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What exactly is Jack Irvine's point? He seems to agree with all the points indicating why there should be a Scottish 6...then goes on to claim there's no need for one! I'm confused!

Who cares what these guys think. If they represent the 'industry' they should all be sacked. The broadcast media in Scotland is PATHETIC and the news coverage is even worse. If these guys don't realise that then no wonder what they produce for us is complete garbage.

The only solution is to put Scottish broadcasting into the hands of Scots in an independent Scotland. When we have absolute responsibilty, all the ifs, buts and maybes described by the commentators in the above article will disappear.

[quote]The Scottish Six is a trophy' that will always be argued over by politicians and news aficionados. I'm not sure it's as big an issue for viewers[/quote]Well, it's a big issue for this viewer. Living in England for many years, the news seemed to be arranged to suit that region very well. We had half an hour of English and international news, then we had half an hour of very local stuff, what was on at the village hall and so on. Seen from the point of view of an English resident, it was excellent. However, Scotland might as well not have existed. Now I'm in Scotland, I get half ab hour of English and international news, often including a great deal about politics in a country 3,000 miles away, but nothing about far more important politics in my own country. Then in the final half hour the real "national" news has to be covered, sometimes flatly contradicting what was in the first half hour and sometimes just repeating it. That plus all the national sport that somehow didn't make it into the forst segment, and there's no hope of any really local news - certainly not with a thirk of the British land mass to cover. Give us the Scottish Six and make it soon! [quote]What we don't need is a Scottish Six or anything parochial of that kind looking at international events through tartan tinted spectacles.[/quote]And that, frankly, is just offensive.

Ha ha Lionel Itchy aka Stuart Cosgrove was caught out recently when his C4 bosses though he was spending an appropriate amount of his C4 Nations and Regions budget in Scotland. oops seems he was still preferring London companies with a Scottish tea lady to get the prime commissions. Ha ha owned. Do us all a favour Stuart, retire. You used to be a shining light now you're just lying ****. Does anyone care about Jack Irvine?

[quote]But I would argue it may be less important than the global trends that shape Scotland[/quote] Stuart, Stuart, Stuart, you cringe is showing (cringe I said, your too bald to have a fringe). Is it not possible for Scotland to shape global trends? We used to. Let's start with a seat between Senegal & Saudis Arabia at the UN.

[quote][bold]Oscar[/bold] wrote: Ha ha Lionel Itchy aka Stuart Cosgrove was caught out recently when his C4 bosses though he was spending an appropriate amount of his C4 Nations and Regions budget in Scotland. oops seems he was still preferring London companies with a Scottish tea lady to get the prime commissions. Ha ha owned. Do us all a favour Stuart, retire. You used to be a shining light now you\'re just lying ****. Does anyone care about Jack Irvine?[/quote] Yes [bold]Oscar[/bold] , Lionel Itchy is not up to scratch any more. It may be something to do with his buddie Tam Cowan (Lanarkshire's answer to Bob Hope)who lives up the same close as Bendy Wendy. As for Jack Irvine, the answer is NO.

The [italic]'industry view'[/italic] ? Schlesinger apart, it's a [bold]load of patronising nonsense[/bold] . And these [bold]dinosaurs[/bold] are indicative of an industry, which, remember, we pay for (directly with the bbc or indirectly with the other channels) which is letting us down badly and fearlessly.

Morag, Peeblesshire on 12:26am today wrote: "What we don't need is a Scottish Six or anything parochial of that kind looking at international events through tartan tinted spectacles." And that, frankly, is just offensive.

Morag, Peeblesshire on 12:26am today wrote: [quote]"What we don't need is a Scottish Six or anything parochial of that kind looking at international events through tartan tinted spectacles." And that, frankly, is just offensive.[/quote] Aye- If it's English it's "cosmopolitan" and outward looking. If it's Scottish it's "parochial". Offensive? It's racist!

The Jack Irivines are par of the problem, are as much of the Scottish cringing media. We know the English psyche doesn't care and has a peculiarly British.English view of the world. The problem is, we have no one in the media prepared to stand up to them, apart from Iain MacWhirter wakening up from his desk to notice the blindingly obvious, whilst the rest of the media are prepared to accept a subservient position.

Who are these characters, especially that Irvine one? They most certainly don't represent the views of the Scottish people (as can be seen from the result, so far, of the poll in today's paper). These arrogant, self-opinionated nobody's are obviously so busy creeping to the English broadcasting establishment, and, presumably, to the New Labour Sleaze and Corruption Party, that they have no idea of what goes in in the real world. We not only need a Scottish broadcasting system, we need to stop people like these treating us as some sort of colonial backwater whose views and opinions are of no consequence. The sooner we get our independence, the better.

