Talking-up Scotland

In the 27 days since January 4^th, BBC Scotland has reported serious ‘problems’ in NHS Scotland 18 times! STV have only reported 7 times. I’ve dismantled nearly all of the BBC reports elsewhere on this site. Most were inaccurate, distorted or dramatized. Many were fed to the BBC by the Labour or Tory parties. The difference is marked – more than twice as many on BBC. This is clear evidence on the part of BBC Scotland to use (abuse?) NHS Scotland as a weapon with which to attack the SNP government, often on behalf of the other parties, despite the very real (researched- see below) risk of harm to potential patients, patients, relatives and staff, made highly anxious and/or demoralised by this cold-hearted campaign of distortion and lies.

I’ve been keeping a note, for Reporting Scotland and STV since 1^st January 2017. I plan, of course to release a more full report later but I think there’s a place for interim reports so here’s the third. I’ll be comparing BBC and STV evening news broadcasts to use the latter as a kind of benchmark for what is reasonable and not openly anti-independence propaganda. I’m now fairly sure that STV have made a commercial decision not to drive away their many Yes-supporting viewers, in the interests of maintaining their advertising revenue.

I’ve discussed the actual flaws in the reports which make them clearly ‘scare stories’ rather than responsible news reporting, elsewhere on this site at:

https://thoughtcontrolscotland.com/2017/01/11/weaponising-scotlands-health-service-how-bbc-scotland-is-developing-a-new-project-fear-part-1-1st-to-10th-january-2017/

https://thoughtcontrolscotland.com/2017/01/21/15-to-6-weaponising-scotlands-health-service-how-bbc-scotland-is-developing-a-new-project-fear-part-2-1st-to-20th-january-2017/

From the 20^th to the 31^st of January we had a further three, one of which was echoed by STV giving the poor viewers of Reporting Scotland a total of 18 NHS Scotland scare stories in the space of only 27 days. STV only reported 7 in the same period.

The latest reports on BBC Scotland were:

23^rd: Two health boards paid more than £1500 for an agency nurse to cover a single shift. This was provided by a Freedom of Information request form the Conservative Party who branded it ‘a slap in the face to NHS staff nurses.’

24^th: ‘Hospital waiting times slightly improved but still below key targets’

26^th: NHS Grampian says it can’t confirm when new dates will be given to patients for cancelled (sic) operations. The Health Board has postponed more than 100 procedures since the beginning of November.’

STV also covered the more objective story on the 24^th. The other two were presumably not fed to it by opposition party sources or they didn’t think them newsworthy. I’ve dismantled the news value of the other two at:

https://thoughtcontrolscotland.com/2017/01/24/scottish-tories-feed-bbc-reporting-scotland-with-more-distortions-to-mislead-the-public-as-nhs-scotland-under-the-snp-massively-reduces-the-cost-of-agency-nurses-and-nhs-england-under-the-tories-l/

https://thoughtcontrolscotland.com/2017/01/30/were-they-cancelled-operations-or-really-just-postponed-operations-were-there-a-lot-or-not-a-lot-bbc-scotlands-merciless-context-free-campaign-of-words-against-nhs-scotland-and-the-snp-gove/

After a month, the picture is now very clear. BBC Reporting Scotland remain, it seems, desperate to undermine the Scottish Government at every turn using, irresponsibly, NHS Scotland as a weapon.

The possible negative effects on potential patients, patients, relatives and staff, of this strategy, are discussed more fully and referenced with evidence at:

Is BBC Reporting Scotland’s ‘Weaponising’ of NHS Scotland likely to actually increase both physical and mental health problems?

https://thoughtcontrolscotland.com/2017/01/12/is-bbc-reporting-scotlands-weaponising-of-nhs-scotland-likely-to-actually-increase-both-physical-mental-health-problems/