Yesterday, the Lord Ashcroft poll placing Yes at 52% was the biggest story of the day, but the BBC News website didn't cover it. The broadcaster featured polling expert John Curtice talking about it on Good Morning Scotland, and then failed to mention it anywhere else until about 9pm when an article about the First Minister's Edinburgh Fringe appearance was posted.
READ MORE: BBC Scotland under fire over failure to report Ashcroft indy poll
The BBC told us they don't report on individual polls in isolation, and instead wait for patterns to emerge in polling and report on that instead in accordance with their guidelines. A BBC spokesperson said: "The results of this poll were covered in an extensive analysis of polling trends from Professor Sir John Curtice on Good Morning Scotland.
"This is in keeping with our editorial guidelines which advise that the result of an individual poll in isolation should not be published as a headline story."
READ MORE: Scottish independence: Why the BBC should report on poll
We wrote an article providing five reasons why this wasn't a good enough excuse, and one of those points was that the BBC has certainly reported on individual polls before. What we didn't realise at the time was just how many times the BBC has reported on individual polls.
Reddit user u/StevieTV posted about the issue last night, and in response u/bottish compiled a list of 27 times the broadcaster has in fact reported on individual polls in recent times. Some of the surveys have smaller sample sizes than yesterday's Ashcroft study (which questioned 1019 adults) too.
1) Conservatives: Members see Islam as 'threat to British life', poll suggests
2) Identity 2016: 'Global citizenship' rising, poll suggests
3) Attitudes to Brexit and economy quizzed in poll for BBC Wales
4) NI survey suggests 50% neither unionist nor nationalist
5) British Asians more socially conservative than rest of UK, survey suggests
6) Students satisfied with degree courses, poll suggests
7) Brazil election: Voters debate the merits of democracy as far-right candidate leads polls
8) Holyrood 2016: NHS is top priority to voters, BBC poll suggests
9) Euroscepticism on rise in Europe, poll suggests
10) Most women in 2016 happy to be female, BBC poll suggests
11) Brexit 'could create a majority for a united Ireland'
12) Crossing Divides: Has the UK changed its mind on immigration?
13) More UK students consider study abroad, poll suggests
14) Attitudes harden towards refugees from Syria and Libya, BBC poll suggests
15) Holyrood 2016: BBC Scotland poll suggests voters divided on tax
16) General Election 2015: Poll suggests political figures could lose seats to SNP
17) Roads 'too dangerous' for cyclists BBC poll suggests
18) Voters split over post-Brexit economy, survey suggests
19) Police commissioner poll suggests lack of support
20) Brexit: 'Most would not change' vote on EU, poll suggests
21) TV 'most trusted' news source in Wales, BBC poll suggests
22) Holyrood 2016: What are the clues in BBC Scotland's election poll?
23) Poll suggests half of Scots support steep tobacco price rises
24) Poll suggests public want much tighter press controls
25) Police feel undervalued and underpaid, poll suggests
26) Lorries and potholes put people off cycling, survey suggests
27) NHS reforms: GPs losing faith, BBC poll suggests
So ... what happened to those editorial guidelines on those ocassions? Why were they allowed to be published and yesterday's poll - the first since March 2017 to put Yes ahead - not?
Your move, BBC.
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