Thursday, September 16, 2010

NewsNet Scotland and Union Propaganda









Propaganda is thick in politics and Scottish politics has its own nasty, little unionist strain of it.

Thankfully the online site NewsNet Scotland has come to the rescue. In the first paragraph of its 'About Us' page the site says:

Newsnet Scotland was created in response to a perceived lack of plurality within the Scottish media. By plurality, we mean that the views of a significant section of the population were not being articulated by any of the recognised media outlets, Newsnet Scotland is an attempt at addressing this vacuum.

Anyone with an ounce of intelligence knows that the Scottish broadcast and print media has a strong and often visceral pro-union bias. The BBC and Glenn Campbell in particular are unionist vessels. Every day wave upon wave of pro-union, anti-nationalist political propaganda is heaped upon the Scottish population. Most of it so contrived, cynical and petty that it's beyond angering. Sadly, we can not really say that we have anything like a free press in Scotland as clearly there is a revolving door between unionist parties, big business and media organisations.

So, it is to the internet that those who believe in Scottish democracy must flee and NewsNet Scotland is warmly welcomed by this blog. Already, there are up to 200 users online at any given time and that will surely grow. It is a small well of sanity which won't be small for much longer.

Users are encouraged to submit articles which are then considered for publication. Each article is then opened up for users to comment on.

Clearly there are a lot of creative people involved and I predict that the site will grow in importance over a short period of time. Anyone visiting this blog who has not visited NewsNet Scotland I urge to go and open a free account.

Clearly this website will benefit the SNP given that it has no pro-union bias like the rest of the media. However all Scots need is an honest representation of our politics. This is it folks!

Please spread the word.

3 comments:

John said...

There is understandable anger towards the pro-union bias of the press from many independence minded folk but attempting to fill the void with something even more biased than that which it wishes to counter is just silly. Until the creators of Newsnet realise this it will simply stay an insular nationalist chatterbox.

1971Thistle said...

Alex - well said - I have a lot of time for NewsNet Scotland.

John - I can't agree. Some of the posters are a bit rabid and repetitive, but the content itself is excellent in the most part

Alex Porter said...

@John,
I think you have a point here although I think you are stretching it a little. It's early days for them and I'm sure as more articles come in the more they will show impartiality. Remember that a political leaning is not a bad thing as long as the journalism maintains certain standards. The press and broadcasting media in Scotland don't meet those standards. Obviously after decades of one-sided news coverage seeing something more balanced would be a shock..

As for the commentors, there's nothing anyone can do about that. Read the 'About Us' page - NewsNet won't stop anyone from posting. I think it is understabable that the commentors of an independence bent flock there.

They are volunteers with an IT background - it's going to take at least a few tweaks to get it right..