Earlier this week I noted that the BBC had forced the YouTube channel of the Wings Over Scotland website off air for supposed copyright infringements. Subsequent events have become something of a saga. The tale is related on their site.
First the BBC could not explain their actions.
Next it became clear that the action was taken as a result of a complaint by a Labour Councillor with a dubious history on social media and a track record of using BBC clips to attack the SNP. His site was not taken down despite this.
Then he denied anything was his fault.
Alex Salmond intervened demanding the BBC explain, and praised social media for providing an archive of such cuttings that would otherwise be lost. One clip objected to by the BBC was of him.
After that the First Minister objected to the very obvious bias arising because this was only happening to nationalist websites.
And the BBC then, temporarily, withdrew its objection. The website is up again, for now.
Three thoughts. First, this shatters forever the BBC's credibility in Scotland, not that it had much left after 2014.
Second, we should worry elsewhere. Sometime soon people will demand every quote be taken down from left of centre sites for breach of copyright. I expect this at some time, and this blog will then be over.
Third, worry then for freedom of speech. That the BBC should be threatening this is the surest indication that the concern is real.
But I'd add another thought. That is for Stuart Campbell who runs the Wings website. I guess it will be no surprise to anyone that we are acquainted. He must have had the most awful week. It can be said there is no such thing as bad publicity. And I am delighted that many have rallied to defend his right to express his opinion, including senior politicians. But that will not have reduced the stress of such a week. I have some inkling as to how these things feel. He has my sympathy, and respect for winning so handsomely on this, to date.
Thanks for reading this post.
You can share this post on social media of your choice by clicking these icons:
You can subscribe to this blog's daily email here.
And if you would like to support this blog you can, here:
Richard,
We have all, at one time, hit the wrong key on the keyboard, then pressed “send” without re-reading what we have just written. Usually this is a minor irritant. So, when you hit O instead of the adjacent P and turned SNP into SNO, no great harm was done.
Except, I now have this vision of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra somehow upsetting the good Professor, Dr Councillor Scott Arthur. This may have grievous knock-on effects for next year’s official Edinburgh Festival.
Well, I’d better correct that then
Quite a good band the last time I saw
Amusing typo: I don’t think he was attacking the Scottish National Orchestra.
Also *former* First Minister.
SNO corrected
And no, I meant the current First Minister as well as the former First Minister
The SNP have waded in
Well said, Richard. Thousands of us have rallied round Stu with support. But, as you say, he is the one on the front line taking all the flak. It is a very stressful position to be forced into and this isn’t the first time he has been the target of malicious maneuvers.
On Friday, the Labour Cllr Dr Scott Arthur was granted 15 minutes of air time on BBC Scotland to complain further about Wings Over Scotand and its editor. The broadcast is availble on the WoS site. So, as you point out, this was a temporary respite.
Nevertheless, the point is well made. The BBC are undeniably biased against Independnece supporters who constitute half of the Scottish voting public. Why people are paying over £320 million in TV tax for no representation is a puzzle.
I don’t think you need worry Richard, the BBC has launched review over copyright enforcement in light of the new Social Media environment.
It has dawned on them that they risk becoming the hatchet men and women in political skullduggery and they do not, quite sensibly, wish to fulfil that role. They have been burned by this and can do without Momentum and Steven Yaxley-Lennon’s mob on their case simultaneously and ongoing.
BBC Scotland are fuming that nobody in BBC London thought to pick up the phone and seek input on what the consequences of the takedowns might be.
Even No voters have noticed that Aunty’s bloomers are showing. Lest anyone think that it’s just us vile cybernats have noticed that is not true. Not least because BBC Scotland online has been covering the story sympathetically. So it isn’t just followers of Nat social media and your awkward squad readers who are aware.
Aunty Scotland needs to pay far more attention to The National in their review of the papers. That it is the only Indy supporting daily means it has to do lots of heavy lifting and they should not apologise for this. It appears occasionally, it must appear constantly and have an effect on their agenda.
There is a complaint working its way through Aunty, it had to be escalated all the way to the Trust to get BBC Scotland to pay it any attention at all. On two occasions the complainant heard BBC Scotland people talk about the Westminster government, the Welsh government and the SNP government.
I will leave you and your readers to notice the problem. This is endemic in BBC Scotland and has become far, far to instinctive for its presenters. They view the SNP government as illegitimate, insurgent and strangely non-temporary. They want it to go away and cannot understand why it wont and that makes them grumpy about it. This needs to be fixed, soon.
BBC Scotland worked hard to deflect the flak here but as a mere branch office they are not getting much credit for it. People see the BBC as monolithic and even if Pacific Quay was a hotbed of independent journalism people would wonder when BBC London would intervene.
Scottish broadcasting will not be fixed this side of independence.
It really is time that the BBC Trustee for Scotland, a gentleman called Bill Matthews, was shown the insides of the prison at La Cabana. This man is part of an organisation that believes that England by virtue of its greater population should have more say than what the Scots get to watch on their state broadcasting channels than the Scots do themselves. He has never once as far as I know suggested that BBC Scotland be devolved with the tv licences of its own citizens paying for its output, and having its own Board elected by Scottish licence payers.
