasgow yesterday, Scotland's History will not make that mistake.
Opening with the question “So where to begin?” it alights on Calgacus. He was the first Scot named in history, a leader of the Caledonian tribes who made an inspirational speech to his warriors before a battle with the Romans. Apparently, however, his words were written for him by the Roman historian Tacitus in a passage designed to boost the emperor Agricola. There may have been no speech by Calgacus, if indeed he ever existed. As Mr Oliver says in his voiceover: “This is where the mythologising of Scottish history starts. Be warned.”
The same detached viewpoint would be applied to other figures, Mr Oliver said. Mary, Queen of Scots has recently been the subject of fiercely opposing views, with Christine Grahame, the SNP MSP, calling for the bones of this “iconic historical figure” to be repatriated, while the historian Jenny Wormald said the “dreadful woman” should remain in Westminster Abbey. That such differing viewpoints existed was important in itself, Mr Oliver said.
The ten-part series has been co-produced with the Open University, and the programme-makers said they were alive to the fact that they would be covering issues — such as the Act of Union — that were certain to prove sensitive subjects to many of their audience. Mr McDonald said, however, that the programme would have a solid evidential basis.
