There are both general and partisan reasons for setting up such a commission. On a partisan level, the BBC’s coverage of Scottish politics seems to be rather dismissive towards the SNP. BBC news editors are unlikely to consciously change coverage in reaction to this news – indeed, they’re more likely to see this as an affront. But, on some level, the establishment of the commission may cause editors to tread more carefully, and think twice about sloppy reporting of poll results.

On a more general level, levels of dissatisfaction with the BBC are higher in Scotland than in most other parts of the country. This satisfaction is probably rooted in the perception that the BBC is full of middle / upper class Southern Englanders who produce programmes for others like them. That is, it’s predominantly a cultural complaint.

That’s why the BBC’s response – which emphasises the new development at Pacific Quay – is rather uninspiring, answering cultural concerns with cost-benefit calculations.

We’ll know more when the full membership and terms of reference of the committee are announced. But the announcement is a lesson that minority governments can still crack the whip hand.

More wide-reaching structural changes might come soon. Apparently the new borgerligt government has not granted the (semi-automatic) three year extension to SVT’s charter, promising to think more about the role of SVT and SR. It’s possible Sweden might follow Estonia in unifying their radio and television PSBs.

I found two interesting tid-bits in passing.

• Sveriges Television’s call-sign, SVT, was not their first choice. It would have been STV (Swedish TeleVision, presumably) were it not for the Scottish ITV franchise and EBU member STV, established in 1957 just before SVT. As a Scot, I felt a little bit of national pride in our having beaten our Nordic neighbours to a three-letter acronym.
• SVT managed to annoy many Italians with their ‘Free Television’ campaign, which showed clips of Putin and Berluscon, and ended with the tag – SVT – free television. (See the clip). The Italian government – with Berlusconi as Prime Minister at the time – contacted the Swedish embassy, which rightly replied that it was not the government’s business how SVT advertised itself.

This is a very basic error. It will fuel the belief amongst the SNP that the BBC is institutionally biased against it. Whether the BBC’s immune system – the complaints process and regular meetings with party officers – will save it is unclear. The BBC has long been perceived badly by Scots A 1991 internal report on public perceptions of BBC bias had this to say:

“A minority focus on government/civil service/Establishment influence. They believe they understand how bias arises and do not feel threatened by it since knowledge is a form of control. Nevertheless, they are certainly not happy for it to exist. Those in our sample exhibiting these attitudes were young pro-government males and ‘radical’ Scots males: both perceived a right-wing bias in television news and current affairs”

This was followed by research conducted by MORI in the run-up to Charter renewal:

 Groups which are more satisfied than average are those who watch the BBC for half or more of their viewing time (83% satisfied), those aged 16-30 (80% satisfied), those living in Wales (81% satisfied) and those living in the South East (80% satisfied). Groups more likely to be dissatisfied with the BBC are those in the North East (17% dissatisfied) and Scotland (16% dissatisfied)

and

The groups least likely to feel the BBC takes account of their views are those living in Scotland (49% of these people) or Northern Ireland (45% of this group), young people of Asian origin (50%) and young black people (46%).

SNP Holyrood leader Nicola Sturgeon is asking for a meeting with director-general Mark Thompson after reports of a further round of cuts which could jeopardise flagship BBC television and radio output… Further budget cuts again underlines the need for broadcasting to be devolved to Scotland

In what sense? A Scottish Broadcasting Corporation? Supervision of the BBC by the Scottish Parliament? Passage of Scottish media legislation?

Technorati Tags: SNP, Nicola+Sturgeon, Thompson, political+interference, BBC

I enjoy the book because (a) it gives facts to sustain beliefs I already had, (b) helps in chauvinist battles against the English, and (c) is quite well-written.

But it is important to note that the author’s definition of ‘Scottish’ is both elastic and not ‘traditional’. It is elastic in that it includes Ulster Scots, quite anglicised Scots, and, sometimes, those educated in the Scottish mould – going so far as to claim Gibbon’s Decline and Fall as a Scottish work in the best tradition of Henry Kames’ Sketches on the History of Man.

Second, the definition of Scottish used is not ‘traditional’ – in that it doesn’t play on traditional pastiches of Highland life cooked up by Scott. This is a strong point, in that these pastiches are pretty awful (even if they benefit tourists), but I think the author under-emphasises the extent to which, if the Scots created the British Empire and more, the English also created the Scots. (There’s a good Hobsbawm essay on this).

Still, very worth reading. I dare say I’ll fare better in future chauvinist Anglo-bashing in future