A TOP public health professor has set out why she disagrees with the BBC’s decision to stop airing all of the First Minister’s briefings on TV.

Last week it emerged the corporation would start deciding which briefings to broadcast based on their “editorial merit”. The move was met with anger from health experts, age charities and disability campaigners.

Following the news the First Minister said that it was more important than ever for her to be able to communicate directly with the public as coronavirus cases begin to increase again.

Speaking to Debate Night last night, Professor Linda Bauld, the Bruce and John Usher Chair of Public Health at the University of Edinburgh, broke down why she feels the broadcasts are important.

She told viewers: “What you see is having a daily briefing – even if it strayed beyond where it should occasionally – with consistent messaging, and the thing that I’ve valued the most about those is the reiteration of the FACTS campaign for example and the key messages.

“We shouldn’t assume that just because you hear it every day for three or four weeks that people are going to remember it because they don’t. We see that from research.”

She also stressed that people consume media in different ways.

“And the other point I would make is that in terms of mass media you need multiple platforms for multiple age groups who have different sources of access,” she explained. “ And I know that my in-laws, both in their mid-80s, tuned in every lunchtime. They knew what time it was, they knew what station it was on, they knew how they were going to get their information.

“There are bits of society who’ve relied on that. To be quite frank trying to watch it on Twitter or on the parliament channel etc, it’s just much more complicated. Absolutely an editorial decision.”

READ MORE: Top health expert explains why BBC's decision to end Covid briefings is wrong

Bauld spoke to The National last week following the BBC’s announcement, warning the decision to stop airing all briefings on TV could affect “every aspect” of Scotland’s response to the pandemic.

Saying she had no interest in politics, only in public health, Bauld added: “Trust in government is much higher in Scotland than it is in England, and I think that these briefings and the broadcasts have contributed to this level of trust.”

The professor added: “These briefings need to be on TV and on the BBC as a public service broadcaster.”