THE London media’s coverage of Scotland never fails to impress, does it?
If you think that Westminster journalists give Scotland a fair hearing, you might want to think again. Today, the afternoon edition of Westminster’s most popular political newsletter couldn’t get the absolute basics right.
Fact: You could make up a name like Tarquin Farrington and tell most people he was prime minister in 1795 or something and most people would probably believe you. There have been a lot of prime ministers and a lot of boring English history.
However, there hasn’t been many first ministers of Scotland. Only five, in fact.
READ MORE: I was in the Question Time audience in Glasgow - the atmosphere was poisonous
So it’s pretty concerning that such a major political media operation introduced a brand new one to the list.
In its usual wrap up of who’s on the media rounds, Politico’s London Playbook announced that Jeremy Kyle Live on TalkTV would feature a top guest: “Former Scottish First Minister Frances Leach”.
Now that made The Jouker do a double-take.
Could this be a misspelling? Somebody messed up and let their cat run over their keyboard as they typed out Henry McLeish?
Well, there is indeed a Frances Leach going on Jeremy Kyle tonight.
She is a Labour councillor in London, and a writer on human rights and politics, who also does media for Global Justice Now. We are sure she is a great gal.
However, quite how she got such a massive promotion is beyond us, and a little concerning for Scotland’s democratic set-up.
Leach, too, was surprised by the major new role. “Can't believe Politico has broken the news of my big promotion like this,” she tweeted.
Mistakes happen. But when your major political news outlet regularly relegates all news focused on Scotland to a section called “Beyond the M25”, is it all that surprising that such a humiliating error could occur?
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel