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Ssv Voice EDITORIAL by Ken Ferguson TV news bias: media blackout Euro elections: how over study revealing majority of to stop UKIP taking news items favoured No camp a Scottish seat • see page 3 • see page 5 £1 • issue 431 • 31st January - 13th February 2014 facebook.com/scottishsocialistvoice Latest poll shows large swing to Yes camp and indy support increase from women and youth Jam-packed Labour For Independence meeting rocks Better Together Labour/Tory coalition Sillars book maps out socialist action plan for independent Scottish government facebook.com/ScottishSocialistVoice @ssv_voice EDITORIAL by Ken Ferguson A SHUDDER is passing through the opponents of Indy debate: ice is cracking Scottish independence, with the dawning realisation that their bid to freeze out the pos - itive case for a Yes vote in a frost of fear is cracking. The cross-class alliance of Better Together, which sees the Tories fashion the anti-indepen - dence shells and their willing soul mates in Labour fire them, suddenly looks vulnerable. At the heart of this is the fact that after months of relentless negativity aimed at convincing Scots that they need to stick with an increasingly right wing UK voters increasingly under - stand what this means. LABOUR FOR INDEPENDENCE: recent packed Glasgow meeting sent shockwaves through the No campaign Vote for austerity? Both Labour and Tory con - where in this Voice, in fat cat ence and Yes campaigners find a radical alternative. The rapid tenders for Westminster power politicians imposing ever an increasingly receptive ear to development of Labour For In - back massive cuts in spending, growing attacks such as their case in public meeting, dependence and its endorse - both back nuclear weapons, Labour – yes Labour! – threats street stalls and on the doorstep. ment by a growing list a both demonise the poor, both to cut benefits of those with lit - Most importantly is the grow - significant Labour figures with a support the City-driven greed eracy problems. ing understanding that winning message of a return to core as they vie to be the most Against this dismal back - the votes of those who vote Labour values is important. “business friendly”. Taken as ground then the prospect of an Labour – or stay at home – to Likewise the publication by an offer it amounts to austerity, alternative way meeting the vote Yes in September is the Jim Sillars of his socialist case insecurity, low pay and bosses needs of people over profit in absolutely essential corner - for independence also feeds cracking the whip over workers an independent Scotland is stone to winning independence. into this growing need to de - under the cosh of unemploy - gathering growing interest and That’s why that shudder is look - velop a vision of independence ment and threatened with ben - support. Most spectacularly ing for a spine to run up in the as an alternative to Westmin - efit cuts if they speak up. this was demonstrated in an camp of Labour’s UK loyalists. ster failure. Since it was formed In reality the Westminster po - ICM poll showing the Yes vote Faced with a growing likeli - the Scottish Socialist Party has litical class – whatever colour growing and No falling back. hood of a UK Tory (or Tory/UKIP) backed both independence their flag – are wholly owned by However this is simply an in - government and a Labour Party and socialism and our mes - the forces of greed and grab of dicator of what activists have trashing its own welfare achieve - sage remains the same in the the so called “free market”. This been reporting for some time ments as a “something for noth - road to the referendum. results, as we report else - now as SSP, Radical Independ - ing” society the way is open for Better off with Yes To subscribe, fill in this form and send it to: Scottish Socialist Voice, The key task is to drive Suite 370, 4th Floor, Central Chambers, 93 Hope Street, Glasgow G2 6LD. home the message that for Or telephone: 0781 126 5388 those who endorse core Cheques and postal orders should be made payable to ‘Scottish Socialist Voice’ Labour values that voting Yes, Find us on Facebook: facebook.com/scottishsocialistvoice & Twitter: @ssv_voice far from voting SNP, is the best way to provide the tools to im - Name.......................................................................................... plement such values. Address....................................................................................... The broad pro-indepen - dence left’s task is to press .................................................................................................... home the message that work - Phone......................................................................................... ing class Scots – the majority Email........................................................................................... of voters – will be socially, eco - I enclose: g £5 for 5 issues g £10 for 10 issues g £20 for 20 issues nomically and politically better of with independence. That Solidarity rate: g £6 for 5 issues g £12 for 10 issues g £24 for 20 issues way lies victory in September. 