IT hasn't been an easy week for viewers of BBC News. From mad speculation to cringe-inducing blunders it's been tough to watch.
Such a historical event rightly requires extensive and respectful coverage but this week Scots were left with a sycophantic media where only one view was heard.
One question the Jouker asked himself as he peeked through his fingers to try and watch the BBC News channel was, had anyone at the BBC ever actually been to Scotland?
Its recent coverage would suggest not.
READ MORE: 'Inflammatory and wrong': BBC presenter laughs at 'cleared the Catholics out' comment
The Queen's death at Balmoral saw many London journalists either travel to Scotland or talk about the country - but some of the remarks left Scots rewinding their TVs to check if they had heard correctly.
From the misleading to the plainly false, the broadcaster’s rolling news coverage has gone from bizarre to simply unwatchable at times.
‘Britain’s royal family is 1000 years old’
Among the BBC's many blunders this week was the claim that Britain’s royal family is 1000 years old.
Anyone with even a slight interest in Scotland’s history (or indeed any country on this island) can tell you this is false. For centuries Scotland had its own royal family separate from that of England until 1603, when the Scottish King James VI took the English throne as well.
To suggest Britain had a singular royal family for 1000 years is not misleading, it is simply false, and deletes Scotland.
Sadly, it's not the first time a UK broadcaster has made this error.
‘Queen was the glue holding together the Union’
Next up (and strap in because there’s a lot to get through) is the claim by the BBC’s North America editor Sarah Smith that the Queen is “part the glue that holds the Union together”.
While political parties had suspended all political activity following the Queen’s death, even before the announcement, the BBC were speculating on what this means for Scotland’s future.
"A crass comment," as one viewer put it.
BBC Sarah Smith acknowledges the Queen was glue holding the UK together and her demise weakens the union #Scotland pic.twitter.com/9APxNBUHHg
— Phantom Power (@PhantomPower14) September 8, 2022
Although, it is nice to see the BBC admit that the Union is weakening which has been known to Yessers and many No voters for quite a while now.
During the same broadcast, Smith said “Scots felt close to the Queen”, and The Jouker is sure many do. But why does the BBC feel the need to make these sweeping claims and speak on behalf of the entire UK.
Less than half of Scots supported the monarchy under Queen Elizabeth, but that view is entirely shut out of the BBC’s coverage.
‘Monarchy is not popular in Scotland – but this crowd makes you wonder’
One questionable take wasn't enough for Smith as she came back with this head-scratcher.
As the coffin cortege passed through Dundee, the journalist remarked: “Polls show support for the monarchy in Scotland is not a big as it is elsewhere in UK, but looking at these crowds here it makes me wonder.”
BBC clearly disappointed at Scottish people’s low-key show of respect for the Queen expected mass applause and a sea of union jacks. pic.twitter.com/Rle9gW2p7a
— Phantom Power (@PhantomPower14) September 11, 2022
You’d think being a senior journalist at the BBC would be enough to know that anecdotes don’t outweigh statistics.
And those statistics are pretty clear. A poll in May found that fewer than half of Scots supported the monarchy.
Only 45% of those north of the Border wanted to keep the royals, and that number has been diving for years.
Back to the drawing board, the Jouker thinks.
‘Energy bills insignificant now’
Here’s BBC News Presenter Clive Myrie saying that the Energy Bills Price Crisis is "of course insignificant now" given the "gravity of the situation" regarding news of the Queen's health. pic.twitter.com/G0fDGmDFf4
— Tom D. Rogers (@TomDRogers1) September 8, 2022
Many viewers are still picking their jaws up off the floor after presenter Clive Myrie suggested the energy crisis was “insignificant now” following health fears for the Queen.
The comment, made shortly before her death, left those watching at home shocked.
It may be insignificant to Myrie but there are warnings people could freeze this winter and as Kevin Bridges said the Queen won’t be the only old person to die this winter.
‘DOWN St Giles?’
Maybe everyone from the BBC who had ever stepped foot in Edinburgh took the day off because the BBC apparently thought the Royal Party would be following the cortege “down” to St Giles?
READ MORE: This is not a period of mourning, it's a time of myth-making
Anyone who has walked from Holyrood to the cathedral can certainly tell you the journey is certainly not downhill – quite the opposite.
‘Holy-rood’
While Scots voted overwhelmingly 25 years ago to establish Holyrood, for most it’s probably not as spiritual a place as it seems to be to the BBC.
One BBC presenter apparently thought it was pronounced “holy-rood”. Let’s hope their pronunciation of "Edinburgh" is better than that.
Considering the BBC has failed to get some of the basics right, it's perhaps too much of the Jouker to ask that it to do justice to Scotland’s long and studied history or its well-known political beliefs.
If you're expecting an end to the madness, don't hold your breath. In the meantime though, Scotland's only pro-independence newspaper will continue to provide accurate and extensive coverage of the most important issues happening in the country.
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