The Scottish Elections 2003 Media Content Research

Report to the Electoral Commission

Institute of Governance University of Edinburgh

24 June 2003

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank John McCormick, Douglas MacLeod and Linda Taylor of BBC Scotland for providing tapes of 'Good Morning Scotland, 'Reporting Scotland' and 'Newsnight Scotland'. Particular thanks are also due to Janet Pearse and Margaret MacPherson for their secretarial assistance in compiling this Report.

CONTENTS

Executive Summary ...... 4

Introduction ...... 9

General Observations ...... 11

Background ...... 12

Themes ...... 15 Print Media...... 16 Broadcast Media...... 25

Week by Week Thematic Analysis ...... 35 Apathy...... 35 Scottish Economy...... 42 Holyrood Building...... 46 Crime...... 48 Independence...... 50

Internet Coverage ...... 55

The Political Parties’ Verdict...... 56

Conclusions...... 58

Research Team...... 61

Appendix 1 – Newspapers by Council Area ...... 62

Appendix 2 – Statistical Data...... 64

Executive Summary

1. Remit

Our task was to analyse, quantitatively as well as qualitatively, the media coverage (print and broadcast media) of the last three weeks of the election campaign.

2. Data Collected

Newspapers collected were the Daily Record, the Scottish Sun and the Scottish Daily Mail, the Scotsman, Herald, the Sunday Mail, News of the World Scotland, Mail on Sunday Scotland, Scotland On Sunday, Sunday Herald. We also consulted two regionally based Scottish titles, the Courier & Advertiser and the Press & Journal.

Although the Times, the Telegraph, the Guardian and the Independent have neither strong sales nor particular influence in Scotland they, and their Sunday equivalents, the Observer Scotland, the Sunday Times Scotland, the Sunday Telegraph and the Independent on Sunday were also included in the study.

Local evening papers – Edinburgh’s Evening News; Aberdeen’s Evening Express, and Dundee’s Evening Telegraph – were part of the analysis, as well as a sample of local weekly titles from smaller urban and more rural areas: Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser, Inverness Courier, Kilmarnock Standard, Southern Reporter, Oban Times, Campbeltown Courier, Wishaw Press.

Among the broadcast media, we focused on ‘flagship’ news broadcasts of both Scottish Television (STV) and BBC Scotland ('Reporting Scotland' and 'Newsnight Scotland'), and the 'Good Morning, Scotland' programme of BBC Radio Scotland.

3. Background

There does seem to be a strong association between attitudes to voting and consumption of media, with those not watching regional TV bulletins and those not regularly reading a newspaper much less likely to claim to vote (or to view voting as a civic duty) than those who do. Within this distinction, studies show that whilst readers of ‘quality’ or ‘serious’ newspapers seem supportive of voting, this is much less true amongst readers of those titles who enjoy the greater share of Scotland’s newspaper market.

4. Quantitative Analysis

The ‘indigenous’ Scottish broadsheets devoted most space to Scottish election issues, with the Herald and Scotsman giving over, on average, 150-160 column inches per day to election news, the Courier and Press & Journal devoting somewhat less than that. There is a marked gap between these Scots broadsheets and their ‘Fleet Street’ rivals, with particularly sparse coverage in the Independent and the Guardian Of the four UK broadsheets, only the Times, with around 50 inches of coverage per day, gave sustained attention to the Holyrood campaign.

Amongst the tabloids the Daily Mail gave over considerably more space to the Scottish elections than the Daily Record which, in turn, devoted a little more on average than the Sun. All three tabloids gave sustained coverage of the election throughout the campaign.

Among the Sunday titles, the highest levels of coverage were found in the ‘indigenous’ Sunday Herald and (in particular) Scotland on Sunday. It is notable, however, that the Sunday Times Scotland gave over an impressive average of 259 column inches over the three issues analysed. There was, by contrast, an absolute absence of any coverage in the Independent on Sunday, and the Sunday Telegraph mustered one single article over the three Sundays. The Observer gave sustained, if limited, coverage.

All in all, there were 9673’’, or about 250 yards, of election-related columns! Across all the broadsheet titles, whether Fleet Street or Scottish-based, a majority of election articles were in ‘omnibus’ form, that is they constituted general reports of the campaign, encompassing a variety of topics, issues and actors. Amongst the tabloids, on the other hand, omnibus articles were still the most frequent type of article but did not constitute a majority of coverage.

STV, BBC1 and BBC2 regularly covered the election campaign, devoting large chunks of their news programmes to election and campaign issues. On Radio Scotland, the election coverage only made it to the headlines on 7 days, but it was there and it was consistent in format.

Whilst all the websites associated with the more traditional media offered sustained and frequent coverage of the Scottish elections, the single dedicated internet news service, Ananova, offered only one Scottish election story in the period analysed. As a source for Scottish election news, therefore, the internet offers an alternative means to access traditional media sources rather than a radically ‘new’ forum for news.

5. Qualitative Content Analysis

Different newspapers stressed different aspect of the campaign. It might have been expected, for example, that the ‘serious’ newspapers would have given over a higher proportion of their coverage to ‘serious’ issues such as the economy, it was in fact the Daily Record which gave over the largest proportion – fully one in five of its election coverage – to the economy.

Crime proved to be a key battleground in the rhetoric of the four major parties, but while it did not feature greatly in the broadsheets, it took up more space in the tabloids. This was especially true in the Daily Mail which gave over fully 10% of its coverage to crime and policing issues.

Independence also represented a bitter battleground, but again it was left to the tabloids to give over a small, though substantial proportion of their coverage to the constitutional issue. Here the Daily Mail (wholly opposed to independence) and the Sun (rather more ambiguous) gave over, proportionally, the most space to independence, with the Herald giving over almost none:

A key issue in the campaign was the expected low turnout, regularly referred to as voter apathy. All newspapers analysed made frequent reference to the issue, although there was some difference between titles.

Just over half (50.7%) of broadsheet articles could be meaningfully assigned to one or other of the competing parties, and it seems clear the Labour Party (46%) and the SNP (20.3%) dominated that coverage. Outside these ‘big fish’, all of the smaller parties (Conservative, Lib Dems, Greens and SSP) received broadly comparable coverage (between 6-9%) in the broadsheets, as did the various independent candidates. The even smaller parties (such as the Senior Citizens’ Unity Party or the Scottish Peoples Alliance) together received only a tiny fraction of broadsheet coverage

Both the Lib Dems (12.3%) and the nationalists (27.4%) fared a little better in the tabloids, and Labour (42%) only a little worse, but these differences were not marked. Whilst the Greens had a relatively substantial presence in the broadsheets they received very little coverage in the tabloids.

6. Themes

The five themes most frequently and most controversially discussed were voter apathy, the Scottish economy, crime, the Holyrood building project, and independence.

Three other themes, though, made it difficult for the election campaign to make the front pages of the newspapers or gaining the top news slots in the audiovisual media:

• The opening weeks of the campaign were totally overshadowed by the war in Iraq. Even towards the end of the election campaign, the coverage of the war and its aftermath exceeded, quantitatively, the coverage of the elections, particularly in the UK papers, but even in Scottish broadsheets. • The Daily Telegraph's allegations that George Galloway MP had received substantial payments from Saddam Hussein. • A third story the elections struggled to compete with was the spread of the SARS epidemic.

As to the question of "Baghdad backlash" vs. "Baghdad bounce" – both may have largely cancelled each other out – although the SSP's and the Greens' support was certainly strengthened by the anti-war mobilisation.

In the way the Scottish Parliament election campaign seemed to struggle to make the headline news, the local government election seemed to be deeply overshadowed by the Parliament elections, particularly in the broadsheets and the broadcast media.

7. Conclusions

• The election often struggled to make news headlines, both because of competing themes and because of a campaign which was perceived as "lacklustre" and "sluggish". • The media clearly 'covered it', although often critical (negative campaigning, how boring it was, how disillusioned voters were, how uninspiring the leaders, etc). • The visits of the Westminster leaders – in particular Gordon Brown and Tony Blair – were widely viewed as an enlivening element in an otherwise dull campaign. • There were elements of 'negative campaigning' – 'divorce' on the Labour side, and the dying OAP in the SNP party political broadcast and some posters showing Jack McConnell behind bars, but all in all, there was hardly any personal invective. • The SNP was complimented on its slick campaign, Jack McConnell it was attested, had grown in stature, and Tommy Sheridan emerged as the "most charismatic" politician. • Tensions in the coalitions did surface, particularly over First Minister Jack McConnell's proposals for the tackling of youth crime (including penalising parents), which Justice Minister and Deputy First Minister Jim Wallace initially rejected as "unworkable". The press tried to stylise this into a "war" between the two coalition partners, yet there seemed never any indication of a real split which could have soured relations and made the continuation of the partnership government after the elections unlikely. • There was no lack of quantity of coverage, especially on BBC, in the Scottish broadsheets and tabloids. Some of the English titles were less excited about the Scottish (and the Welsh) elections. • The problem was that, even in the Scottish media, the elections could never fully break through to become the dominant public theme – there was always another 'big topic' to compete with. • In qualitative terms, while there was plenty of coverage, and plenty of sensible and informative coverage, on the Scottish Parliament election, newspapers and broadcast media made voter apathy and the various explications for it one of the dominant themes throughout the campaign which they often labelled as "boring". Were they 'stirring up apathy'? Making it acceptable as a form of political protest? • Voter apathy was a dominant theme. In their editorials and leader comments, nearly all the papers and broadcast media encouraged people to vote, "despite" the disappointments with devolution, the Holyrood parliament building and the parties' "dull" campaigns. • Reportage of the 'Superpoll' and other opinion polls in the last three weeks of the campaign suggested that the outcome of the election was a foregone conclusion – which did not exactly make the campaign more exciting. • Particularly towards polling day, the media focused on the electoral process, the differently coloured voting papers, and the number of votes available. Yet, there were still doubts, especially over the use and impact of the second (list) vote.

There remain some puzzling questions:

• If the main parties really were all offering the same policies and could not excite media or voters, why was there not more emphasis on those parties which offered alternatives? • Is the argument about lack of choice not resoundingly rebuked by an election result which produces a "rainbow parliament" with a far greater range of political views than, say, Westminster?

Introduction

The Scottish Parliament elections on 1 May, held under the AMS proportional electoral system, produced a very interesting result – with six fully-fledged parties, one further party representative and three independents, making for a radically different 'rainbow' composition of the Scottish Parliament from Westminster.

Our task was to analyse, quantitatively as well as qualitatively, the media coverage of the last three weeks of the election campaign. Some of the opening salvos of the campaign were thus outwith the range of our study – like the SNP's launch of a pre-Manifesto, and all the parties' manifestos which were launched in the first week of the campaign, just after the dissolution of the Scottish Parliament on 31 March 2003. Another example is Alf Young's series of 'conversations with the Scottish Party Leaders' (the Herald) which started on 2 April with Jim Wallace; David McLetchie (8 April) was also interviewed before the three-week range of this study. Jack McConnell (15 April), John Swinney (22 April) – billed in the Herald adverts as Scottish "Nationalist" Party leader – and Tommy Sheridan (29 April) fell within the period under scrutiny.

The only 'exciting' poll – which saw Labour and the SNP neck to neck1 – was published at the very beginning of the campaign, by the time the 'Superpoll' and the other surveys appeared in the last three weeks before polling day, the Labour lead had been re- established, so that commentators pointed out that we would come out of the elections as

1 See David McCrone, 'Peeblin' Wi' Stanes: Assessing the Scottish Parliament, 1999- 2003', www.institute-of-governance.org/onlinepub/mccrone/assessingscotparl.htm. we went in – with a Labour-Lib Dem coalition government. This, certainly, did not contribute to bring the campaign "alive".

First Minister Jack McConnell had announced that the Labour Party would fight a non- personalised, 'clean' and 'positive' campaign. Would that be corroborated, or would – like in 1999 when the Labour Party was successful with its anti-SNP "Divorce is expensive" slogan – 'negative campaigning' be again a dominating feature of the campaign? It was the first time that two parties in a coalition entered an election campaign, albeit as two independent parties competing with each other. What kind of tensions did that produce, and how were they reflected – reported or reinforced – in the media?

As the media landscape in Scotland is one of the most competitive markets in the UK, we aimed at a carefully selective and representative analysis, focusing on the main topics and personalities emerging during the campaign, and on the complex nature of the electoral procedure itself.

Concerning sales, the dominant players in the daily morning market in Scotland are the Daily Record, the Scottish Sun and the Scottish Daily Mail. In terms of influence, the two most important, by some distance, are the Scotsman and the Herald. These titles, along with their Sunday stable mates (respectively: Sunday Mail; News of the World Scotland; Mail on Sunday Scotland; Scotland On Sunday, Sunday Herald) formed the cornerstone of the press-based data collection, along with two more regionally-based Scottish titles, the Courier & Advertiser (centred around Dundee and Tayside), and the Press & Journal (centred around Aberdeen and the North-East).