2 • Scottish Socialist Voice • issue 431 NEWS by Lynda Williamson, editor, newsnetscotland.com A YEAR -long study carried out by academic, Dr John Robertson and researchers from the Univer - sity of the West of Scotland, found clear evidence of bias amongst the broadcast media in Scotland when reporting on the independence referendum. MISREPORTING SCOTLAND: painstaking The research, which covered the analysis by academics revealed that an period from September 2012 to overwhelming majority of TV news items were September 2013, took in 730 hours presented in a fashion which favoured the anti- of early evening TV news coverage independence campaign – but BBC Scotland broadcast by the BBC and STV. and STV news is unlikely to let you know this Dr Robertson’s team watched, noted and carefully tabulated state - ments broadcast in news pro - grammes, before painstaking analysis revealed that an over - SCOTTISH MEDIA BLANKED whelming majority of news items were presented in a fashion which favoured the anti-independence campaign. fAortabNle reTadinIg -forI bNroadcDast Ylong erB. TheyI inAvitedS Dr R obFertsIon NDThat iIs wNhy thGe NoS Campaign In his report Dr Robertson sug - chiefs, ordinary Scottish workers to defend his research on BBC fear it, that is why they try to suggest gested that: “One obvious explana - haven’t had much of a chance to Radio Scotland during the Saturday that it is a sinister and organised tion lies in the editorial decision to read it at all. Indeed if you missed morning dead zone. It says much movement controlled and directed allow all three anti-independence SNP MSP Joan McAlpine’s men - about the BBC that in the face of from some mysterious headquarters parties to respond to each SNP tion of it in her column in the Daily such overwhelming criticism the at Yes Scotland/SNP/Newsnet Scot - statement creating an unavoidable Record then this is the first chance only mention of the report was made land (take your pick). predominance of statements from you’ll have to read about it in print at 8.20am on a Saturday morning. The Daily Mail, among others, the former even when these were media. The report was offered to Of course this comes as no sur - have tried to discredit anyone who kept short.” numerous outlets in the mainstream prise to those of us who have fol - supports independence and owns a media but not a single traditional lowed the independence debate computer as a particularly nasty Red/green balance newspaper carried it – it seemed al - closely. The University study merely type of troll. Their narrative being Of course we all know that the in - most as though it was subject to a proves what we have long sus - that the pro-independence side may dependence campaign does not sim - news blackout. If you wanted to find pected, that there exists in the BBC dominate the debate on the world ply consist of the SNP. TV chiefs it then you would have to turn to the institutionalised bias and the most wide web, but they are a particularly could easily have provided more internet and to citizen journalism. effective way to counter this is unsavoury bunch, not to be trusted, balance if they had only just thought Newsnet Scotland broke the story through social media. full of hate. of Colin Fox or Patrick Harvie. You in late January and our article took Don’t get me wrong I am not for have to wonder why they didn’t? social media by storm. It became Citizen journalism a moment trying to suggest that The answer may lie in another one of our most widely read articles Make no mistake, the only reason there are not some pretty awful part of the report, the part that deals ever. With almost 700 re-tweets it that John Robertson was given the things written by anonymous mo - with the tendency to personalise the was read by nearly 24,000 people. opportunity to appear on that early rons and would in no way defend case for independence using Alex So how did the state broadcaster morning radio show was that citizen that kind of behaviour. But there is a Salmond. According to Robertson: react to the popularity of our story journalism had breathed life into a particular political reason for trying “Personalisation of political is - and the allegations contained in this debate which the main stream media to suggest that this is an exclusively sues is long-established strategy to peer reviewed report? They fired off had tried to close down. pro-independence phenomenon. weaken arguments, shifting focus a stern email questioning the Social media is a powerful tool So use the net, log on and get the from collective reasoning or shared methodology used and attacking Dr for those who support independence information you need from sites like values to supposed personal desires Robertson’s credibility, of course.
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