Wow! Poor Jack Irvine having his frankly idiotic comment highlighted at the top of the article! It is quite clear that he has no idea whatsoever what is meant by a Scottish Six and his comment is pretty much what I would expect of a London cab driver. And Jack Irvine apparently works in the industry? Good grief, no wonder we have a problem!

[quote]"What we don't need is a Scottish Six or anything parochial of that kind looking at international events through tartan tinted spectacles. What we need is better education of the national based producers."[/quote] And that Brocklebank is why you are an ex, a has been, a fousty old dusty relic of Empire. London is the most parochial inward looking city in the UK and we all dance to her tune. Well guess what? We don't want it any more and we should never have been there in the first place. It is time, get used to it.

The EBC, English football, English cricket, English news - and we have a direct licence fee (a tax) to pay for it. You couldn't make it up.

The kick that the BBC should receive could be achieved quite easily if Scots just stopped paying the tv tax. What about it Alex? Will you take up the ball?

[quote][bold]Morag[/bold] wrote: [quote]The Scottish Six is a trophy' that will always be argued over by politicians and news aficionados. I'm not sure it's as big an issue for viewers[/quote]Well, it's a big issue for this viewer. Living in England for many years, the news seemed to be arranged to suit that region very well. We had half an hour of English and international news, then we had half an hour of very local stuff, what was on at the village hall and so on. Seen from the point of view of an English resident, it was excellent. However, Scotland might as well not have existed. Now I'm in Scotland, I get half ab hour of English and international news, often including a great deal about politics in a country 3,000 miles away, but nothing about far more important politics in my own country. Then in the final half hour the real "national" news has to be covered, sometimes flatly contradicting what was in the first half hour and sometimes just repeating it. That plus all the national sport that somehow didn't make it into the forst segment, and there's no hope of any really local news - certainly not with a thirk of the British land mass to cover. Give us the Scottish Six and make it soon! [quote]What we don't need is a Scottish Six or anything parochial of that kind looking at international events through tartan tinted spectacles.[/quote]And that, frankly, is just offensive. [/quote] Media manipulation? Establishment control? The BBC are impartial? There is an Establishment conspiracy and it is no theory.

[bold]My "tartan tinted spectacles" view the crazy wars in Iraq and Afghanistan,nuclear weapons, oil taxation etc very differently from a Londoncentric stand point. The article is an outstanding affirmation of the need for an INDEPENDENT SCOTLAND...let alone broadcasting.[/bold]

It's ludicrous to have a Scottish Six, we don't need something that insular. When I come to London, I might take a Herald into the office and it's treated not just like a paper from a different country, but it might as well be from a different planet - Londoners don't care." SO WHO'S INSULAR NOW??

Being Scottish born I grew up in the US as my Dad was American and when I read articles like this I am struck by the rather silliness of it all. People here seem to think that their own bailiwick is some sort of special/unique spot. The truth of the matter is that if the UK were broken up into all of its seperate components i.e. Scotland, England, Ireland et al what you would have are a bunch of tiny countries somewhat akin to Leichtenstein with no means of financial support except to allow secret bank accounts for fat cats. Each of the tiny former UK countries would have international powers that could best be described as zilch and they would probably vanish from the world sports arena at least as far as team sports go. Get real people where we live is a rather tiny corner of the world, the days of imperial power are gone forever and the best we can do for ourselves is to hold onto each other to maintain our combined traditions and remember the history we all share.

I agree we need a more Scottish controlled and run media up here. At the moment broadcasting is reserved to Westminster control. However, if and when we do achieve control of our media, one of the first changes will have to be the replacement of the likes of the manic Jackie Bird and the dominatrix of Labour spin, the McConnells' pal Kirsty Wark, with people of quality and who display less bias in their reporting of events ("That's enough from you!" - infamous and discourteous interview closing remark from La Wark to Alex Salmond).

Shirley, it's well seen you grew up in the US of A. That country seems to regard the rest of the world, and especially the Central and South American countries as it's "bailiwick" as you put it. And look at the mess the USA makes of any country it interferes in. Not a very good example of a very large powerful (and bullying) country, as opposed to a small one that minds its own business and tries to deal with other countries in a spirit of friendship and co-operation.

Ted Brocklebank MSP Former TV producer and Scottish Conservative shadow minister for culture... [quote]"What we don't need is a Scottish Six or anything parochial of that kind looking at international events through tartan tinted spectacles. What we need is better education of the national based producers."[/quote] [bold]Scotland has it's own education system, it's own judiciary, has a legislature and executive that covers most ordinary political issues, and has a distinct cultural identity". Why then do we not have a TV set up to match, never mind a one hour news programme.[/bold] Brocklebank's 'tartan' analogy is demeaning and fails miserably in explaining the reason he is against a Scottish Six. In fact, it is exactly this attitude which creates a climate for Independence. Please carry on Ted.