In sharp contrast to England, the four heavyweight broadsheet dailies (Times, Telegraph, Guardian and Independent) have neither strong sales nor particular influence in Scotland, but as a counterweight to the titles already mentioned we have collected them as well as their Sunday equivalents (the Observer Scotland and the Sunday Times Scotland, the Sunday Telegraph and the Independent on Sunday).

We also collected data from a selection of the local evening press (Edinburgh’s Evening News; Aberdeen’s Evening Express, and Dundee’s Evening Telegraph); as well as from a sample of local weekly titles from smaller urban and more rural areas (Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser; Inverness Courier; Kilmarnock Standard; Southern Reporter; Oban Times; Campbeltown Courier; Wishaw Press).

In terms of broadcast media, we focused on ‘flagship’ news broadcasts (rather than the plethora of regular and election-specific current affairs programming) of both BBC Scotland ('Reporting Scotland' and 'Newsnight Scotland') and Scottish Television (STV), as well as the 'Good Morning, Scotland' programme of BBC Radio Scotland.

Bearing in mind research which showed that the internet and internet campaigning influenced only a tiny minority during the 2001 General election campaign, we have, none the less, included internet news sites like Ananova in our study.

We contacted all parties represented in the Scottish Parliament to obtain their views on the media coverage which, where we could obtain it, we compared to our findings.

General Observations

The voter turnout in 1999 was just under 59%. One of the themes preoccupying the media in the run-up to the election campaign, reaching as far back as last autumn, was 'voter apathy' and predictions that the turnout figure could fall well below 50%, appearing to damage the mandate of the Scottish Parliament. Did the campaign assuage these apprehensions, or reinforce them? The outcome was just under 50% – voter disillusion with the political parties, the leadership quality of the Scottish politicians and even the Parliament or the devolution process itself, or self-fulfilling prophecy of media commentators?

Three themes, it could be argued, made it difficult for the election campaign to make the front pages of the newspapers or gaining the top news slots in the audiovisual media:

1. The opening weeks of the campaign were totally overshadowed by the war in Iraq. Even towards the end of the election campaign, the coverage of the war and its aftermath exceeded, quantitatively, the coverage of the elections, particularly in the UK papers, but even in Scottish broadsheets. The war played directly into the campaign, as all parties except the Conservatives and Labour were – with different nuances and radicalism – part of the anti-war coalition. The question: would the 'Baghdad backlash' hit Labour? was subsequently superseded by the questions: would Labour profit from the "Baghdad bounce"? 2. Connected with the war, but as a story of its own partly eclipsing the election campaign were the Daily Telegraph's allegations that George Galloway MP had received substantial payments from Saddam Hussein. 3. A third story the elections struggled to compete with was the spread of the SARS epidemic.

In the way the Scottish Parliament election campaign seemed to struggle to make the headline news, the local government election seemed to be deeply overshadowed by the Parliament elections, particularly in the broadsheets and the broadcast media (while the regional papers dedicated more space to local council election campaigns).

Background

Why review the media – do they matter in terms of mobilising people to vote? It is impossible to answer such a question definitively, but there does seem to be some overlap between the public who read newspapers or watch television news bulletins and the public who both believe voting to be important and who claim to vote themselves.

The following draws on the Scottish Social Attitudes Survey of 2001 (the latest one available) and highlights that overlap. In the survey some 71% of respondents claimed to regularly read a morning daily paper, whilst 82% said they normally watched regional news bulletins on television. With both regards a general perception that individuals have a duty to vote, and the extent to which people claimed to have voted in the 2001 UK general election, there is an association with the consumption of news media:

Regularly read Normally watch morning newspaper? regional TV news? Yes No Yes No Base

People have a duty to vote 74 59 73 54 1377

Did you vote in 2001 73 57 72 52 1377 General Election

To some extent the overlap reflects the coincidence of those who both regularly read a morning newspaper and normally watch the regional TV news (totalling 61% of the sample), but it should be noted that only 7% of the sample overall consume neither media on a regular basis. To some degree the relationship between media consumption and voting attitudes/behaviour will be mediated through factors such as age, with younger people (who are less likely than older groups to vote) also less likely to consume news media. It should be noted, however, that even in the youngest group (aged 18-24) the vast majority (85%) regularly watch or read one or other of the news sources:

ALL 18- 25- 35- 45- 55- 65- 75 + 24 34 44 54 64 74 Proportions watching/reading: % Both newspaper and regional 61 46 49 53 64 72 82 65 TV news Regional TV news only 22 23 31 22 19 19 11 29 Morning newspaper only 11 17 11 15 10 8 6 3 Neither 7 15 9 11 7 1 1 3

Base 1605 136 275 320 254 219 204 196

However, it should be noted that the above figures cover a wide range of media sources, and there is, for example, no way of knowing whether newspaper readers are actually reading those parts of their newspapers relating to political/electoral issues.

The following table notes the wide range of attitudes/behaviour in relation to voting within newspaper readers, showing the proportion within each newspaper category who said that it was a person’s duty to vote, as well as the proportions who claimed to have voted in the 2001 UK general election:

Voting is duty Voted GE 2001 Base

UK broadsheet 85 81 46 Herald 89 87 78 Scotsman 95 89 64 Courier 73 76 70 Press & Journal 75 79 57

Express/Mail 82 82 160 Record/Mirror 69 71 449 Sun 59 55 170

Doesn’t read paper 59 57 493

Several things are suggested here. Firstly, the strength of attachment to voting (both in terms of viewing it as a ‘duty’ and in terms of claiming to have done so in 2001) is considerably higher amongst readers of the ‘quality’ broadsheets and the ‘mid market’ tabloids (Mail and Express) than amongst the ‘popular’ tabloids (Mirror, Record, Sun), with the Scottish regional dailies occupying a middle position. What is striking is that attachment to voting is as low amongst Sun readers as it is amongst those who do not regularly read a newspaper.

Crucially, however, it should be stressed that, in terms of circulation/readership, the vast bulk of the Scottish market is taken up by the Daily Record, followed fairly closely by the Sun (on readership see Appendix 1) – and this is reflected by the relatively small ‘base’ numbers towards the top of the table above.

To conclude this background section – there does seem to be a strong association between attitudes to voting and consumption of media, with those not watching regional TV bulletins and those not regularly reading a newspaper much less likely to claim to vote (or to view voting as a civic duty) than those who do. Within this distinction, however, it is clear that whilst readers of ‘quality’ or ‘serious’ newspapers seem supportive of voting this is much less true amongst readers of those titles who enjoy the greater share of Scotland’s newspaper market.

Themes

The first time the election campaign made headlines was when the independent candidate Margo MacDonald published a document indicating irregularities in the planning and contractual status of the Holyrood parliament building project. The Holyrood building was a constant theme – termed "Follyrood" by the Conservatives. First Minister Jack McConnell tried to cut its edge by pledging a public inquiry into the project.

Although the SNP had made it clear in its Manifesto that a vote for the party would not trigger independence negotiations and that an SNP victory would mean a referendum on independence towards the end of the four-year term of the parliament, the Labour party campaigned against what they again labelled the costly "divorce" of Scotland from the UK. The theme made ripples when a leading civil servant questioned the right of the Scottish Parliament to hold such a referendum, and the Electoral Commission, brought into play by the SNP as a neutral watchdog over the referendum, distanced itself from that role.

Despite having promised to eschew negative campaigning, the 'divorce' campaign by Labour was seen by some press commentators as a relapse into the negativity of the 1999 campaign. More topical, and as controversial in terms of negative campaigning, seems to have been the SNP's television party broadcast accusing Labour and the Labour-led Executive that old age pensioners were dying because of the Executive's inadequate health policies which resulted in increased waiting times for patients.

But the predominant theme in the media throughout the campaign was 'voter apathy' and the gloomy prediction of a low turnout. This was linked to a lack of vision in the party manifestos, the dearth of big ideas and a lacklustre campaign which stubbornly refused to come alive. In all media, the visits by the 'big shots' – particularly Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, but also John Reid, Helen Liddell, Alex Salmond, Iain Duncan Smith and Charles Kennedy – were reported and commented upon as rare signs of having a 'real' campaign in hand. The 'x-quality', some commentators contended, seemed to be lacking in Holyrood politicians.

In the British political magazines – New Statesman, The Spectator– the Scottish elections hardly happened at all. There was one piece by Simon Heffer in the Spectator (before our period of study) which mentioned the Scottish and Welsh elections in passing, and there was one piece (less than a page) by Kirsty Milne in the New Statesman, in the last week of the campaign (apart from a few allusions in Paul Routledge's diary and Charlie Whelan's 'betting' column): 'It's Kinnock in a kilt' (28 April) focused on the "slick" SNP campaign which the author compared to Kinnock's rebranding of the Labour Party in 1992. Even now, nearly eight weeks after the election, there has not been a single line on the Scottish election result in the New Statesman!

Print Media

There was a considerable difference in the quantitative coverage of the broadsheets. The Scottish election made very little impact on The Guardian and The Independent and The Sunday Telegraph, the Independent on Sunday and The Observer. The Times, The Sunday Times and The Daily Telegraph opened their columns to a much greater degree for Scottish election news and comment.

As was to be expected, the Scottish broadsheets dedicated substantial space to the Scottish election campaign. The Scotsman ran its 'Scottish Election Countdown' – a double page nearly every day. Likewise did The Herald with its 'Election 2003' coverage, which could vary from one to four pages.

The following tables and charts give an idea of the overall coverage (in column inches) of the Scottish elections in the daily and Sunday broadsheets and the tabloids. A note of caution should here be introduced. This is not exact science. Some of the topics isolated (apathy, crime, independence, Holyrood building, etc) were also covered in umbrella – or omnibus – pieces on the elections or the election campaign itself (see the breakdown of newspaper coverage appended).

Column Inches per Paper per Day

Dailies TOTAL Mean per day (over 16 days)

Daily Telegraph 400 25.0 Guardian 236 14.8 Independent 115 7.2 Times 784 49.0

Herald 2343 146.4 Scotsman 2571 160.7 Courier & Advertiser 1573 98.3 Press & Journal 1895 118.4

Daily Mail 967 60.4 Daily Record 720 45.0 Sun 460 28.8

As expected the ‘indigenous’ Scottish broadsheets devoted most space to Scottish election issues, with the Herald and Scotsman giving over, on average, 145-160 column inches per day to election news, the Courier and Press & Journal devoting somewhat less than that. What is marked, however, is the gap between these Scots broadsheets and their ‘Fleet Street’ rivals, with particularly sparse coverage in the Independent and the Guardian (which, perhaps not by coincidence, have by far the lowest sales of any ‘national’ newspaper in the Scottish market). Of the four UK broadsheets only the Times, with around 50 inches of coverage per day, gave sustained attention to the Holyrood campaign.

Amongst the tabloids the Daily Mail, perhaps surprisingly, gave over considerably more space to the Scottish elections than the Daily Record which, in turn, devoted considerably more on average than the Sun. Several points, however, should be noted here. Firstly the middle market and popular tabloids are not strictly comparable given that the latter tend to contain more photographs, larger headline type and less-dense text than the former. Thus we should not read too much into the fairly rough ‘column inch’ differences between the Daily Mail and the two ‘redtop’ papers. Secondly, it should be emphasised that all three tabloids gave sustained coverage of the election throughout the campaign, and to some degree the differences seen in the table reflect the fact that the Sun’s coverage (in terms of its size) picked up at the end of the first week of analysis. In the closing stages of the campaign the Sun’s coverage was roughly comparable in size to that of the Record.

Election coverage - Mean number of column inches per day

Sun Daily Record Daily Mail Press & Journal Courier Scotsman Herald Times Independent Guardian Daily Telegraph

0 50 100 150 200

Sundays TOTAL Mean per day (over 3 days)

Independent on Sunday - - Sunday Telegraph 13 4.3 Observer 130 43.3 Sunday Times 777 259.0

Sunday Herald 900 300.0 Scotland on Sunday 1404 468.0

Mail on Sunday 149 49.7 Sunday Mail 198 66.0 News of the World 205 68.3 Sunday Post 287 95.7

A similar pattern can be discerned in the Sunday titles with the highest levels of coverage found in the ‘indigenous’ Sunday Herald and (in particular) Scotland on Sunday. It is notable, however, that one Fleet Street title provided a very high level of Scottish coverage in its Scottish edition, with the Sunday Times Scotland giving over an average of 259 column inches over the three issues analysed. There was an absolute absence of any coverage in the Independent On Sunday, and the Sunday Telegraph mustered one single article (of 13 inches) over the three Sundays. The Observer gave sustained, if limited, coverage.

Amongst the tabloids it is notable that the level of coverage in the Daily Mail is not reflected in the Mail On Sunday, which (despite the stylistic issues noted above) devoted the least space to Scottish election issues of the four tabloid Sundays analysed.

