10 thoughts on “Another BBC Complaint but with a different ending – READ!”
Alasdair Macdonald.April 30, 2019 / 3:28 pm
Well done!
I suspect that in your concluding paragraph you have predicted what the cynical reply will be. Since official reports such as the one to which you refer usually have a summary of key findings, and, in these, the phrases they use usually have a fairly tightly defined meaning. For example, in education, if the phrase ‘almost all’ is used, it means 95% or more, ‘most’ means greater than 75% and ‘a majority’ means more than 50%.
If BBC Scotland were in any way objective, it would use, verbatim, the terminology actually used, and, could, thereafter comment. By reporting as they did, they are wilfully changing the report to give a false impression and to imply that this is in line with their misreported account of cancer patient drug dosages.
Nomedia has a narrative about health, education, transport and the Police which is repeated endlessly and parroted by the Tories, Labour and the LibDems, often using exactly the same phrases. As the Colonel re-enters the stage, this is her pat spiel, which is either unchallenged by Nomedia or fed to her as a prompt.
PS Did you see that some persistent soul who complained about data which Andrew Neill had used several times in interviews with Alex Salmond and with Nicola Sturgeon (it was mendacious data provided by the Scottish Conservatives)), has finally had the complaint upheld by OfCom. The BBC, at each stage, had just dismissed the complaint, and, eventually, after A COUPLE OF YEARS obtained a ruling from OfCom. Neill, of course, simply sneered, unrepentantly.
“Imagine if a retired professor’s survey was reported as suggesting that ‘most’ of Reporting Scotland’s reports were flawed by lack of reliable evidence and distortion of statistics when he had actually proved that 95% of it was?” – As the late Dick Emery might have put it – ‘John – you are awful – but we LIKE you!’
Colin Clark Tory MP,Quote ,Current estimates suggest there are up to 20 billion barrels of oil and gas yet to be recovered providing two thirds of our primary energy supply by 2035.
This is part of his opinion in the P&J 29/04/2019,sorry being an olde I have not mastered links.I thought that the Tories told us that oil was finished at the time of the referendum.
What do you think they will say the next time.
A wee snippet from Scottish legal site regarding the extortionate PFI legacy prison costs that I doubt will make it onto Reporting Scotland. Link and snippet below:
Scotland’s two privately-run prisons cost the taxpayer a total of £44 million in 2017/18, new figures reveal.
The £30.1 million spend on HMP Addiewell represents a record high, an above-inflation increase from £24.6 million in 2010/11.
Meanwhile, the contract for HMP Kilmarnock cost £13.8 million in 2017/18, broadly in line with previous years.
Commenting on the figures, SNP MSP Fulton MacGregor, a member of Holyrood’s justice committee, criticised the Scottish Executive under Labour and the Liberal Democrats for running up “massive, over the odds bills on their PFI contracts”.
He added: “The public will be paying the price for years to come. The almost £1 billion price tag on Addiewell prison, at 12 times the cost of construction, is eye-watering.”
John’s complaint seems to have temporarily knocked out the Yoon Filters at PQ – beeb Scotland have let through another piece of good news regarding Scottish Govt’s ‘joined up’ public policy framework – this time Higher Education. Link and snippets below:
A growing proportion of university students are arriving straight from Scottish colleges, new figures suggest.
Statistics from the Scottish Funding Council show that 26% of new undergraduates from Scotland have previously attended college.
Colleges play an important role in efforts to widen access to higher education.
Sometimes graduates are able to join the second or third year of a university course.
In total, about 4,000 students who started university courses in Scotland during the current academic year came straight from colleges.
The minister for further and higher education, Richard Lochhead, said: “I am pleased to see more students entering university having gained a qualification at college, with today’s figures showing nearly 2,000 full-time first degree entrants coming from the most deprived areas in 2017-18.
Shona Struthers, chief executive of Colleges Scotland, said: “Colleges have an intrinsic role in widening access and this report confirms that an increase to over 26% of first degree entrants in 2017-18 had obtained a college qualification before enrolling at a university.
“The overall figures show an increase of more than 10% in the past four years in the number of college students moving directly to second or third year at university.
“Colleges also improve life opportunities for people from lower socio-economic backgrounds by significantly contributing to fairer access.”
The Scottish government expects a fifth of new students at each university to come from the most disadvantaged geographical areas of Scotland by 2030.
The report on this on the Scotland section of the BBC News website seems to be more accurate in that it mentions the actual percentages you mentioned above
The differences between old school broadcast bbc and website bbc persist – I noticed yesterday that the website story used the phrases from the report and did not water down the positivity directly.
instead, they did something similar by putting up a story about how, despite all of this success, patients mental well being was not being adequately supported.
There is often a qualitative difference in content on what is reported on the BBC Scotland section of the website and what is reported on air. I think it is called ‘covering their backsides’. They can point to the website to say they reported it fully but claim that time constraints on air mean they have to precis the information. Thus 97% becomes ‘most’.
Also noted the bit about the mental health and support. Standard BBC. There has to be a ‘but’ in any good news story.
If the Scottish Gov cured cancer the headline would be: ‘doctors lose their jobs’
If the Scottish Gov cured cancer the headline would be: ‘doctors lose their jobs’ – lol.
I’ve chosen to date to think the website peeps are younger and less anti.
Probs it’s a bit of both – or just another layer in the deep state, as you say.
Talking-up Scotland 
Well done!