Shirley You "Get Real". Our shared history? Is there anything to be proud of there except WW2? Ireland? It's already independent. Liechtenstein's a principality with a population of 35,000. Silly analogy. The nations of the UK already have separate sports teams for all sports except tennis and some olympic sports. You look back fondly on the days of 'Imperial power'. Why? And what's wrong being in the same league as Norway, Denmark, Finland. Croatia, etc..? Perfectly respectable and with Governments much closer to the people than in the UK. You need to engage in some thought before you put pen to paper Shirley.

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"The Scottish Six is a 'trophy' that will always be argued over by politicians and news aficionados. I'm not sure it's as big an issue for viewers." (Stuart Cosgrove) It is a big issue for me and for others whom I know. The Scottish Six, which I understand to mean a Scotland-based presentation for Scotland of all news from everywhere, is important to me. I have asked everyone in my household about this. We are all in agreement: it is important to us. News presentation in this format will make possible among other things the dissemination of a clear understanding of Scottish affairs within the now rather complex constitutional framework of the devolution era. If England wishes to carry on with its customary muddle-headed indifference towards Scottish affairs, let it do so. I do not see how the creation of a Scottish Six or even a more widespread reform of Scottish broadcasting need affect news output that is confined to England. The English are as entitled to be ignorant of Scottish affairs as we are to be adequately informed about them.

Eorpa is one of my favourite programmes; informative, topical, objective and outward looking. Its well produced, with thoughtful subject matter and good production values. Lets have more like it.

[bold]Stuart Cosgrove[/bold] ; [italic]"The term is broadcasting not narrowcasting. Scottish politics is important and has to be covered well. But I would argue it may be less important than the global trends that shape Scotland. The Scottish Six is a trophy' that will always be argued over by politicians and news aficionados. I'm not sure it's as big an issue for viewers."[/italic] We'd soon see how wrong this view is if we had a quality 'Scottish Six' ( a very natural thing to have). [bold]It's viewing figures would end the argument about what the people want and blow the other options out of the water[/bold] . There has, incidently, been a pilot for a Scottish Six' that went very well and was then canned before anyone could find out about it.

Agreed, Lowperdowg. Eorpa is great. More like that please. Stuff like that in English, even.

To boil it down to its essence.... The BBC is anti-Scottish. To rub salt in the wound... WE PAY THEM... through the licence fee, to shaft us. The blame lies with us. The gross stupidity is ours. We have no balls. The French would be on the streets... we just moan. The sollution is in OUR hands..... LICENCE FEE STRIKE..... NOW!!!

[quote]"What we don't need is a Scottish Six or anything parochial of that kind looking at international events through tartan tinted spectacles."[/quote] Has Ted Brocklebank ever watched Reporting Scotland? 'Insular' and 'parochial' don't begin to cover it, and the reason it's like that is because it has no remit to cover international or UK-wide news from a Scottish perspective. A Scottish Six would be a vast improvement on this. A Scottish Six would also have ample time to go in-depth on important issues (something the current Six seems incapable of) due to the elimination of two categories of timewasters; the repetition of items on Reporting Scotland whenever a Scottish story is deigned important enough to be shown on the 'national' news, and the elimination of '... in England' and '... in England and Wales' stories.

Shoirley Hodge-Podge[quote]The truth of the matter is that if the UK were broken up into all of its seperate components i.e. Scotland, England, Ireland et al what you would have are a bunch of tiny countries somewhat akin to Leichtenstein with no means of financial support except to allow secret bank accounts for fat cats.[/quote]It's as if people like this close their ears to the debate and stick with their one-line cliche - and it's always utter baloney.

When Scotland becomes Independent BBC Scotland can be closed down.