Oh no, he’s never advocated any of that. He wants to carry living behind the frosted glass of neoliberalism where the tory government makes the appointments at the DCMS who make the appointments to the board.
The idea of Scottish independence is much in the news lately, not surprisingly perhaps. I approve, and by way of encouragement, offer this: “… an independent Scotland no longer relies on finance trickling down from the City of London. We can leave the entire shitshow behind and be no worse off — and it would (finally) give the rest of the economy a chance to develop like it should have. That is the real opportunity of independence — we escape the London banking mafia with one flick of a pen and we do something much, much less risky. For example making and doing useful things using enterprise and skills and investment, like a proper economy does.”
https://www.commonspace.scot/articles/13105/robin-mcalpine-escaping-corrupt-london-finance-one-biggest-opportunities-independence
Good article by Robin
I tweeted it
BBC Scotland refuses (and has done so for several years now) to allow comments on its articles. This means that the only voice heard in Scotland is the official BBC narrative and interpretation of events.
There is no room for dissent, correction or alternative viewpoint to be expressed by any member of the Scottish public. This the ordinary visitor to the BBC website is fed news unchallenged, mediated only by BBC journalists . As far as I can tell, this is the only BBC ‘region’ to adopt this blanket approach and this is not widely known
This is symptomatic of an organisation that is intent on ‘telling’ without suffering the inconvenience of ‘listening’ in any way to its constituency. The recent debacle with Wings is simply an extension of this arrogance and is evidence of continuing contempt for members of the public in Scotland.
Couldn’t agree with you more Richard! Very worrying for democracy, of freedom of speech and I think we see a lot of shut downs of opinions and it isn’t the rightwing side of politics, in fact we have bore witness time and time again that BBC Scotland actually protect Scottish Tories, especially Ruth Davidson. This Dark Money is something that must be investigated by Electoral Commission but more so, it is not good enough when the media and to be honest STV news with HQ ITV in London are also clamming up on this. Their answer when we ask why they are not doorstepping Ruth Davidson, is that they tried, and left it at that. We know from the media that both Corbyn and SNP MSPs/MPs ARE doorstepped but somehow, Tories are precious to the media in Scotland and they have stayed pretty silent. Had this been SNP or Labour Dark Money, they’d been screeching for answers to Dark Money. I read yesterday that BBC Radio Today has lost 800,000 listeners, is it any surprise yet BBC arrogance and power mad mentality is “how dare anyone abandon or stand up to BBC, don’t we know who they are!” instead of having a long hard look at itself of where it once was as a broadcaster so long ago, to where it is now!
I’ll just leave this here…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edrBBphznfw
Thank you Richard for the lovely typos and the subsequent comments, especially from Socrates Mac Sporran! Made my day. I have a tendency to type at warp speed and have a loathing for predictive text which often gets me into trouble. 🙂
Also thank you Gordon Taggart. Ain’t it the truth!
On a more serious note, I’d like to thank you firstly for your nose for justice and fairness, your handle on so many topics of our times. But mostly I’d like to thank you today for your empathy for Stuart Campbell. It is not easy to be demonised day in day out in the manner that Stuart has to endure. I listened to his interview on radio the other day and was struck by a few things. I have never heard his voice before but what struck me was how quiet, logical, organised and eminently reasonable his arguments were. He sounded almost shy. I liked him a lot.
Peter says:
“Aunty Scotland needs to pay far more attention to The National in their review of the papers. That it is the only Indy supporting daily means it has to do lots of heavy lifting and they should not apologise for this. It appears occasionally; it must appear constantly and have an effect on their agenda.”
Thank you for this Peter. You’re right. But if there’s any change I’ll eat my rather unappetising hat. Our public sector broadcaster forgets that it has alienated half if not more of the Scottish population with its relentless SNP-bad press. It will never recover in Scotland from this. The damage has been done and it won’t be easily undone. I completely agree with your conclusion that Scottish broadcasting will not be fixed this side of independence. It is high time for a public service broadcaster for Scotland. As Paul Kavanagh notes in a blog post of February 19, it’s remarkable that we don’t already have one.
“The truth is that the refusal of the Unionist parties and their supporters to countenance the establishment of a Scottish public service broadcaster on the grounds that it would be a propaganda service for the SNP are tacitly admitting that the BBC is indeed biased and subject to the political influence of Westminster. The real reason they object to a Scottish public service broadcaster is because the BBC was instrumental in flooding our airwaves with pro-British propaganda during the first independence referendum, and the Unionist establishment expects it to perform the same service for Britain in the second.” “It’s time for s Scottish Public Sector Broadcaster” February 19
https://weegingerdug.wordpress.com/2017/02/19/its-time-for-a-scottish-public-service-broadcaster/
Anyone who doubts the flooding of the airwaves with despicable propaganda need only listen to the ‘London Calling’ video. The real loser after the 2014 independence referendum was the BBC.
https://youtu.be/TXQYuLUAbyw
Thanks Grace
You lifted my spirits