I suspect that in your concluding paragraph you have predicted what the cynical reply will be. Since official reports such as the one to which you refer usually have a summary of key findings, and, in these, the phrases they use usually have a fairly tightly defined meaning. For example, in education, if the phrase ‘almost all’ is used, it means 95% or more, ‘most’ means greater than 75% and ‘a majority’ means more than 50%.
If BBC Scotland were in any way objective, it would use, verbatim, the terminology actually used, and, could, thereafter comment. By reporting as they did, they are wilfully changing the report to give a false impression and to imply that this is in line with their misreported account of cancer patient drug dosages.
Nomedia has a narrative about health, education, transport and the Police which is repeated endlessly and parroted by the Tories, Labour and the LibDems, often using exactly the same phrases. As the Colonel re-enters the stage, this is her pat spiel, which is either unchallenged by Nomedia or fed to her as a prompt.
PS Did you see that some persistent soul who complained about data which Andrew Neill had used several times in interviews with Alex Salmond and with Nicola Sturgeon (it was mendacious data provided by the Scottish Conservatives)), has finally had the complaint upheld by OfCom. The BBC, at each stage, had just dismissed the complaint, and, eventually, after A COUPLE OF YEARS obtained a ruling from OfCom. Neill, of course, simply sneered, unrepentantly.
LikeLiked by 1 person
“Imagine if a retired professor’s survey was reported as suggesting that ‘most’ of Reporting Scotland’s reports were flawed by lack of reliable evidence and distortion of statistics when he had actually proved that 95% of it was?” – As the late Dick Emery might have put it – ‘John – you are awful – but we LIKE you!’
LikeLiked by 4 people
Well done again John.
Colin Clark Tory MP,Quote ,Current estimates suggest there are up to 20 billion barrels of oil and gas yet to be recovered providing two thirds of our primary energy supply by 2035.
This is part of his opinion in the P&J 29/04/2019,sorry being an olde I have not mastered links.I thought that the Tories told us that oil was finished at the time of the referendum.
What do you think they will say the next time.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Will they decide it’s bad for the environment?
LikeLiked by 1 person
A wee snippet from Scottish legal site regarding the extortionate PFI legacy prison costs that I doubt will make it onto Reporting Scotland. Link and snippet below:
https://www.scottishlegal.com/article/privately-run-prisons-cost-taxpayers-44-million-in-2017-18
Scotland’s two privately-run prisons cost the taxpayer a total of £44 million in 2017/18, new figures reveal.
The £30.1 million spend on HMP Addiewell represents a record high, an above-inflation increase from £24.6 million in 2010/11.
Meanwhile, the contract for HMP Kilmarnock cost £13.8 million in 2017/18, broadly in line with previous years.
Commenting on the figures, SNP MSP Fulton MacGregor, a member of Holyrood’s justice committee, criticised the Scottish Executive under Labour and the Liberal Democrats for running up “massive, over the odds bills on their PFI contracts”.
He added: “The public will be paying the price for years to come. The almost £1 billion price tag on Addiewell prison, at 12 times the cost of construction, is eye-watering.”
LikeLiked by 1 person
John’s complaint seems to have temporarily knocked out the Yoon Filters at PQ – beeb Scotland have let through another piece of good news regarding Scottish Govt’s ‘joined up’ public policy framework – this time Higher Education. Link and snippets below:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-48108497
A growing proportion of university students are arriving straight from Scottish colleges, new figures suggest.
Statistics from the Scottish Funding Council show that 26% of new undergraduates from Scotland have previously attended college.
Colleges play an important role in efforts to widen access to higher education.
Sometimes graduates are able to join the second or third year of a university course.
In total, about 4,000 students who started university courses in Scotland during the current academic year came straight from colleges.
The minister for further and higher education, Richard Lochhead, said: “I am pleased to see more students entering university having gained a qualification at college, with today’s figures showing nearly 2,000 full-time first degree entrants coming from the most deprived areas in 2017-18.
Shona Struthers, chief executive of Colleges Scotland, said: “Colleges have an intrinsic role in widening access and this report confirms that an increase to over 26% of first degree entrants in 2017-18 had obtained a college qualification before enrolling at a university.
“The overall figures show an increase of more than 10% in the past four years in the number of college students moving directly to second or third year at university.
“Colleges also improve life opportunities for people from lower socio-economic backgrounds by significantly contributing to fairer access.”
The Scottish government expects a fifth of new students at each university to come from the most disadvantaged geographical areas of Scotland by 2030.
LikeLiked by 4 people
The report on this on the Scotland section of the BBC News website seems to be more accurate in that it mentions the actual percentages you mentioned above
LikeLike
The differences between old school broadcast bbc and website bbc persist – I noticed yesterday that the website story used the phrases from the report and did not water down the positivity directly.
instead, they did something similar by putting up a story about how, despite all of this success, patients mental well being was not being adequately supported.
LikeLike
There is often a qualitative difference in content on what is reported on the BBC Scotland section of the website and what is reported on air. I think it is called ‘covering their backsides’. They can point to the website to say they reported it fully but claim that time constraints on air mean they have to precis the information. Thus 97% becomes ‘most’.
Also noted the bit about the mental health and support. Standard BBC. There has to be a ‘but’ in any good news story.
If the Scottish Gov cured cancer the headline would be: ‘doctors lose their jobs’
LikeLiked by 1 person
If the Scottish Gov cured cancer the headline would be: ‘doctors lose their jobs’ – lol.
I’ve chosen to date to think the website peeps are younger and less anti.
Probs it’s a bit of both – or just another layer in the deep state, as you say.
LikeLike