SALMOND: TIME TO TAKE BACK OIL. Sunday May 4,2008 By Mark Stevenson ALEX Salmond will this week take the first steps in an audacious bid to seize control of North Sea oil from Westminster. The First Minister has already met with senior aides to discuss the controversial battle plan to shift energy powers to Holyrood. Sources say now is the optimum time to strike at London with Gordon Brown’s government in disarray following the Prime Minister’s worst week since taking office. The Scottish Sunday Express can reveal Finance Secretary John Swinney will fire the opening shot by writing to Chancellor Alistair Darling to demand an immediate increase in the share of oil revenue. It is estimated North Sea oil will be worth around £56billion to the UK economy over the next six years. A source close to the First Minister said last night: “Gordon Brown’s difficulty is Scotland’s opportunity. The Scottish Government will be stepping up our efforts to secure fair access for Scotland to our own North Sea revenues. “And in his present enfeebled political position the Prime Minister is in no position to say ‘No’.” Before the Holyrood election, the SNP pledged to make it an early priority to begin discussions with Westminster on “options for the transfer of responsibility for our oil and gas resources to the Scottish Parliament”. Mr Salmond believes that Scotland would become one of the richest countries in the world if it had control over oil revenues. The value of the North Sea industry to the UK economy was highlighted by the recent strike at the Grangemouth refinery. The closure of Forties pipeline, which delivers 30 per cent of Britain’s daily oil output, cost around £50million per day. The Scottish Government source added: “The Grangemouth situation dramatically illustrated the millions of pounds of revenues that flow through the Forties pipeline every day – and just how dependent the Treasury is on Scotland’s oil. “It’s high time the Scottish Government had access to a share of the tax revenue, so that we can secure a long term benefit for Scotland.” Last year Mr Salmond was involved in a war of words with Westminster at the Offshore Europe exhibition in Aberdeen. Scotland Office Minister David Cairns said it was “too important” an industry to hand over control. But Mr Salmond hit back: “It’s not his oil, it’s Scotland’s oil and I think the vast majority of people want to see the Scottish people have a share and access to this enormous natural resource. “Why on earth shouldn’t the people of Scotland have a say on the direction of the oil industry? “If all of Scotland’s resources are included in our national accounts – including North Sea oil – then we would be the third richest nation in the European Union in terms of wealth per head, compared to the UK’s current seventh place. “It is very clear the flow of resources between Scotland and England is from north to south – not the other way round.” Original UK government proposals to create a special North Sea Oil Fund for Scotland were abandoned 30 years ago over fears it would fuel a surge in SNP popularity. Archives of a discussion in 1977 show divisions in the Cabinet and a war of words between Chancellor Denis Healey and Energy Secretary Tony Benn, who tabled the proposal. A fund would have transferred taxes from oil production to Scotland, and would have transformed the economy. But Labour Prime Minister James Callaghan feared a strong Scotland, and a resurgent SNP, sparking a new desire for independence. The documents, revealed under the 30 year rule in 2005, included a minute in which Healey listed his objections. It concluded: “Above all the creation of an oil fund would play into the hands of the Scottish Nationalists for whom it would become a major political target.” After the documents were made public Mr Salmond said: “These papers are proof positive of the bad faith of successive UK Governments – Labour and Tory – in depriving Scotland of access to our own North Sea resources for nakedly political purposes.” The Scotland Office yesterday accused Mr Salmond of “revisiting old arguments”. A spokesman said: “We believe that the strongest position for Scotland and the Scottish people and for Great Britain is a strong union. ??? :-)

[italic]Archives of a discussion in 1977 show divisions in the Cabinet and a war of words between Chancellor Denis Healey and Energy Secretary Tony Benn, who tabled the proposal. A fund would have transferred taxes from oil production to Scotland, and would have transformed the economy. But Labour Prime Minister James Callaghan feared a strong Scotland, and a resurgent SNP, sparking a new desire for independence.[/italic] It was like taking sweeties off weans. As Scots we should be ashamed that we let this happen! Even Shetland got direct benefits from landing oil on their territory.

[bold]JACK IRVINE EXECUTIVE[/bold][quote]"I don't think we need a Scottish Six. No-one in London is interested about what's happening in Aberdeen or Fife..."[/quote] Very true Jack, but it also works the other way. I have no interest in what's happening in London but I get the London News every night on the BBC and ITV. You seem to think that everything revolves round London and what's important to London is important to everybody but that's par for the course for a unionist. [bold]Ted Brocklebank[/bold][quote]"What we don't need is a Scottish Six or anything parochial of that kind looking at international events through tartan tinted spectacles...[/quote] That's right Ted we're too stupid and and kilt-wearing to produce anything decent without England holding our hand. You certainly believe in your own culture Mr. Cringey Boy. You found the right dependence party to join. [bold]Stuart Cosgrove[/bold][quote]But I would argue it may be less important than the global trends that shape Scotland...[/quote] I'm very interested in Global Trends Stuart. Global Warming, Energy supply, the current energy wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. They only problem is that I have to listen to endless stories which only apply to England in my "National" news to find out about them. You sound like some patronising up himself Guardian reader. [bold]Philip Schlesinger[/bold] Your on the message.

[bold]SALMOND: TIME TO TAKE BACK OIL.[/bold] The strike at Grangemouth has had some good benefits of raising awareness to all scots and english the amount of revenue we scots send south. We subsidise England and have been for 30years.

[quote]Scottish Six debate: [bold]the industry view[/bold] [/quote]"The Industry View"? This is some kind of joke, right? Time to dump the rolodex list of phone numbers, SH, and do some real research. With those pitiful names you stand to be criticised for the very thing you criticise - mediocrity.

i take great offense at the arrogant attitudes of the "industry", especially any suggestion that to be interested in the news of our own country is "parochial".Of course we are interested in world news as well as our own but Scottish news and sport is constantly minimised to ensure we have the english news and sport rammed down our throats on a daily basis.We need the scottish six and the sooner the better as far as i'm concerned.