Election coverage - Mean number of column inches per day

Sunday Post

News of the World Sunday Mail Mail on Sunday Scotland On Sunday Sunday Herald Sunday Times

Observer Sunday Telegraph

0 100 200 300 400 500

Comparing Coverage

All in all, there were 16127’’, or about 450 yards, of election-related columns! As has been seen, considerably more coverage (in terms of column inches) was found in the Scottish broadsheets than in the Fleet Street titles, with the exception of the Sunday Times (and, to a much lesser extent, the Times). But there also seems to have been some difference in the topics discussed within this coverage. Across all the broadsheet titles, whether Fleet Street or Scottish-based, a majority of election articles were in ‘omnibus’ form, that is they constituted general reports of the campaign, encompassing a variety of topics, issues and actors. Amongst the tabloids, on the other hand, omnibus articles were still the most frequent type of article but did not constitute a majority of coverage.

% of coverage Economy General Building Apathy Crime Indep Locals Campaign

Telegraph 7 69 0 6 5 4 0 2 Guardian 0 58 7 0 0 19 0 0 Independent 0 55 0 39 0 0 6 0 Times 9 53 0 11 2 3 1 9

Herald 8 63 1 8 2 1 2 6 Scotsman 10 57 3 9 3 4 1 5

Daily Mail 4 43 2 5 10 8 * 18 Sun 5 32 1 21 5 13 3 8 Record 20 38 2 3 5 4 2 15

To some extent different newspapers stressed different aspect of the campaign. It might have been expected, for example, that the ‘serious’ newspapers would have given over a higher proportion of their coverage to ‘serious’ issues such as the economy, it was in fact the Daily Record which gave over the largest proportion – fully one in five of its election coverage – to the economy:

% of coverage given over to: ECONOMY

Record

Sun

Daily Mail

Scotsman

Herald

Times

0 5 10 15 20 25

Although crime proved to be a key battleground in the rhetoric of the four major parties, it did not feature greatly in the broadsheets, yet it took up more space in the tabloids. This was especially true in the Daily Mail which gave over fully 10% of its coverage to crime and policing issues, perhaps reflecting the particular socio-political concerns historically associated with the middle market press: % of coverage given over to: CRIME

Record Sun

Daily Mail

Scotsman Herald

Times

024681012

Independence also represented a bitter battleground in the major parties' rhetorical strategies, but again it was left to the tabloids to give over a small, though substantial proportion of their coverage to the constitutional issue. Here the Daily Mail (wholly opposed to independence) and the Sun (rather more ambiguous) gave over, proportionally, the most space to independence, with the Herald giving over almost none: % of coverage given over to: INDEPENDENCE

Record Sun

Daily Mail

Scotsman Herald

Times

02468101214

Another key issue to feature in the campaign was that of expected low turnout, regularly referred to as voter apathy. Here all newspapers analysed made frequent reference to the issue, although there was some difference between titles. Almost a quarter of the Sun’s coverage referred to voter apathy (and here, as we shall see, its coverage was fairly ambivalent at points), and it was also an issue that featured fairly heavily in the broadsheets:

% of coverage given over to: APATHY

Record

Sun

Daily Mail

Scotsman

Herald

Times

0 5 10 15 20 25

How did the competing parties fare for space in the ‘serious’ press? Just over half (50.7%) of broadsheet articles could be meaningfully assigned to one or other of the competing parties, and it seems clear that it was the Labour party and the Nationalists who dominated that coverage:

Broadsheet coverage by party:

% Labour 46.0 SNP 20.3 Conservative 8.7 Liberal Democrat 7.2 SSP 4.8 Green 6.3 Independents 6.3 Others 2.6

It can also be seen that outside these ‘big fish’, all of the smaller parties (Conservative, Lib Dems, Greens and SSP) received broadly comparable coverage (between 6-9%) in the broadsheets, as did the various independent candidates. The even smaller parties (such as the Senior Citizens’ Unity Party or the Scottish Peoples Alliance) together received only a tiny fraction of broadsheet coverage.

BROADSHEET STORIES BY PARTY

50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0

% of broadsheet stories

A broadly similar pattern was found in the three tabloids, although with some variation. Firstly, and reflecting the lesser salience of omnibus articles, only around a third of tabloid coverage (34%) could not be assigned to one party or another. Both the Lib Dems and the nationalists fared a little better in the tabloids, and Labour only a little worse, but these differences were not marked. Whilst the Greens had a relatively substantial presence in the broadsheets they received very little coverage (totalling just 19 inches) in the tabloids

Tabloid coverage by party:

% Labour 42.0 SNP 27.4 Conservative 7.1 Liberal Democrat 12.3 SSP 4.1 Green 1.0 Independents 5.0 Others 1.2

TABLOID STORIES BY PARTY

45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0

% of tabloid stories

In addition, the national Scottish newspapers tried to cover the regional structures of the Scottish political landscape ('Regional spotlights'), give glimpses of the campaign trail ('On the stump', 'campaign focus'), profiled parties, manifestos and party leaders (interviews, shadowing their campaign, etc). The main papers commissioned polls (Scotsman - Mori; Herald - System 3; Times - YouGov) and analysed them. The closer the election came, the more information was given about the two-ballot Additional Member electoral system.

Besides this pretty comprehensive coverage, there were lighter elements, the sketches and diary entries. Not to be taken too seriously, the Scotsman ran a column ticking off one politician each having a "good day' or a 'bad' day in the campaign. The spread of the 'good days' was pretty even: two went to Labour, three to the Lib Dems, three to the SNP, two to the independents (both to Margo MacDonald), one to the SSP, one to the Greens, and one to the SSCUP. The bulk of the 'bad days' went to Labour – seven of them; followed by three which went to the Lib Dems, two to the SNP, and one to the Tories. Judging by that, no one had a particularly good campaign, but the governing coalition a pretty bad one.

The three popular tabloids in Scotland (the Daily Record, Scottish Sun, and Scottish Daily Mail) collectively enjoy a reputed 2,865,000 adult readers in Scotland. All three regularly reported on the election campaign with the Mail giving over most space, followed by the Record and, in turn, followed by the Sun. In addition to the three themes outlined above (Iraq; George Galloway; SARS), the election competed for space with two other ‘tabloid’ themes: celebrity news and football (specifically the Old Firm). In the period covered (14 April to 1 May), the election did not feature on the front page of the Mail until 24 April (when it led with the Electoral Commission’s concerns over ‘apathy’), although the newspaper regularly editorialised on the election. The Sun, on the other hand, rarely editorialised on the election (it did so on three of the sixteen days covered), but regularly had election stories on its front page. These, however, tended to be – until the eve of the election – secondary stories with relatively small headlines. The Record seems to have given more prominence to front page coverage and editorial comment on the election, with its tone as strongly anti-Nationalist as it was pro-Labour. All three titles welcomed the arrival of major Westminster figures (in particular Brown and Blair) as adding vigour and weight to the election (“Finally, some Tony flair”, Sun 16 April), and repeatedly stressed the issue of ‘apathy’. On the eve of the poll (30 April) the Record exhorted “Get out and vote”, and the Mail “Vote against the gravy train”. For its part the Sun featured a be-tartaned backside with the front page headline “Get off this … and Vote!”, a position somewhat undermined by the Bill Leckie column on page 11, headlined: “None of these smug, selfish saps deserve to get my ‘X’. So I’m not voting”.

Broadcast Media

STV

Scottish television had regular coverage of the election in the news programmes at 12.47pm (with the ITN news) and 6.00pm ('Scotland Today'). There were Party Election Broadcasts regularly after 'Scotland Tonight' at c. 6.25pm.

STV had election phone-ins at 2pm or 2.30pm. Politicians featured were:

Monday 14 April Tommy Sheridan (SSP) Wednesday 16 April Robin Harper (Greens) Tuesday 22 April Jim Wallace (Lib Dem) Wednesday 23 April David McLetchie (Con) Monday 28 April John Swinney (SNP) Tuesday 29 April Jack McConnell (Lab)

STV also invented the 'Scottish 500' – a focus group through which the election campaign was filtered and which put questions to the party leaders:

Thursday 10 April 19:30 Jack McConnell Sunday 13 April 13:00 Tommy Sheridan/Robin Harper Tuesday 15 April 19:30 John Swinney Thursday 17 April 19:30 David McLetchie Wednesday 23 April 19:30 Jim Wallace Tuesday 29 April 20:00 Four Leaders (McConnell, Swinney, Wallace, McLetchie)

Bernard Ponsonby, the political editor of STV, went 'Face to Face' with the party leaders in half-hour interviews.

Monday 7 April 20:00 David McLetchie Wednesday 9 April 20:00 Tommy Sheridan/Robin Harper Monday 14 April 20:00 Jim Wallace Friday 25 April 20:00 John Swinney Monday 28 April 20:00 Jack McConnell

BBC1: Reporting Scotland

During those 17 days, the Holyrood elections were covered in Reporting Scotland (6:30- 7:00pm), in all but 2 news bulletins. There was no mention of elections on either of the Sunday programmes (Easter Sunday, 20 April, and Sunday, 27 April).

The length of the election coverage lasted from 1.5 minutes to 13 minutes, averaging 8.03 minutes a day (if we include Sundays with no election coverage, the daily average is 7.1 minutes).

BBC1 covered general election-related news, ran issue-specific 'Vote 03' analyses and also ‘travelled across Scotland’ in its election coverage.

Thematic series

Topics of the issue-specific Vote 03 analyses included: economy, University Challenge, the Independents, youth crime, arts funding, health, local elections, Scottish education. In each case, the issue was first introduced in general, often with an interview with experts/people on the street/politicians. This was followed by a comment from BBC’s Brian Taylor, who outlined the approach of (usually the four main) parties towards the given issue, and concluded by interviews/comments from party representatives.

The local elections were briefly mentioned a few times when the election procedure was discussed (i.e. the white coloured ballot paper is for the local councillor). The only longer coverage of local elections was on Friday, 25 April. The BBC correspondent was in Aberdeen, talking to people on the street who, in general, thought that local government does not really matter. The BBC thereafter highlighted several issues where local government does indeed matter (transport, schools, rubbish collection, taxes etc). This was followed by an interview with Professor Trevor Salmon, who stated that the Holyrood elections were totally overshadowing the local council elections. The BBC concluded that there is a disconnection between people and local government and that most people will vote on national issues, with very little local edge.

Other election news

Just like on STV, the election made it into the news programme almost every day, however briefly. Mostly it was just in the form of stating what happened in Scotland on that given day, spiced up with interviews with political heavyweights (London ones, where possible – e.g. Charles Kennedy was interviewed twice, Ian Duncan Smith once, plus coverage of the visits by, and interviews with, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown).

In addition to regular interviews with the representatives of the four main parties (usually party leaders, but not always), BBC1 also interviewed the following political candidates:

Tommy Sheridan 16, 24, 29 April Dr Jean Turner 17 April John Swinburne 17 April Margo MacDonald 20 April Robin Harper 15, 24, 29 April

Thus the leading SSP and Green Party candidates were both given equal coverage. Several independent candidates were interviewed as well.

BBC1 also interviewed several experts during its election coverage, among them Professors David McCrone, John Mitchell and Trevor Salmon, Gerry Hassan, Sir Neil MacIntosh, Sheena Wellington.

Topics

The choice of coverage topic was often relayed ‘back to the people’. On several occasions, BBC referred to a poll they had conducted about the voters’ election priorities. Other topics were also placed on the voters’ priority scale (e.g. arts funding was at the bottom of the priority list, but nevertheless a prominent and important issue). Voter apathy became a hotly discussed issue when the polls showed signs of possibly very low turnout.

