ALEX Salmond launched his first major campaign to secure more power for the Scottish Parliament yesterday, unveiling a long-term strategy that he hopes will see control of broadcasting handed over to Holyrood
That "control of broadcasting" sounds positively sinister; if Alex gets his way, will it be 24 Hour, Round The Clock, Bravehearts, Rab C Nesbitts and Scottish World Cup-ping triumphs?
No, (he'd probably struggle to find enough for a 5 minute slot with that last one anyway), he's unhappy with the "marginalisation" of the "creative community in Scotland"; he wants to set up an "independent" commission on Scottish broadcasting. The commission has been asked to come up with a "broadcasting strategy" in Scotland – or basically, to look at whether the Scottish Parliament should be in charge of broadcasting north of the Border.
On a micro-level, I’d wouldn’t like to be in Mr Salmond’s shoes when he tells the Great Scottish Public that instead of this week’s Eastenders, they'll be treated to the semi-finals of the Outer Hebrides Curling Championships; Scottish Tory Ted Brocklebank puts the objections to the plan a bit more eloquently:
"The last thing broadcasting in Scotland needs is a blinkered Braveheart overview. The SNP would be far better off supporting Scottish Conservative policy in seeking to improve the funding and the overall quality of Scottish broadcasting within a UK, European and international context."
4 comments:
I remember when I loved in Scotland they would show all the home nations football matches on a Wednesday night except for Northern Ireland who would get bumped off for snooker from Dumfries or some such. MOTD Scotland is a microstudy of Scottish resentment. 10 minutes of Dumfermline vs. Falkirk followed by 40 minutes of Chick Young talking shite, then a 2 minute round-up of the English goals.
Chewing the Fat was always good though.
That should be lived. :-/ I don't think I'll claim that as a Freudian slip either.
Heh!
I lived and (loved!)in Cumbria for a couple of years and actually got to sample some of the football and general coverage from over the border. At that time it was far more extensive (and better covered) than what we were getting on terrestial back home or even in England.
The local "Border" TV news broadcasts though...dear oh dear, the word "parochial" doesn't do them justice!!
I was down at my girlfriend's parents house in Fermanagh last weekend and for parochial you need to get a read of the Impartial Reporter. It truly read like Craggy Island Times. "Man woke up in doorway and shouted at women" was an actual headline!
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