On 12th. December 2012 a debate about broadcasting was held at Holyrood
Sponsored by the Constitutional Commission
The debate effectively condemned BBC Scotland
Alex Grant of the Commission discusses that debate
VIDEOPod | State Broadcaster BBC Fails Scotland
Posted on 04/01/2013
Alex Wilson
05/01/2013
The topic of the debate at Holyrood was – The Future of Broadcasting in Scotland. What it was about in toto was a deconstruction of the BBC in Scotland. Perfectly fair enough. However the headline was basically ignored. What is the future of broadcasting ?. The BBC are a perfect example of why you would not want a State Broadcaster/Propagandist paid for by a Poll Tax on the population.
I am a member of a Party in Scotland who promote independence and have drafted a model constitution for the country. In that Constitution we would prohibit the State from any role in broadcasting. All that the State would be required to do would be to license the airwaves and set minimum standards for the broadcasters whoever they would be, to meet.
Immediately we would de-criminalise non payment of the current license fee with a view to eliminating it altogether. My party has nothing whatsoever against the BBC. Should they wish to offer services to an Independent Scotland then they could offer an encrypted service just like Sky and Virgin and charge for the priviledge. Dissatisfied customers could cancel their contracts with the BBC if the content of their broadcasts were not to their liking.
This is something the current administration could do now, or threaten to do now. If nothing else it would focus minds within the BBC.
Short of large scale non-payment of the current license fee, there is little or no way the BBC in London will ever listen.
Kate
05/01/2013
I travelled from Angus to Glasgow to demonstrate outside the BBC Pacific Quay, & was so disappointed by the small crowd that turned out. Especially when I read the blogs and the posts & watched video links, much like this, where everyone was in agreement that the BBC was NOT doing a good job in Scotland FOR Scotland & certainly was BIASED in regard to the referendum that this country faces next year. It seems to me it is easier for people to sit around “talking” about how bad things are, yet, nothing actually gets done about it, Tom Devine said, GET ANGRY…Well I did, but I was one of only a FEW that DID something about it, (I don’t remember seeing Tom on the demonstration either) Yet I read hundreds, if not THOUSANDS of posts, from people slating the BBC. And really believed they would get behind that protest…They didn’t, it seems it is easier to sit at home, on your computer and post your anger than actually DO anything about it…And like the last speaker in this Video said, the BBC laughed at the small crowd that did PROTEST against them. NO way were we drawing attention to the BBC, all we did was waste out bloody time..
God Help Us…
3 Men in a Blog
08/01/2013
Kate, I too get angry about various aspects of the BBC and online can often be the most effective way to make a protest.
However its not the only way. I stood on stage in front of more than 500 UK BBC staff and described Pacific Quay as the Governor-General’s mansion as part of a debate lambasting their centralising tendency. At the following vote 80% supported our position.
3 Men in a Blog
08/01/2013
Alex, I have to agree with most of your arguement. If we do secure independence then I do not want to see BBC Scotland converted into an SBC.