Street crime/youth crime (17, 22, 23, 28 April) Health/NHS (14, 23, 24, 25 April) Economy (14, 16 April) Education (16, 28 April) Voter apathy (15, 24, 26, 28, 29, 30 April) Independence (15, 21 April)

Short day-by-day overview

Date Topics Interviewees 14/4 * SNP election broadcast (Wallace: ‘bad * David McLetchie, John taste sick broadcast’) Swinney, Labour, Prof David Brian Taylor: it’s not unusual for SNP to McCrone, focus on NHS waiting times, and for Labour * Young people, Ross Finnie, to focus on the ‘divorce’. But parties did Annabel Goldie, Andrew promise to avoid ‘personalised bad- Wilson, Jack McConnell mouthing’. * Economic growth – why is Scotland lagging behind? Mention of Sheridan’s Socialist planning and Harper’s green self- sufficiency 15/4 * Tony Blair in Scotland (Brian Taylor * David McLetchie, Jim amused about Blair getting the referendum Wallace, the Greens and their date wrong – 1999) ‘four grey men’ * Voter apathy * Independence settlement * Scottish People’s Alliance * Lowering the voting age 16/4 * Gordon Brown in Scotland – we are closer * Gordon Brown, John Swinney, than ever to full employment Tommy Sheridan, Michael Hart * University challenge: reputation of Scottish (Tory), Charles Kennedy universities, attracting research funding, * Nicol Stephen, David student debts. Is the degree for the person or McLetchie, Andrew Wilson, Iain for society? Gray Brian Taylor: on BBC voter priority poll, the top-up fees are at the rock bottom – so no party wants to discuss them. But what do parties offer? 17/4 * LibLab row about youth crime & the role * Cathy Jamieson, John of the parents Swinney, Jim Wallace, David * System 3 poll: who is getting their message McLetchie across. Has Labour let business down? * Gordon Brown, Brown: Scotland and London need to work * Loony Monster, Jean Turner, together to boost economy, not apart. John Swinburne * The Independents – three types: novelty value (Monster Loony); he disaffected (the disgruntled free spirits Dennis Canavan, Margo MacDonald); single issue candidates (Fisheries; Glasgow hospitals) 18/4 Parties campaign on health, crime, transport, Jack McConnell, James environment Douglas-Hamilton, Labour and SNP candidate 19/4 McConnell promises full investigation into Margo MacDonald the cost of the Holyrood building – just in time for Margo’s 60th b-day 20/4 No coverage 21/4 Labour won’t stop the independence John Swinney referendum/Westminster block on referendum (Swinney: no way he lets Westminster block Scots from voting in a referendum). Who decides Scotland’s future? Brian Taylor: there’s already a triple lock on independence: 1) SNP needs to win, 2) they need to convince other MSPs to hold a referendum, 3) over 50% of Scots need to vote for it in referendum. 22/4 * Youth crime. More bobbies on the beat – Youngsters, John Swinney, Jack the top priority at the BBC poll. Streets of McConnell, David McLetchie, fear? The anti-social and threatening Jim Wallace behaviour of young people. Recorded crime decreased, but vandalism and drug crime increased. Youngsters are bored. Police should be part of the community. People sick of neds ruining their life. Brian Taylor: this issue is driven by popular opinion – all politicians are trying to pick it up. * Electoral Commission posting Welsh election posters in Edinburgh 23/4 * Tackling youth crime and yob culture. * Jack McConnell, Jim Wallace, People want action on youth crime. Fiona Hyslop, Lord Douglas- Community wardens. More bobbies on the Hamilton. Norrie Flowers from beat. All parties are promising more police. the Police Federation. * The Socialist Labour Party * SLP * Arts funding in Scotland. What price * Bill Paul (Lochgelly Amateur culture? At the bottom of the list of the BBC Arts Organisation), Sheena poll – but still prominent. Wellington 24/4 * Health/NHS – high on the BBC voters’ * John Swinney, Jack priority list. What price health? People McConnell, Ian Duncan Smith, expect good service, but don’t want to wait Jim Wallace for it. Rising costs, NHS cannot meet all * Tommy Sheridan demands. * UKIP * Voter apathy: Getting the message across * Robin Harper and voters out. * UK Independence Party * Energy-efficient homes. Mention of Green party and their Warm Homes Bill, Labour, LibDem, SNP, Tories, SSP. 25/4 *New Royal Infirmary too small. PFI * Jack McConnell, John * Local elections in Aberdeen (low turnout, Swinney, Charles Kennedy, people vote on national issues, little local David McLetchie edge) * Aberdonians, Prof Trevor * Coalition politics in the highlands –couple, Salmon candidates for different parties * Common-law couple Rob Gibson (SNP) and Dr Eleanor Scott (Greens) 26/4 Final few days to go, fears of low turnout. In Jack McConnell, John Swinney, the streets the mood is of apathy Bill Aitken, Nicol Stephen 27/4 No coverage 28/4 * Blair in Scotland, warning of low turnout * Jim Wallace, Cathie Jamieson, *Scottish education – fit for the 21st century? Mike Russell, Bill Aitken Disruptive students, expulsions and * Alex Salmond, David suspensions increasing. Are Scotland’s McLetchie, Tony Blair, Lib schools meeting the needs of the nation? Dem representative Brian Taylor: we used to kid ourselves at having best education system in the world. This hasn’t been true for 10 years now. * Tony Blair in Dundee today. Labour fears that low turnout can make SNP win by default. 29/4 * Electoral Commission adverts, trying to * John Swinney, Jack make us feel guilty. Hassan: PR system McConnell, David McLetchie, makes Scottish politics more pluralist. Jim Wallace, Tommy Sheridan, *Brian Taylor: people are disenchanted with Robin Harper politics in general, and party politics in particular. It’s all about getting the vote out now. Differential turnout. Elections do matter. 30/4 * Candidates credentials * Jack McConnell, John * Discussion of borderline seats (Inverness, Swinney, David McLetchie, Jim Dundee, Aberdeen, Alloa, Glasgow, Wallace, Robin Harper, Tommy Edinburgh) Sheridan *Brian Taylor: 5 weeks of campaigning * Sir Neil MacIntosh, a teacher, behind us. Has got to issues – poverty, crime. school kids Quite clean campaign (ex. Independence); youth crime issue was picked up from the streets; apathy – if the turnout is less than 50%, it might be a worry for people who believe in democracy. * Mock elections at the Inzievar Primary school.

BBC 2 Newsnight Scotland

Newsnight Scotland (11-11.20pm) built its coverage around themes, introduced by, mostly, short 2-6 minute pieces, and then followed up by experts in the studio and/or political panels.

Among the politicians featured in such panels were Bill Aitken (Con), Mike Russell (SNP) and Ross Finnie (Lib Dems) – on George Galloway's impact on the Holyrood elections and coalition governments; Fergus Ewing (SNP) and Ross Finnie (Lib Dems) – on fisheries; Patricia Ferguson (Lab), Nicola Sturgeon (SNP) and Annabel Goldie (Con) – on voter apathy; Andrew Wilson (SNP), Andy Kerr (Lab) and Annabel Goldie (Con) – on the Scottish economy; Iain Gray (Lab) and Mike Russell – on independence.

During the period covered by this study, leader interviews – in-depth interviews of 10-18 minutes' length – were conducted with Robin Harper (Greens), Tommy Sheridan (SSP) and John Swinney (SNP). Among the experts invited to comment were John McTernan, James Mitchell, Peter Lynch, John Curtice, Philip Schlesinger, Iain Macwhirter ad George Kerevan.

The main topics covered were the fisheries crisis (including a portrait of the Fisheries Party and its candidate George Geddis), negative campaigning, the Scottish economy, environmental policies, Scottish water/privatisation, coalition governments, voter apathy, independence, pupils' mock election, and the election campaign itself.

Short day-by-day overview

Date Topics Interviewees 14/4 * Fisheries crisis * George Geddis (Fisheries Visit to north-east, portrait of Fisheries Party Party), Fergus Ewing, Ross candidate; Finnie * negative campaigning (Labour: divorce; * Jim Wallace, David SNP: Labour health policy kills – party McLetchie, John Curtice, John political broadcast McTernan 16/4 * Sluggish Scottish economy; Gordon Brown * Andrew Wilson, Andy Kerr, visit to Scotland Annabel Goldie * Hansard Society youth poll 17/4 * Green politics in Scotland; leader interview * Robin Harper, Ross Finnie with Robin Harper

22/4 * Leader interview Tommy Sheridan * Tommy Sheridan * Scottish water * Alan Alexander 23/4 *George Galloway * Bill Aitken, Mike Russell, * PR and coalition governments, comparison Ross Finnie with Ireland * James Mitchell 24/4 * Apathy - fear of low voter turnout; * Bill Miller, Andy O’Neill, Electoral Commission's campaign Patricia Ferguson, Nicola Sturgeon, Annabel Goldie 28/4 *Independence and referendum question *Peter Lynch, Brian Taylor, * ' Big Guns' - Tony Blair in Dundee; Alex Mike Russell, Iain Gray Salmond in Aberdeen * John Curtice, John McTernan 29/4 * Leader interview with John Swinney * John Swinney * Hansard Society school mock election result – SNP in front, generational change? 30/4 * Boring politics or faulty media coverage - * Party spokespersons, Philip who is to blame for voter apathy? Schesinger, Iain Macwhirter, George Kerevan

BBC Radio Scotland 'Good Morning Scotland'

On the 'Good Morning Scotland' programme (6:00-9:00am daily), between Monday, 14 April, and Wednesday, 30 April, the Holyrood elections made it to the headlines on 7 days only.

Nevertheless, the election was covered in the 8am news on 14 days out of 16. On all those days, the election was also covered in the discussion section after the 8am news and before the 8.30am news. Easter Monday (April 21) and the following Sunday (April 27) were the only days when no election item was featured at all, neither in the news section nor in the following studio discussion.

The structure of the election coverage was quite consistent in the 'Good Morning Scotland' programme. Unless there was something ‘out-of-the-ordinary’ – the row over the SNP election broadcast, or the visitors from London – the news consisted of listing the campaigning topics on each day for the main four parties. Thus, on all the 14 days when the Scottish Parliament elections were mentioned in the news, they also mentioned what the four main parties – Labour, Lib-Dem, Conservatives and SNP - would be concentrating on that day. Only on two occasions were the SSP and the Greens also mentioned in the news section (April 23, April 30). The visits of Prime Minister Tony Blair (April 15, April 28), Chancellor Gordon Brown (April 16-17), Tory leader Ian Duncan Smith (April 24) were covered in the news section, as was the Herald’s System Three polls (April 17, April 29).

In the studio discussion following the news, the most common topics that surfaced were voter apathy (4 days), NHS waiting times and waiting lists (5 days, triggered by the controversial SNP election broadcast), and negative campaigning (3 days). Other topics included street crime, the question of the legitimacy of an independence referendum, arts funding in Scotland, the environment, etc.

The different ‘voices’ that were heard on the radio can be broadly classified into three groups – politicians, 'experts' and 'ordinary' people. 'Good Morning Scotland' had both studio discussions and radio phone-ins with various politicians, representing the six main parties. Four politicians each representing the SNP and Labour were in the studio or participated in a phone-in discussion. SNP radio voices were Nicola Sturgeon (twice, on April 15, April 18), Shona Robison (April 17), John Swinney (April 24) and Michael Russell (April 28). The Labour politicians interviewed were Jack McConnell (April 25), Hugh Henry (April 22), Malcolm Chisholm (April 17) and Mike Watson (April 28). Two Lib Dem politicians were interviewed (Nicol Stephen and Jim Wallace), two SSP politicians (Frances Curran, Colin Fox), one Tory (David McLetchie) and one Green (Robin Harper).

The ‘experts’ included social scientists, political commentators, media and arts specialists, medical specialists etc – depending on the studio discussion on the day (e.g. Prof John Curtice (twice), Gerry Hassan, Bob Worcester from MORI, Charlie Whelan, Katie Grant, Sheena Wellington, etc).

The ‘ordinary people’ involved ‘people on the street’ (when discussing the importance of the election and the impact of the election campaign), people affected by the NHS etc.

Overall – the election coverage was not very prominent (only made it to the headlines on 7 days), but it was there and it was consistent in format – a short news item outlining what to expect on that day, followed by a longer studio discussion afterwards. The studio discussion thrived for parity, giving airtime to all the campaigning political parties and other affected parties and expert voices.

Together, the news item and the studio discussion lasted from 4:30 min to 11:45 min, averaging at 8 minutes per 30 minutes analysed (excluding the days without any election coverage).

Week by Week Thematic Analysis

Apathy

Broadsheets

Week 1 (13 April – 19 April) The leader comment in Scotland on Sunday (13 April) made out an "apathy of despair", balanced by Ruaridh Nicoll's opinion piece, "It's your election too" which urged voters to use their ballots. In the Sunday Herald, Muriel Gray appealed to the electorate: "You're lucky: you live in a democracy. So use your vote." The Scotsman followed up on Monday with a leader comment, warning that "negative campaigning does not always work" and John Curtice's opinion piece, stating that the multitude of political parties offer real choice in Scotland, "but do voters care?".

Angus Macleod speculated in the Times (15 April) that Labour might be "hit by stay-at- home voters", hinting at the effect of 'selective' apathy, disillusioned Labour voters (war, lack of delivery in public services) putting Labour's continuation in power at risk. A theme taken up by Tony Blair who, as reported by the Daily Telegraph (16 April) contended that a "low poll would mean the end of Britain". "Wake up or lose the election," was how the Scotsman put it. A Scotland "sleepwalking" into the "wasteland" of independence was Scotland on Sunday's take on it the following Sunday (20 April) The Herald, meanwhile (16 April) referred to the SNP's efforts "to target sleaze and voter cynicism"

Week 2 (20 April – 26 April) "Voting may be irrational," Alex Bell opined in the Herald (21 April), "but someone's got to do it." While George Kerevan in the Scotsman (21 April) commented that the "bore war is no way to win back the nation's voters." The Independent (23 April) summed up the Scottish devolution experience under "death, scandal and disillusion" which "dents voter expectations", and illustrated this by reporting that even the "most marginal seat (Dundee West) struggles against apathy."

By midweek, the Herald tried to enliven a lacklustre campaign. On Tuesday, it publishes a leader comment, urging for more "political passion" (23 April). The next day the headline on the front page read "Wallace and McConnell go to war" (on tackling youth crime).

