“How the media shafted the people of Scotland”

How the media shafted the people of Scotland
George Monbiot
Tuesday 16 September 2014

Perhaps the most arresting fact about the Scottish referendum is this: that there is no newspaper – local, regional or national, English or Scottish – that supports independence except the Sunday Herald. The Scots who will vote yes have been almost without representation in the media.

There is nothing unusual about this. Change in any direction, except further over the brink of market fundamentalism and planetary destruction, requires the defiance of almost the entire battery of salaried opinion. What distinguishes the independence campaign is that it has continued to prosper despite this assault.

I think this point is very interesting. The Yes campaign hasn’t needed media backing to gain 50% of the potential votes as the polls of the last week has shown.

Please read George Monbiot’s article in full, it is linked above!

In June the BBC’s economics editor, Robert Peston, complained that BBC news “is completely obsessed by the agenda set by newspapers … If we think the Mail and Telegraph will lead with this, we should. It’s part of the culture.” This might help to explain why the BBC has attracted so many complaints of bias in favour of the no campaign.

I have seen many complaints on social media about the bias of the BBC in their coverage of the Independence Referendum. George Monbiot’s point here certainly makes a lot of sense!

Living within their tiny circle of light, most senior journalists seem unable to comprehend a desire for change. If they notice it at all, they perceive it as a mortal threat, comparable perhaps to Hitler. They know as little of the lives of the 64 million inhabiting the outer darkness as they do of the Andaman islanders. Yet, lecturing the poor from under the wisteria, they claim to speak for the nation.

I don’t think it’s just senior journalists that are unable to comprehend the desire for change. I’ve seen many people attacked on social media for backing ‘Yes’. I do think independence is seen as a threat and there is a fear of change.

Despite the rise of social media, the established media continues to define the scope of representative politics in Britain, to shape political demands and to punish and erase those who resist. It is one chamber of the corrupt heart of Britain, pumping fear, misinformation and hatred around the body politic.

That so many Scots, lambasted from all quarters as fools, frauds and ingrates, have refused to be bullied is itself a political triumph. If they vote for independence, they will do so in defiance not only of the Westminster consensus but also of its enforcers: the detached, complacent people who claim to speak on their behalf.

The number of Tweets I’ve seen and the number of posts on the referendum I’ve seen on Facebook has been astonishing on both sides of the debate. I think it’s fantastic that people are so engaged in discussing this topic. I’ve been very passionate about politics for years and it’s nice to finally see other people discussing the future of our country and the government. I have began to move away from the BBC as a source of news and have become far more dependent on news from The Guardian, The Independent and have began to look at news from around the world to see what is being reported away from the bias of the UK media.