A new note was introduced to the apathy discourse by Glasgow academic Bill Miller who, in the Times, provocatively stated that "stay away voters are no real threat to devolution." Low turnouts, he contended, were indicative of a happy electorate and a society without excessive strife. Research had shown that non-voters were not opposing devolution, they just had more important things to do with their time than spend it in the polling booth. Bill Miller was subsequently interviewed on Newsnight Scotland. The Herald (26 April) devoted a leader comment to Miller's thesis. The Scotsman (26 April), unperturbed, carried on with the apathy theme detecting, on the front page, Jack McConnell's "panic as fears grow of a low turnout," and in the leader comment a "threat to Blair on the home front."

Week 3 (27 April – 01 May) The last week of the campaign started with the Sunday Herald's Iain Macwhirter musing about the "disappearing voters", and Scotland on Sunday's leader comment urging the electorate to "vote, despite the failure of the politicians," countered by the notorious Gerald Warner who aired his well-known antipathy to devolution by bluntly stating in his comment slot that "'X' doesn't mark the spot when the only option is a reluctant vote for the least repellent." Katie Grant, in the Scotsman (28 April) resorted to Shakespeare making the decision "to vote or not to vote" the "real question" of the election, while John Curtice, in the same edition, saw "Scotland's disillusioned masses hold the key" to the elections. Murray Ritchie, in the Herald (29 April) reported that "minority parties are tipped to gain more seats in low turnout." The leader comment in the same paper summed up the campaign in the stark heading "election apathy rules".

On polling day, the broadsheet papers reflected on the party leaders' last calls to bring out the voters, while the Independent saw turnout as the "key issue", the Herald saw it as the parties' fault that voters were turned off, as the campaign failed "to produce Damascene conversion to Scottish politics". Magnus Linklater despaired in the Times: When even the candidate is disillusioned, what hope is there for today's elections?"

All in all, the discourse on apathy filled 713 column inches (but please note that in many of the "general" pieces covering the campaign apathy was also a theme) in the broadsheets, only narrowly beaten into second place by the economy (737'').

Tabloids

The tabloids used up 245” of their electoral coverage discussing apathy, the dominant single theme – the economy came second with 223''.

Week 1 (13 April – 19 April) In the Scottish Daily Mail, columnist John MacLeod “On the Stump” in Inverness East, Nairn & Lochaber, noted lack of voter interest in a constituency which had once seen fierce campaigning (“Voters muster only marginal interest in a once knife-edge seat”, 15 April).

Both the Record and the Mail reported on Blair’s Glasgow speech. For the Record the keynote of Blair’s speech was the “terrible shock” that a low turnout would deliver, i.e. a Nationalist victory (‘PM’s shock warning for voters’, 16 April). For the Mail, Blair’s “stark call reflects growing evidence that thousands of the [Labour] party’s supporters are planning to stay at home on election day, having become disillusioned with the parliament. It points to Labour’s nightmare scenario of a mass abstention by supporters … handing victory to the SNP” (‘Scotland’s future is at stake’, 16 April)

John MacLeod’s Mail column argued that “We, the nation, are underwhelmed” by the elections - indeed “We’ve seen more life in a tramps vest” (‘Blair, Baghdad Bounce and the apathy factor’, 17 April)

Week 2 (20 April – 26 April) The Sunday Mail devoted its full editorial space to a stark warning over apathy, arguing that “a turnout of under 50 per cent would be a disaster for the Scottish parliament”. But the paper also suggested that responsibility for low voter interest lay at least partly with the parties themselves. Firstly, it noted that given the turnout concerns it was “all the more shocking” that Labour figures in Govan had elected to take foreign holidays in the midst of the election campaign: “How can politicians expect voters to turn out if they cannot even be bothered taking the campaign seriously themselves?” Further, the editorial criticised the Nationalists for reaching “a new low” in terms of “negative campaigning”, whilst praising Jack McConnell’s acceptance of Margo MacDonald’s pleas for an independent enquiry into Holyrood costs: “A little more honesty, a lot less spin and a little more hard work and we could get the parliament our country deserves” (‘Apathy will destroy our democracy’, 20 April)

The Sun, in its first article on apathy reported on a survey conducted by Nottingham Trent university which suggested that young Scots were deeply disinterested in politics and more likely to vote in ‘reality TV’ polls than in the up-coming election (‘Flop idol’, 23 April)

The Daily Express editorialised that the Holyrood campaign had been “exceedingly dull”, and noted the perception that politician’s concerns with public opinion only coincided with elections: “If the electorate is apathetic, the campaign flat and uninspiring, the politicians have only themselves to blame” (‘Unsparkling campaigns’, 23 April)

The Mail devoted their front page to the warning by Sam Younger, chairman of the Electoral Commission, that a low poll threatened the “credibility” of the Holyrood parliament. The article quoted Younger as saying that a poll of “Less than 50 per cent for a nationwide election would be a very worrying figure” (‘Poll-axed', 24 April). The following day the Mail gave over considerable space to Jack McConnell’s reaction, quoting him as conceding that the “reputation of devolution is at stake” (‘McConnell plea over poll apathy’, 25 April). Alongside this article was a report of a ‘straw poll’ of 100 voters in Edinburgh and Glasgow which suggested that “one in three voters does not even know there’s an election”, and that many voters failed to recognise the party leaders. The article concluded rhetorically: “Will people flock to vote for politicians they hardly recognise? Or will they be too busy washing their hair?” (‘Meanwhile, a shoulder-shrug of indifference from the voting public’, 25 April).

The Record covered John Reid’s Hamilton speech, noting his view that “the public must engage with the Parliament not just by voting, but by getting in touch with ministers and MSPs …” (‘Best is yet to come’, 26 April). The Record editorial noted that whilst “the political temperature” of the campaign was rising “the interest of the public is not”. A low poll, it argued would “play into the hands of opponents of devolution”, and open up the risk of “having drifted into separation from the rest of the UK” (‘Don’t waste vital chance’, 26 April)

Week 3 (27 April – 01 May) In a special election editorial, the Sunday Post paraphrased Edmund Burke, noting “that all that was necessary for the triumph of evil was for good men to do nothing”. Although non-voting would not produce “the immediate triumph of evil”, the editorial warned: “But if you don’t bother to vote you certainly won’t be entitled to point the finger at the politicians if you don’t like what they do over the next four years” (Sunday Post Opinion, 27 April)

The Mail on Sunday disclosed an exclusive YouGov poll which indicated a turnout of 40- 45%, arguing that this reflected “public dissatisfaction with devolution” (‘Labour’s 42pc ballot box blues’, 27 April)

The Sunday Mail reported Jack McConnell’s claim that the SNP “were intentionally encouraging apathy through their negative campaign,” hoping that a low turnout would disproportionately damage Labour’s prospects. McConnell reportedly told Labour activists: “We’ve won the argument. Now we need to win the battle for turnout” (‘Beware apathy, warns Jack’, 27 April). The News of the World also covered McConnell’s speech (‘Labour fight for votes’, 27 April), and also editorialised (over an entire page) on the need to turn out. The editorial concluded, echoing the Electoral Commissions television spots and posters: “Stay away from the polling station on Thursday, and you’re saying you don’t care about Scotland’s future” (‘Show you care about the future of Scotland’, 27 April)

The following day both the Daily Mail (‘McConnell urges final push in battle to beat voter apathy’, 28 April) and the Sun (‘Low danger’, 28 April) reported on McConnell’s arguments, both recounting his comment “Now we need to win the battle for turnout”.

The Record reported on Blair’s Dundee visit and his repeated warnings over the “dangers” arising from a low turnout. The paper quoted his exclusive comments: “It is fundamental to get people out. It is vital to get people out. The thing about the Scottish election is no one can dispute it matters. If people don’t come out, they’ll end up with a government they don’t want” (‘Vote of confidence’, 29 April). The paper devoted an editorial to repeating Blair’s arguments (‘Vote or risk your future’, 29 April). The Sun, likewise, reported Blair’s comments (‘Jack’s Hour man!’, 29 April)

On the eve of poll, the Sun’s front page featured a man’s bottom in tartan shorts and an exhortation to vote (‘Get off this and Vote!', 30 April), with the text running into a full page editorial which warned “it’s apathy that’s the big threat on Thursday. There are fears the turnout could be so low that the credibility of this toddler parliament would be destroyed … The less that bother, the worse for democracy” (‘Get out and vote', 30 April). Another large article reported the warnings from party leaders “that a low turnout would SHAME Holyrood, DAMAGE its reputation with leaders at Westminster – and WEAKEN Scotland’s voice in the world at large” (‘Don’t turn Scotland’s voice into a whisper’, 30 April). The paper’s editorial line clashed markedly with the view of their columnist Bill Leckie, who (in reference to the series of Electoral Commission adverts on ‘making a statement’ by voting) concluded that all the parties “just tell us what they think we want to hear”. As a result: “I’m making a statement by not voting tomorrow. And that statement is that there’s nothing and nobody worth voting for” (‘None of these smug, selfish saps deserve to get my ‘x’ – so I’m not voting’, 30 April).

On polling day itself the Daily Express reported on its front page that “half of Scotland’s voters are set to boycott the polls today after one of the most low-key election campaigns in the country’s history”. Whilst bad weather would have an effect on the poll, the greatest reason for voter disinterest was the campaign itself, one anonymous politician was quoted as saying: “The election has been talked down and an apathetic electorate has been talked up. We just wish the coverage had stuck to policy” (‘Election is a washout’, 01 May)

Regional and Local Press

Amongst the regional press Aberdeen’s Press & Journal devoted its polling day editorial to the election. For the P&J the high hopes for Home Rule of the late 1990s “have dissipated long since, replaced by widespread disillusionment”, and feared that “apathy will be declared victor in the second round of Holyrood elections”. The editorial assigned “collective” responsibility for “this deep mistrust and apathy” to the four major parties and concluded “Using the vote … is probably the sensible option. Probably” (‘Disappointment and apathy colour election day’, 1 May). For Dundee’s Courier & Advertiser the responsibility for apathy could be placed squarely at the doors of the politicians: “The propensity for making promises they cannot keep has rebounded on politicians of all parties. The short answer is to declare “a plague on all your houses” and steer clear. Though understandable, that reaction is inadequate today”. (‘Votes are for casting’, 1 May)

Edinburgh’s Evening News editorialised on the eve of poll that abstention was “not a political statement, it is a cop out” and warned that “If you do not [vote], you cannot complain if the direction the country or the city take is not the one you would have preferred” [‘Put up or shut up’, 30 April]. For Aberdeen’s Evening Express, while not emphasising apathy in its eve of poll coverage did note that “voters stay away at their peril. The only way to reject a party is to choose its replacement” (‘Crunch time for NE’, 30 April). The paper’s editorial, on the other hand, urged its readers: “Don’t underestimate the importance of voting in tomorrow’s national and local elections. The result will have a very real influence on everything from your job to your child’s education” (‘Use your vote’, 30 April)

In the local titles examined the Wishaw Press carried a message from Scots actor/comedian Andy Cameron which set out “why you should make your vote count” (‘Voting matters’, 30 April), whilst the Oban Times editorialised that whatever the concerns were over the political system “Voter apathy is not the answer” (‘Use your vote’, 1 May). For the Southern Reporter, the elections had “something of ‘Hobson’s choice’ about it”, with both the Holyrood and local campaigns “lacklustre to say the least”. However there were “a whole host of compelling reasons to vote” and: “While we might not be spoiled for choice when it comes to casting our vote … we owe it to future generations to make our mark now” (‘A duty we all owe to future generations’, 24 April). The Inverness Courier editorialised on the need to protect journalistic “balance” and defended certain decisions not to print letters “at the behest” of candidates. But whilst it refused to try to influence voters' decisions “we would, however, urge them to use their votes …” (‘Ruffling feathers’, 29 April). The Berwickshire News devoted much of its front page to an exhortation to vote (‘The choice is yours: Vote today', 1 May) whilst in its editorial the paper commented “Not to vote may sound like an attractive alternative, but it is the duty of us all to take part…” (‘Comment’, 01 May)

Broadcast Media

Voter apathy frequently featured in radio and television election coverage. BBC1' s Reporting Scotland highlighted the theme no less than six times (15, 24, 26, 28, 29, 30 April), picking up in most cases on polls which indicated the possibility of an extremely low turnout. Leading up to polling day, on 26 April, fears of a low turnout were aired and a "mood of apathy in the streets" made out. Two days later, Tony Blair's visit to Dundee was covered, where he warned that a low turnout could hand the SNP "victory by default".

Newsnight Scotland devoted two major slots to the theme, on 24 and 30 April. The first took Bill Miller's thesis, expounded in the Times, that a low turnout is not necessarily a negative thing as its focal point, and featured an interview with Andy O’Neill of the Electoral Commission (who emphasised the "civic responsibility" of voters and the importance of the Scottish Parliament with its considerable spending powers). In the studio, Patricia Ferguson (Lab), Nicola Sturgeon (SNP) and Annabel Goldie (Con) were discussing the matter. Ferguson blamed low interest on the fact that voters were "not aware of the achievements of the Parliament"; Sturgeon saw the Labour-led Executive's "failure to deliver" as the main reason for voter turn-off; while Goldie stated that voters were "fed up" with the same message from all the other parties except the Conservatives.

Were the politicians to blame, or was it the fault of the media, if apathy ruled the day, was the take on 30 April. Spokespersons of the main contending parties were asked to give their verdict. The SNP criticised an "obvious shortage of resources", particularly for some broadcast media, and the resulting "lack of coverage", especially of campaign details which were geographically off-centre, citing the Highlands. The Conservatives accused the BBC of being "duped by the Labour Party" into the highlighting of apathy, "instead of allowing political issuers to be exposed". Labour 'apologised' for having stuck to the discussion of public policies: "sorry, if the journalists find that boring." The Lib Dems, on the other hand, were "pleasantly surprised" that political issues were actually engaged with by the media during the campaign. The Greens expressed their wish for a "level playing field", but were confident that the election result would provide them with exactly that for the future. The SSP questioned the role of party political broadcasts as they excluded non-terrestrial TV ("Who watches the terrestrial channels these days?", Colin Fox asked). Generally, party political broadcasts were a stale and dated concept: "There's no life in the thing." In the studio, Philip Schlesinger of Stirling University, Iain Macwhirter (BBC2 and Sunday Herald) and George Kerevan (Scotsman) debated the issue. Schlesinger showed surprise that the Iraq war was not mentioned as it had made the Scottish election campaign "subordinate"; Macwhirter blamed the parties' centrist tendencies, all competing for the same clientele, with more nurses, more teachers, more policemen on the beat; in light of all this, the media coverage had been "good" and "responsible". Kerevan blamed the politicians, their limited experience and timidity. He also lambasted the "synchronisation" of the local and Scottish Parliament elections, a move which had totally eclipsed the local elections from the public view.

Scottish Economy

The question of the sluggish Scottish economy, its performance compared to south of the Border and in comparison with other small – and independent – countries was mainly discussed in the context of the SNP's argument for economic/financial/fiscal independence/autonomy: does the Scottish Parliament need additional powers to lower business rates in order to be more competitive in attracting inward investment and making Scottish products more competitive in a tight market?

Broadsheets

Week 1 (13 April – 19 April) The Sunday Times (13 April) reported that, according to a poll, a majority of Scots "want Scotland to levy own taxes". Murray Ritchie asked in the Herald (14 April) why the tax- varying power of the Scottish Parliament is not being used – more, that no party proposes to use it in the next Parliament ('Mystery of the Tartan Tax: why do the parties simply dismiss it?'). He also reported on the poll which had found that 70% of Scots "back more fiscal powers at Holyrood" (14 April). Alex Bell in an opinion piece, again in the Herald, urged his readers to "let's stop pretending: think big, think fiscal autonomy."

And Alf Young, the business editor of the Herald, analysed – still in the same issue – the changes in the SNP's business policies towards a more business-friendly programme ('Nationalist thinking moves on as party courts business world'). The Scotsman devoted its Monday 'campaign focus' on Banff and Buchan and the fisheries crisis

On Tuesday, the Herald highlighted Lib Dem policies to "breathe life" into the economy; the Lib Dems' "plan for a blue chip economy" also made it into the Scotsman whose front page announced that Scotland was heading for a recession. The SNP's renewed attack on London control over the Scottish economy was reported in the Scotsman of 16 April. The next day, it contained a piece on business leaders in Scotland calling for "fiscal autonomy", arguing in its leader comment the "case for greater fiscal powers at Holyrood". The Daily Telegraph (17 April) commented on the Tories' low-tax policies which avoided "the big issue" of tax autonomy.

The visit of Gordon Brown was widely reported and commented upon. His London solutions were seen as not fully fitting for a Scotland which was economically lagging behind England. The Times saw the Chancellor stepping into an "economic minefield" (17 April), the Scotsman saw Brown "accused of rehashing 'new jobs' plan" (also carried in the Times on 18 April) and, in a leader comment, called the Chancellor's answers not the "full answer" for Scotland (17 April).

Week 2 (20 April – 26 April) The Scotsman opened the second week with gloomy predictions of "meltdown" in the Scottish economy (21 April), following this with the disclosure on Tuesday that the Scottish Executive had the highest executive spending in the world. The Herald focused on Gordon Brown who promised the "high road to growth" (22 April) and "rounded up" on the SNP's fiscal plans (23 April). The Daily Telegraph chimed in, reporting on 23 April how Brown called the SNP plans "ludicrous". "Fraud and deception" was in Brown's view, as reported in the same day's Scotsman and in the Times, "at the heart of the SNP plans: the SNP, was "hiding its true intent behind the fiscal debate."

In his opinion piece in the Herald of 23 April, Iain Macwhirter tried to disentangle the issue from the polemic by pointing out that fiscal autonomy and increased powers for the Scottish Parliament did not necessarily mean a step towards "independence", citing other examples in Europe ('Lessons Scots politicians will have to learn the hard way').

Week 3 (27 April – 1 May) Alf Young tried to reassure Scots that the economic end was not nigh. "We're not heading for the grave yet" (Sunday Herald, 27 April). In the last week, experts again were cited as backing fiscal autonomy ('Father of Euro backs Scottish tax powers', Sunday Times, 27 April; 'US economist says deficit would not cripple Scotland', Herald, 29 April), while Angus Macleod in the Times saw "Scots business gloom deepen" (29 April).

Tabloids

Week 1 (13 April – 19 April) The Daily Record set the tone for its economic argument early in the campaign with extensive coverage of Gordon Brown’s visit. The paper reported a “jobs bonanza” for Scotland under Brown’s chancellorship and devoted 24 column inches to the economic prospects under Labour (’50,000 Scots jobs bonanza’; ’50,000 jobs boost’; ‘Map of hope’; ‘Yard giants sign up 112 to follow in Colin’s footsteps’, 16 April). A similar amount of space was taken up over the next two days noting Brown’s proposals for developing high-technology industries (‘I’ll take the high-tec road’, 17 April) and using work schemes to reform young criminals (‘Jobs crimebuster’ 18 April). The paper editorialised that Brown had introduced “a new vigour” into the election campaign, and argued that the economic prospects underlined the importance of Scotland’s continued place in the UK, and the danger of SNP policies – “We’d be daft to break that link” (‘Doubly good’, 18 April).

The Mail produced around a quarter of its economics coverage on a single day, putting Brown’s claims under rather more critical scrutiny (‘Has Brown got his sums right?’, 17 April).

Week 2 (20 April – 26 April) The Record continued its coverage by recording Brown’s attack on the Nationalist’s fiscal policies (‘We’ll all be clobbered by SNP cuts’, 22 April), a theme also taken up by the Sun (‘It doesn’t add up: Chancellor blasts Nat sums’ 22 April). The only other article of any note was the Record’s recording of John Reid’s warning of “P45s” in shipbuilding under an SNP government (‘Reid fears for the Clyde if Nats triumph’, 25 April)

Week 3 (27 April – 1 May) As the final week dawned, the Sunday Mail reported Gordon Brown’s warning, on their front page, of the impact of SNP economic policy, comparing John Swinney to Margaret Thatcher (‘Thatcher mark II’, 27 April). This was a theme continued in the Record with very substantial reports (19 and 17 inches respectively) on Gordon Brown’s claims as to the ‘threat’ of the SNP to the economy on consecutive days. A front page headline warned ‘SNP to scrap 30,000 jobs’ in the defence industry (28 April), a message the paper repeated inside (‘Nats axe 30,000 jobs’, 28 April), along with an editorial plea to ‘Save your own job’ (28 April) by voting Labour. The following day the record reported Brown’s warnings of the effects of SNP policies on Scotland’s pensioners, in particular on the advances Brown claimed had been made under Labour (‘Pensions: So much at stake’; ‘Without doubt, our life has improved’, 29 April).

On the eve of poll the Record offered twin election editorials, both of which partially focused on economic issues. There were’120 Reasons to vote Labour’ (30 April), a statement illustrated with photographs of 120 schools built or refurbished since 1999 (‘Lessons to us all’, 30 April), followed by ‘5bn reasons NOT to vote SNP’ (30 April), which argued that, under a Nationalist administration, the Scottish “economy would be a complete shambles” and repeated the claim that “30,000 defence jobs would face axe”. The Record, then, finished its economic argument as it had begun it: Scotland had prospered within Britain under Labour (or, more accurately given the coverage, under Gordon Brown) and that it would be economically ‘daft’ to vote SNP or advocate independence.

Over the period of analysis, the Record gave over 91 column inches to Gordon Brown’s economic attacks on the Nationalists, constituting about 80% of its entire economic coverage (and about 16% of its election coverage overall).

Broadcast Media

Why is Scotland lagging behind in economic growth? This was one focus of Reporting Scotland on 14 April. Would Tommy Sheridan’s socialist planning or Robin Harper’s green self-sufficiency promote or prevent growth and employment in Scotland? On 16 April, the programme featured Gordon Brown's campaign in Scotland and his claim that "we are closer than ever to full employment".

The same theme was discussed on Newsnight Scotland, again using Gordon Brown's visit as the peg to hang the debate on. Andrew Wilson (SNP) argued for fiscal autonomy and independence as prerequisites for the "release of the Scottish potential", while Andy Kerr tried to focus on the positive message of Gordon Brown – low inflation, low unemployment, despite world-wide economic crisis. In an earlier programme (14 April), Newsnight Scotland had focused on the fisheries crisis, where Fergus Ewing (SNP) had made the point that Scotland needed direct power, seized from Brussels, to determine the future of Scotland's fishing communities, while Ross Finnie (Lib Dems) had defended the executive's stance and warned against withdrawal from a common European fisheries policy.

Holyrood Building

Broadsheets

Week 1 (13 April – 19 April) The Holyrood building complex, once commenced with a price tag of £40 million attached to it, had soared to £337 million by the time of the 2003 election campaign. For David Black, self-appointed architecture consultant and author of a critical book on the project, the building has become "Scotland's Tragedy" and could, he wrote in Scotland on Sunday (13 April) "yet be the undoing of Labour." Ian Bell, by contrast, asked in the Sunday Herald: "£400 m? Is that all?".

The Herald made John Swinney's pledge that the SNP would cap the costs of the parliament building at £338 million front-page news (16 April).

Week 2 (20 April – 26 April) Jack McConnell's decision to hold a public inquiry into the Holyrood project made the front pages in the Scotland on Sunday and the Observer, and was also reported in the Sunday Herald and the Sunday Times

The Guardian carried the story on the Monday (21 April), as did the Scotsman, while Robbie Dinwoodie in the Herald warned that the inquiry pledge could "backfire" for Labour. David Black, again in the Scotsman (21 April), insisted that "London must take the blame" for the rising costs of the project. The Scotsman followed that up on Tuesday (22 April) with a piece arguing that Westminster "should pay the Holyrood bill".

Finance Minister Andy Kerr caused a bit of a stir when he defended the Holyrood project, calling the nigh-£400m bill for it "a drop in the ocean".

Week 3 (27 April – 1 May) The Sunday Telegraph, in its one piece during the campaign on the Scottish elections (27 April) devoted 13 inches to the Scots "rebelling" over "the price of their new Parliament."

Tabloids

Week 1 (13 April – 19 April) In her Sunday Post column, Lothians-list independent candidate Margo MacDonald outlined the circumstances of her publicising a leaked Auditor-General report into Holyrood costs, and refuted criticism that she was “crying over spilled milk” and indulging in “mere gesture politics”: “Gestures have their place in politics. Unhappily, … on the new Parliament building, the only gesture by MSPs observed by voters has been of the two-fingered variety” (‘Parliament’s spilled milk will end up causing stink’, 13 April)

Lorraine Davidson’s column in the Sunday Mirror praises the ‘maverick’ Margo MacDonald for uncovering the Auditor-General report “that told us what we have all suspected for so long …” (‘The debt we owe to Margo’, 13 April)

The Mail reported John Swinney’s pledge “to cap the soaring cost of the Holyrood project and hold a full public enquiry into the fiasco” (‘SNP Holyrood vow’, April 16).

Week 2 (20 April – 26 April) The Sunday titles widely reported Jack McConnell’s decision to hold an independent inquiry into Holyrood costs, revealed in a letter to Margo MacDonald. For the Mail on Sunday, McConnell’s “u-turn” was “controversial” as it fell short of a full public enquiry (‘U-turn McConnell pledges probe into cost of Holyrood’, April 20). For the News of the World, much of the credit for the probe fell to Margo MacDonald; it quoted her celebrating the news on her birthday: “This is the best present I could have had” (‘Jack’s Parly probe’, April 20), whilst the Sunday Mail quoted McConnell as sharing “the sense of anger in Scotland” that the spiralling costs had “marred” the parliament (‘Jack: I want Parly probe’, April 20). For the Sunday Post the inquiry pledge was front page news, quoting the main party leaders as well as MacDonald. For the Conservative leader David McLetchie, McConnell’s decision and the upcoming election was “a remarkable coincidence” (‘Jack’s vow over cost of parliament’, April 20).

The final tabloid interest in the issue of costs was restricted to the Mail, who reported what it saw as a tardy and irresponsible semi-apology from Finance Minister Andy Kerr (‘£338m? It’s just a drop in the ocean’, 24 April). The Mail editorialised sharply that “it is amazing how painless spending money can be when it belongs to other people – in this instance the taxpayers of Scotland” (‘A poor apology for an apology’, 24 April)

Week 3 (27 April – 1 May) There was no coverage on the Holyrood building project in the tabloids in the last week of the election campaign.

Broadcast Media

On 19 April, BBC1 reported on Jack McConnell's promise of a full investigation into the cost of the Holyrood building – just in time for Margo MacDonald’s 60th birthday.

Crime

Broadsheets

Week 1 (13 April – 19 April) Youth crime, disorderly and anti-social behaviour, the way to deal with these phenomena – in order to protect victims and to counter a "culture of violence" – played a considerable role in the election campaign. Jack McConnell made it one of the central planks of his campaign, controversially suggesting penalisation of parents if all other measures would fail. Whether this was workable, was debated from the start of the campaign. On Sunday, 13 April, the Sunday Times raised doubts about McConnell's "war on disorder". The same issue, from a Lib Dem perspective, was picked up in the Daily Telegraph (14 April), pointing out the "rift" in the coalition over the approach to crime.

The Herald started reporting Jim Wallace's "war" on Labour's crime stance on 18 April. A day later, the Scotsman announced the launch of the Labour policy focusing on "youth anti-crime schemes". On the same day, the Times picked up on the Lib Dems' "clash with Labour on young offenders".

Week 2 (20 April – 26 April) The debate continued in week 2, when the Scotsman again highlighted McConnell's "crime offensive" (22 April). It followed that on 23 April with a report on Labour's plan to "curb" the "teenage use of air-guns". T he Daily Telegraph (24 April) reported how pensioners challenged the First Minister on crime. And the Herald stepped up its theme of "war" between Wallace and McConnell on its 24 April front page. The Scotsman concurred by speculating that "McConnell's tough line on crime could mean end of coalition" (24 April). In the same issue, Dan McDougall revealed critics from within the police accusing "Labour of failing to tackle problem." Could, the Herald asked (26 April), parents really be jailed for the misdemeanours of their children?

Week 3 (27 April – 1 May) In a fairly long piece (28'') in the Sunday Herald (27 April), Tom Shields shed light on the background of McConnell's "war on crime". The theme was given further prominence by the release of crime figures which were seen by Scotland on Sunday (27 April) as a "blow for McConnell".

Tabloids

Week 1 (13 April – 19 April) The Sunday Express reported on friction between Labour and Nationalist over crime as “a row broke out over who would put more bobbies on the beat” (‘The SNP and Labour battle over bobbies’, 13 April). The Daily Mail argued that “a gaping split” had been opened between Liberal Democrat and Labour as Jim Wallace vowed that “he would block Labour plans to jail parents of persistent offenders” (‘Wallace vows to block Labour crime plan’, 15 April).

Week 2 (20 April – 26 April) Crime made more impact in the tabloid coverage during the second week. The Record reported Labour’s plans for “community reparation orders” (‘Jack’s yob war’, 22 April), and welcomed in an editorial Labour’s crime focus (‘Labour act on real issues’, 22 April). The Mail, however, reported complaints over Executive plans by the Scottish Police Federation (‘Police chiefs in bitter attack on Labour policy’, 24 April). Many newspapers covered McConnell’s fraught meeting with disgruntled pensioners in a Lochee shopping centre (Record: ‘OAPs put Jack on the rack’; Sun ‘Rattled jack gets a granny bashing’; Courier: ‘McConnell walks into OAP ambush’, 24 April).

The Mail editorialised on the Liberal Democrats' crime policies, questioning whether their opposition to Labour’s proposals would prevent a coalition deal after the election, concluding that “only believers in the tooth fairy will endorse that scenario” (‘Lib Dems have a criminal nerve’, 25 April)

Week 3 (27 April – 1 May) The Mail reported that by his opposition to Labour’s crime policies, Justice Minister Jim Wallace had effectively ruled himself out of that post in a post-election Cabinet (‘Wallace falls on sword of justice’, 28 April)

Broadcast Media

In BBC 1 surveys, street crime was among the voters’ top concerns, especially youth crime and anti-social behaviour. This issue was discussed on several occasions (17 April, 22 April, 23 April, 28 April). On 17 April, the "row" between the Lib Dems and Labour on youth crime and the eventual punishment of parents was the focus. On 22 April, the emphasis in Reporting Scotland was again on tackling youth crime and yob culture featured prominently again. More bobbies on the beat appeared to be the top priority in the BBC poll 'Streets of fear?' Anti-social and threatening behaviour of young people seemed a rising threat. While recorded crime decreased, vandalism and drug crime increased. One reason offered was that youngsters were bored. More bobbies on the beat would give the police the opportunity of being part of the community. People, so the tenor of the report, were sick of "neds" ruining their life. Brian Taylor analysed that this issue was driven by popular opinion and that all politicians were trying to pick it up. The following evening, the topic resurfaced: people want action on youth crime, community wardens, an increase in the number of community policemen. And all parties were promising more police.

Independence

Broadsheets

Week 1 (13 April – 19 April) The opening salvo in the broadsheets during the period under investigation came on 15 April, when the Scotsman carried a piece on "scare stories", i.e. the Labour party reviving its campaign against the "horror" of independence, and the Guardian reported the same issue, with a different slant, as Labour accusing the SNP "of deceiving voters about independence", referring to the change in SNP policy: a vote for the SNP would no longer be a plebiscite for independence, but only trigger a referendum in three years' time.

The reportage on Tony Blair's visit to Scotland was very much focused on his warnings that a low turnout could "mean the end of Britain," (Daily Telegraph, Guardian, Herald, 16 April). Towards the weekend, the row over the terms and legitimacy of the SNP's proposed referendum erupted. The Scotsman (18 April) reported civil service doubts in Westminster over the referendum proposal which, as the same paper stated the following day, was refuted by the SNP, Nicola Sturgeon accusing Labour of "misleading voters" on the referendum issue.

Week 2 (20 April – 26 April) The Sunday Times (20 April) focused on SNP leader John Swinney who pledged that the change of SNP policy did not mean a toning down of the party's independence stance ('Honest John's independence is not for sale'). The Sunday Herald opened on the front page with Labour's attempt to "block" the SNP's referendum plan. By Monday, the referendum issue hat become pretty confused, as reported in the Daily Telegraph ('Labour disarray over a "free" Scotland', 21 April), as Scottish Labour politicians assured that there would be no legal or bureaucratic block against a referendum if the voters decided that way, while the Scotsman still ran with "SNP fury at bid to block referendum" (21 April) and, in the same issue, questioned the "ulterior motives" of Labour in its leader comment. By 22 April, the Scotsman, too, reported a civil service "breach of rules" on the referendum question, while Alex Salmond, also in the Scotsman, fired a last broadside at Labour ('Labour blunders into dangerous ground on a Scots referendum', 22 April). On Wednesday, the Scotsman had Alex Salmond claim victory in the referendum dispute, although The Times, on 26 April, reported a set-back for the SNP as it suggested the Electoral Commission had declined to play the role devised by the SNP for the planned referendum ('Watchdog delivers referendum blow to SNP').

Week 3 (27 April – 1 May) The last week of the campaign brought good tidings for the SNP, as a respected Nobel prizewinner came out in favour of independence, which made the front page in the Herald (28 April) and received coverage in the same day's Scotsman and Times. The Times (30 April) also reported the result of the Hansard Society's school election under the heading "Pupils vote for SNP in mock poll".

All in all, the broadsheets devoted 261'' to the independence issue, as compared to 179'' in the tabloids.

Tabloids

Week 1 (13 April – 19 April) Blair arrived in Glasgow, the Record reported, to “launch a blistering attack on the SNP”, and to present the electorate with a choice between “devolution and divorce, investment and cuts, stability and security and instability and isolation” (‘PM tells SNP: You are out of step’, 15 April). The Mail’s report on Blair’s visit claimed that he would warn of “tax rises and cuts to the public services under the nationalists to pay for a hugely expensive divorce” (‘Blair’s sights set on Nationalists’, 15 April). The Daily Express reported Jack McConnell’s attack on the SNP, both in a news report, (‘McConnell warns of a costly split’, 15 April), and in an editorial which warned that “primarily, the SNP is about the break-up of the United Kingdom” (‘Sheer folly of the SNP’, 15 April).

In the Sun, Jim Sillars devoted his column to a stinging attack on John Swinney’s promised independence referendum, insisting that constitutional affairs remain a matter reserved to Westminster and that Swinney should have known that (‘Is Swinney a liar or just plain daft?’, 15 April). The following day the Sun allowed the SNP’s Campaign Co- ordinator the right to reply, Nicola Sturgeon deriding Sillars as “a weary willie” offering “exactly the kind of negativity that has resulted in Scotland being mismanaged from London all these years” (‘Put it to a vote, Jim’, 16 April).

The Sun also carried a lengthy report on Blair’s “wake-up call to Labour Party activists”, the Prime Minister claiming that the SNP sought “the end of Britain as we know it” and “an escalator to separation” and “divorce” (‘Blair: this is your wake-up call Scotland’, April 16). The Record carried much the same story, noting that the “stark choices” for the Scottish electorate would be ill-served by a poor turnout (‘PM’s shock warning for voters”, April 16), whilst the Mail emphasised Blair’s accusation that the policy of independence was founded upon “protest, grudge and manufactured grievance” (‘Scotland’s future is at stake’, April 16).

The Mirror, however, was less sympathetic to Blair, claiming that his attack on the SNP and their “dishonest politics” over independence had “backfired” (‘Blair blitz on SNP backfires’, ‘Tony takes aim at Swinney’s big secret’, April 16). The paper argued that Blair’s claim that Swinney deliberately “fails to talk about independence is just plain wrong”, arguing that Swinney had repeatedly emphasised the independence policy (‘…er, it’s so hush-hush he keeps talking about it’, April 16).

The Sun reported the Lord Advocate’s view that the referendum plan would be “illegal”, revealed in a letter to Tommy Sheridan after the problem was “revealed” in the Sun’s Jim Sillars column (‘Stop indy name of the law”, April 18)

Week 2 (20 April – 26 April) The independence referendum row re-emerged at the beginning of the second week. The Record reported that a Scotland Office official had commented that the Scottish parliament could only act within its defined powers, provoking a “furious attack” on Labour by John Swinney and the claim by McConnell that until the SNP had made clear the terms of any referendum “it is impossible to pass judgement on its legality” (‘SNP slam threat to block home rule vote’, April 21). For the Sun, McConnell’s remarks “plunged the … debate into confusion” (‘McConnell muddle on indy vote’, April 21). The SNP picked up on the potential for confusion in the following day’s Record, urging Labour to “come clean” over any veto plans (‘SNP vow on referendum’, April 22). In its editorial, however, the Record described the SNP’s “hypothetical row” over a referendum as “only of interest to party nerds and political anoraks” (‘Labour act on real issues’, April 22). In the Sun, Jim Sillars returned to the attack accusing the SNP of offering “a load of old flannel” and criticising Swinney’s “chicanery, or stupidity” (‘Party law will stop a vote to break free’, April 22).

Week 3 (27 April – 1 May) The next tabloid reference to the referendum came in Alex Salmond’s News of the World column where he argued that whilst “Labour in London” had said they would veto any referendum, “Labour in SCOTLAND were forced to climb down”. This, to Salmond, proved that Labour regarded Scotland “as a fiefdom” – and that voting SNP was the best way to put them straight (‘Mark your St Andrew’s cross’, 27 April). The next day the Mail reported that the First Minister had “admitted” during a televised debate that there was “no legal obstacle to an SNP referendum on independence” (‘No veto on independence poll', 28 April). Elsewhere in the Mail, Peter MacMahon, in a lengthy attack on the Nationalists, warned voters to “forget the soggy consensus … the constitution is at stake” (‘Beware the tight-lipped Nationalists’, 28 April).

Note: The Scottish regional and local titles concentrated largely on local constituency competitions and were less analytical than the nationals – generally speaking, they took the same approach to the Scottish Parliament elections as they did to the council elections: they gave over lots of space to local candidates and their pledges.

Broadcast Media

The Blair visit on 15 April was the trigger for the first Reporting Scotland engagement with the independence issue. In greater depth, the programme dealt with the controversy around the SNP proposal of a referendum. Who, it asked, decides Scotland’s future? On 21 April it reported that Labour in Scotland would not stop an independence referendum, despite the leaked Whitehall civil service opinion which called in question the legitimacy of the Scottish Parliament in calling such a referendum. John Swinney confirmed that he would "in no way" let Westminster block a Scots vote in a referendum should the SNP win the election. Brian Taylor explained that there was already a triple block on independence: 1) SNP needed to win, 2) they needed to convince other MSPs to hold a referendum, and 3) a majority of Scots would need to vote for it in referendum.

The Independence/Referendum issue was featured on the 28 April Newsnight Scotland programme, with reference to the leaders' debate on the previous evening. Peter Lynch and Brian Taylor went into the technicalities and the politics of referenda, referring to Canada's Clarity Act which specified the terms for Quebecois referenda. Brian Taylor contended that a Referendum (binding for a Parliament/Government) might be outwith the remit of the Scottish Parliament, as constitutional matters are reserved to Westminster, but there would be no problem, as far as he could see, with a consultative plebiscite.

Internet Coverage

A number of websites were monitored for coverage of Scottish news stories. These varied between websites of ‘traditional’ news media organisations as well as the dedicated Internet news provider, Ananova.

Websites monitored:

Ananova Internet news service www.ananova.com BBC Broadcast media provider www.bbc.co.uk Evening Times Newspaper website www.eveningtimes.co.uk icscotland Local Newspapers website http://icscotland.icnetwork.co.uk/ Caithness Courier Newspaper website www.caithness-courier.co.uk/ John o’Groat Journal Newspaper website www.johnogroat-journal.co.uk/ East Lothian Courier Newspaper website www.eastlothiancourier.com/ Falkirk Herald Newspaper website www.falkirktoday.co.uk/news.asp Forfar Dispatch Newspaper website www.forfardispatch.com/ Fife Free Press Group Local Newspapers website www.fifenow.co.uk Greenock Telegraph Newspaper website www.greenocktelegraph.co.uk/ Ross-shire Journal Newspaper website www.rsjournal.co.uk/ Shetland Times Newspaper website www.shetlandtoday.co.uk West Highland Free Press Newspaper website www.whfp.com

Whilst all of the websites associated with the more traditional media offered sustained and frequent coverage of the Scottish elections (in many cases offering online versions of stories in print) it was notable that the single dedicated internet news service, Ananova, had very little. Indeed, Ananova offered only one Scottish election story in the period analysed, with a 250-word story on an SSP demonstration in the Highlands (‘Land access protest at al Fayed home’, 27 April). As a source for Scottish election news, therefore, the internet offers an alternative means to access traditional media sources rather than a radically ‘new’ forum for news.

The Political Parties' Verdict

Spokespersons of the six parties represented in the old Parliament (Lab, Lib Dem, SNP, Con, Green, SSP) were asked to give their verdict on the media coverage on Newsnight Scotland on the eve of polling day (see above). The Institute of Governance organised a conference on 15 May where the campaign managers of the same six parties reflected on their campaign and the media coverage.

While it was interesting that the SSP in particular was highly critical during election night, things had considerably relaxed by mid-May, and when we wrote to all election managers to get a further, more explicit statement, only the SSP and the Greens bothered to respond.

During election night, Tommy Sheridan had made sweeping accusations: The SSP was "ignored by large sections of the media." And if not ignored, then "ridiculed and scoffed at by the press." "We've been excluded by the media," SSP spokesman Alan McCombes maintained: more, the Daily Record had "censored" the SSP. In his statement at the 15 May Conference, Hugh Kerr, the SSP's press officer, was still levelling a few pot shots in the direction of the media, but in a more differentiated manner. Only "on three occasions" had the BBC mentioned the SSP, otherwise the party had been "widely ignored by much of the press," the Scotsman and Scotland on Sunday had deployed their "polemical rants against all parties," the Herald and the Sunday Herald had "tried to be fair", the Scottish Mirror had even urged voters "to vote SSP with their second vote, while the Daily Record had done "its utmost to campaign against the SSP." He praised the high profile Tommy Sheridan had, aided by the media, and saw the media influence on the electorate as relative. More important was the work of the SSP over four years. A statement we were sent subsequently,2 did not mention media coverage at all. What it mentions is that the SSP should "call on the Electoral Commission to mount a higher profile campaign prior to the next Scottish elections" on the "use and significance" of the second vote.

Patricia Ferguson emphasised in her contribution to the Conference that the Labour Party had "concentrated on local media rather than the daily HQ press conferences," which tied in with what she called "Jack (McConnell)'s epic journey around Scotland."

Nick Bibby of the Greens responded to our request by saying that his party was "fairly happy with the broadcast media coverage". Sure, they would have liked to be "level" with the established parties, but then they were aware of having only one MSP at the time. There was less satisfaction with the Evening News and the Scotsman, which did not reflect the fact that the opinion polls consistently predicted at least 4 MSPs for the Greens, but rather suggested the Greens might be "wiped out" at the elections. The Evening Times, after an inauspicious start where it ignored the Greens for the first two weeks or so of the campaign made up ground by increased coverage on the Greens in the

2 Allan Green, 'After the May Uprising - Part One: An Analysis of the 2003 Election Results for the SSP' latter weeks of the campaign. As expected, the Scottish Green Party found it difficult to establish a presence in the Courier and the Press & Journal. In respect to the tabloids, Bibby said the Greens were "pleased and surprised" that they featured at all, even if often in a negative way.

Conclusions

In conclusion, we can say that the election often struggled to make news headlines, both because of competing themes and because of a campaign which was perceived as "lacklustre" and "sluggish". The media clearly 'covered it', although often critical (negative campaigning, how boring it was, how disillusioned voters were, how uninspiring the leaders, etc). The visits of the Westminster leaders – in particular Gordon Brown and Tony Blair – were, particularly by the Scottish tabloids viewed as an enlivening element in an otherwise dull campaign.

A few things were puzzling in the campaign and its coverage. If the main parties really were all offering the same policies and could not excite media or voters, why was there not more emphasis on those parties which offered alternatives. There was little scrutiny of the SSP's policies, for example. And is an argument about lack of choice not resoundingly rebuked by an election result which produces a "rainbow parliament" with a far greater range of political views than, say, Westminster?

The Labour Party accused, on the one hand, the SNP of running the Labour campaigns of 1997 and 1999, but it was the Labour Party which re-ran the whole negative 'divorce' campaign, insisting at the same time that the SNP was hiding its independence credentials. Now, there are critics within and outwith the SNP who are unhappy with the party's strategy of decoupling an SNP victory from an immediate mandate to negotiate independence, but a simple look at the coverage of the SNP campaign will show that independence was frequently mentioned rather than hidden!

The Labour Party and the Labour Government/Scotland Office in London produced one of the more exciting, if fleetingly so, moments of the campaign when the legitimacy of a referendum was questioned in a leaked civil service document. But the Scottish Labour Party quickly fell back in line with Donald Dewar's dictum that no one would deny the Scots their democratic right to vote in a referendum for independence if they wished to do so.

Thus, there were elements of 'negative campaigning' – 'divorce' on the Labour side, and the dying OAP in the SNP party political broadcast and some posters showing McConnell behind bars, but all in all, there was hardly any personal invective. The SNP was complimented on its slick campaign, Jack McConnell, it was attested, had grown in stature (John McTernan, 28 April, Newsnight Scotland), and Tommy Sheridan emerged as the "most charismatic" politician (John Curtice, on the same programme). "Negative campaigning," Curtice contended "works big time", indicating that he perhaps thought there was too little of it. "Politics is a bloodsport", concurred McTernan, but nothing in this campaign had "gone too far."

Tensions in the coalitions certainly did surface, particularly over First Minister Jack McConnell's proposals for the tackling of youth crime (including penalising parents), which Justice Minister and Deputy First Minister Jim Wallace initially rejected as "unworkable". The press tried to stylise this into a "war" between the two coalition partners, yet there seemed never any indication of a real split which could have soured relations and made the continuation of the partnership government after the elections unlikely.

As we have documented, the quantity of coverage was certainly not lacking, especially in respect to the BBC, the Scottish broadsheets and tabloids. Some of the English titles were less excited about the Scottish (and the Welsh) elections. The problem was that, even in the Scottish media, the elections could never fully break through to become the dominant public theme – there was always another 'big topic' to compete with, the war in Iraq, the alleged Galloway affair, and the SARS epidemic. If this made the elections somehow 'subordinate', this is even more the case for the Local Government elections, which became the "Cinderella" elections in Scotland. While the English council elections were featured as a mid-term test for the Westminster parties, the combined force of the 'big topics' and the Scottish Parliament elections drowned out nearly completely any sustained reportage on the local election campaign in Scotland.

As to the question of "Baghdad backlash" vs. "Baghdad bounce" – both may have largely cancelled each other out – although the SSP's and the Greens' support was certainly strengthened by the anti-war mobilisation.

In qualitative terms, while there was plenty of coverage, and plenty of sensible and informative coverage, on the Scottish Parliament election, newspapers and broadcast media made voter apathy and the various explications for it one of the dominant themes throughout the campaign which they often labelled as "boring". Were they 'stirring up apathy'? Making it acceptable as a form of political protest? Why did, in particular, the Scotsman, paint the bogeyman of a dramatically low turnout as early as last November? Was it a double strategy? If the turnout is not all that bad, it was us that mobilised the voters – if it is bad, it corroborates what we'd be warning of, and underlines the disaffection the voters (and "we The Scotsman") have with the Scottish Parliament?

Voter apathy was a dominant theme. In their editorials and leader comments, nearly all the papers and broadcast media encouraged people to vote, "despite" the disappointments with devolution, the Holyrood parliament building and the parties' "dull" campaigns.

Particularly towards polling day, the media focused on the electoral process, the differently coloured voting papers, and the number of votes available. Yet, there were still doubts, especially over the use and impact of the second (list) vote.

Research Team

Dr Michael Rosie is a Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Edinburgh. Between 2000 and 2002 he was a research associate with the Institute of Governance, engaged in the 'Mass Media and National Identity' strand of the Leverhulme Trust-funded Nations and Regions Research Programme. This research involved both quantitative content analysis of newspaper and news broadcast media, and a number of interviews with journalists in Scotland and in London. He also collaborated in the quantitative research undertaken by the Institute on behalf of the Electoral Commission in connection with voter participation in the 1999 elections.

Eberhard Bort, a graduate of Tübingen University, is the Academic Co-ordinator of the Institute of Governance and a Lecturer in Politics at the University of Edinburgh. Recent publications include (ed., with Malcolm Anderson), The Frontiers of Europe (Pinter, 1998), and The Irish Border: History, Politics, Culture (Liverpool University Press, 1999); (ed., with Russell Keat), The Boundaries of Understanding (ISSI, 1999); (ed., with Neil Evans), Networking Europe: Essays on Regionalism and Social Democracy (Liverpool University Press, 2000); with Malcolm Anderson, The Frontiers of the European Union, Basingstoke and London: Palgrave, 2001. He has also edited books on Irish Drama and published articles in learned journals on Irish and Scottish politics, society and culture and on devolution and regionalism in Europe

David McCrone is Professor of Sociology, and director of the University of Edinburgh's Institute of Governance. His recent books include: Understanding Scotland: the sociology of a nation (2001); New Scotland, New Society? (2001), New Scotland: New Politics? (2000); and The Sociology of Nationalism: tomorrow's ancestors (1998). He is currently co-ordinator of the research programme funded by The Leverhulme Trust on Constitutional Change and National Identity (1999-2004). He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. He was a member of the Expert Panel which devised procedures and standing orders for the Scottish Parliament, and is advisor to its Procedures Committee which is reviewing the parliament1s founding principles.

Pille Petersoo is a PhD student in Sociology at the University of Edinburgh and acted as research officer for this project.

APPENDIX 1 - NEWSPAPERS BY COUNCIL AREA 3

ABERDEEN CITY Circulation Readership as % of adults Evening Express 44,756 51.4 Press & Journal 22,139 32.0 Daily Record 10,138 15.6

ANGUS Courier & Advertiser 21,184 63.3 Arbroath Herald 9,306 27.3 Daily Record 6,570 21.7

ARGYLL & BUTE Oban Times 12,481 39.0 Daily Record 9,888 36.5 Campbeltown Courier 7,094 18.9

EAST AYRSHIRE Daily Record 21,934 62.8 Kilmarnock Standard 19,343 51.8 Cumnock Chronicle & Muirkirk Advertiser 7,322 16.5

EDINBURGH CITY Evening News 50,829 38.0 Daily Record 27,105 19.0 Scotsman 23,262 19.6

HIGHLAND Press & Journal 20,901 32.7 Inverness Courier 18,326 25.8 Daily Record 16,503 25.7

NORTH LANARKSHIRE Daily Record 60,341 66.5 Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser 18,773 22.2 Motherwell Times 15,360 14.4 Wishaw Press 10,729 12.7

SCOTTISH BORDERS Southern Reporter 17,791 49.6

3 Source - Joint Industry Committee for Regional Press Research (JICREG), July – December 2002, www.jicreg.co.uk

Daily Record 7,260 22.7 Scotsman 6,473 20.4

APPENDIX 2 – STATISTICAL DATA